Observations from Interfaith Grand River at the Multicultural Festival in Kitchener

by Jeff Wilson

On June 21-22, IGR staffed a booth at the annual Multicultural Festival. It was hot, occasionally rainy, and lots of fun. Many people stopped by to chat or puzzle over our interesting posters and displays. I wanted to offer my observations about what seemed to be working well and what else we might do in the future.

First, some of the obvious positives. IGR has a big canopy, larger than most that I’m used to at these sort of street fairs, and it held up great even in strong winds and rain. That gave us lots of room to set up all sorts of displays and hang around without feeling crowded.

Second, IGR volunteers were all very friendly with one another and with the community, and we had a good range of people from different denominations. That human element is one of the most important things to get right for these events, and I felt that everyone did so effortlessly.

Third, there was strong interest in our posters, which are pretty unique. One shows how the “Golden Rule” (the idea that you should treat others how you yourself wish to be treated) exists in some form in a staggeringly wide range of religious traditions. That suggests that it’s something truly shared by all of us across the diversity of human spirituality. Another of our posters is a family tree that charts how many religious traditions have appeared and evolved in the course of human history. Lots of people stopped to marvel at these posters, ask questions, and often ask if they could receive a copy. Indeed, they were probably the biggest draw that lured people into conversation and engagement with the booth.

Fourth, IGR has a useful pamphlet about how to conduct respectful interfaith conversations. That’s good information that provides a genuine service to the community.

There were also some ways that I felt we could upgrade our planning and execution further, to maximize our benefit to the community and provide better exposure for the good work of IGR. First, it wasn’t very apparent to most passersby who we were as an organization. It would be good to have a banner with our name prominently displayed right out front, perhaps at the top of the canopy.

Second, there was a serious lack of information available about Interfaith Grand River, its history, its purposes, how to get involved, and so forth. Many people asked us about this, but we had no particular coordinated response, and not all volunteers knew what to say. I recommend designing a new brochure with basic information, which interested visitors can take away. I’ve done so for the Toronto Buddhist Church’s Pride street fair booth, and I can volunteer to do one for IGR’s Multicultural Festival booth, if no one else wishes to do it. That’s also something we can give away at the Interfaith Community Breakfast and other events; IGR members could also put some strategically in their own congregations for folks to learn about. We might also want to include a poster at the booth with a large QR code, which people could scan and thus be led to our webpage for easy access to information.

It would be useful to have a clear motto or tagline for people to immediately grasp what the purpose of IGR is. For example, without any obvious info available, some people assumed we were a proselytizing organization or even a cult. We can workshop various possibilities, but I was really struck by something that Ben Chery said on Sunday afternoon when yet another person asked what we were about. His simple response: “Spreading love, fighting hate.” That would be a great motto for IGR to stand out in the community, one that goes back to our founding purpose and which animates our ongoing work together. A banner or poster that reads “Spreading Love, Fighting Hate” would probably be compelling to people at the Multicultural Festival.

Third, I wonder about additional handouts beyond brochures. These are one of the main ways that organizations cultivate engagement and publicize that they exist. The Toronto Buddhist Church hands out fans, for example, with our name and welcoming messages on them. Pins are very popular with visitors: perhaps we might have a selection of pins with various religious symbols or supportive interfaith statements. Stickers are another popular item.

Fourth, and maybe actually most importantly, it would be good to have some coaching for volunteers. One part of that is training: don’t crowd around in the front of the booth, preventing newcomers from accessing the resources. Don’t pigeonhole visitors. Invite guests to scan the QR code with their phone. Invite interested people to attend the next IGR meeting (which requires volunteers to know when and where it is). Etc. A second part is developing a cheat sheet that provides basic tips and info for volunteers: not only the above, but also things like icebreaker questions that you can use to draw in passersby, especially if they pause at the booth for a moment. I came up with a list of such questions that I rotated through at the booth this year, depending on which I felt might be best for each guest:

-“Do you recognize all the names of these religious traditions on the posters?”

-follow-up: “What don’t you recognize?”

-“Have you noticed any other religious or spiritual groups at the Multicultural Festival?”

-follow-up: “We’re a group of people from every religion, working together. Do you have any questions?”

-[gesturing to the flags we displayed]: “Can you name any of these symbols?”

-follow-up: “Are there any that you’ve never heard of?”

-“What’s the most positive experience you’ve had of someone from a different religion?”

-follow-up: “Did you have childhood friends from different religions?” “What about now?”

-“How do you think interfaith bonds could improve our community?”

-follow-up: “What work would you like to see Interfaith Grand River doing?”

A cheat sheet would also have info about some of our displays: for instance, we displayed a lot of symbols on a string of flags, and IGR folks didn’t know what they all were. What was the heart with wings about, for example? (Answer: it’s a Sufi Muslim symbol, but no one I talked to from IGR that weekend knew the answer).

Finally, I want to share some of the questions that I heard at the booth. What answers would you have given? Would you have wanted some prior coaching to think about how you might best handle each one if you were asked? Here’s a sample:

-“So you don’t believe in absolute truth?”

-“OK, but which religion is really right?”

-“What is the point of Interfaith Grand River?”

-(pointing to poster) “What is Humanism?”

-(pointing to posted) “What is Jainism? I just ate a pizza with Jain sauce.”

-(an insight into this unexpected comment: Jains are among the strictest

vegetarians in the world, and some won’t even eat tomatoes, onions,

garlic, and so on, so a Jain pizza has be constructed very creatively)

-(pointing to banner) “What is that symbol?”

Some of these ideas may work better than others, and it would be great to get further suggestions from those who attended. Thank you to everyone for working together to make it a great public event at the Multicultural Festival!