Sharing faith over Interfaith breakfast

Lolita Harper

As the sun made its ascent Thursday morning, local religious leaders

and parishioners gathered to give praise to the higher power that

made its climb possible and reflect on the many other blessings

Americans have.

People from more than 18 area congregations gathered Thursday for

breakfast to recognize the National Day of Prayer, in which the theme

“How America Prays” was explored. For its sixth year running, the

prayer breakfast was hosted by the Newport Mesa Interfaith Council.

Hundreds of people packed into the hall at St. Michael & All

Angels Church to hear guest speaker George Saint-Laurent discuss

prayer in our modern and often hurried society.

Saint-Laurent, who received his doctorate in sacred theology and

has taught comparative religion for 26 years, gave an address on how

Americans must cope with the fast-paced world of change around them

while remembering their spirituality.

While the annual series has proved wildly successful -- last

year’s event was standing room only because of many last-minute

attendees -- many left the breakfast with the feeling that a pinnacle

had been reached.

Jim de Boom, executive director of the Newport Mesa Interfaith

Council, said he thought the address by Saint-Laurent was a crowning

achievement. He gave the overall breakfast a rave review.

“We had a good turnout, a great speaker. It was probably one of

the best of the six years that we’ve done it,” de Boom said.

The event was a mix of various faiths and denominations, with a

wide cross sample of the area’s religious leaders: Rabbi Mark Miller

of Temple Bat Yahm in Newport Beach; Dennis Short, council president

of Harbor Christian Church; Rev. Karen Stoyanoff of Orange Coast

Unitarian Universalist; and Lane Calvert of the Bahais of Costa Mesa.

“The environment of this morning’s breakfast was, as usual,

permeated by a spirit of goodwill, mutual respect, a desire to build

bridges and understand one another,” Miller said. “Often, religions

obscure, rather than reveal God and it was a blessing to transcend

denominational lines in our common reverence and love for the God of

humankind.”