Elon University will be hosting the Ripple Conference, an annual interfaith and spirituality conference that includes people from across the country to meet in small breakout groups with other attendees, hear from a keynote speaker and panel, and work on an art and service project. According to co-director and senior Ryan Gibbons, the conference serves as an opportunity to explore interfaith experiences at a personal and academic level.
The conference will be held from Feb. 21 to 23 and is projected to have around 150 attendees. The Ripple Conference is the largest interfaith conference in the southeast and this will be its tenth year. This year the theme of the conference is the art of interfaith. This theme will explore the ways art is used by faith and religious communities and how that unifies the different spiritual communities. Conference adviser Hillary Zaken said she views creativity as an invitation to understanding and dialogue.
The leadership team for the Ripple Conference is composed of 16 Elon students, who Gibbons said are committed to creating a welcoming and engaging environment for attendees. The leadership team is chosen in the fall and they plan the entire conference with support from their staff adviser, staff advisory council and the Truitt Center for Religious and Spiritual Life. The team has had to manage the logistics of each day's events as well as make sure they were not repeating events and projects from previous years.
“Conferences like these are not stagnant,” Gibbons said. “We’re going to constantly try to improve so that we make a better experience than we had last time.”
Throughout the conference and its breakout sessions, Gibbons said they want to emphasize how interfaith does not have one appearance, and peoples' different experiences with interfaith can shape how they view spirituality and religion. Gibbons also stressed how diverse religion can be, so getting input from multiple people can connect attendees in a closer way as they speak about their interfaith.
“We want to provide that opportunity, because religion is so diverse,” Gibbons said. “If we’re going to look at the ways in which religion can connect people, we need to also maintain that diversity. We want to have the conference be a way of inviting a multitude of different perspectives.”
Along with breakout sessions and an art and service project, poet and prose writer Rodger Kamenetz will be the keynote speaker. He will focus on the role of imagination in interfaith work and art. There will also be a panel with three speakers who will talk about communication, art and how they connect with faith.
The three speakers include Roman Williams, the founder of Interfaith Photovoice, and Josue Vega who turns Arabic calligraphy into visual art pieces. The last speaker is Hannah Podhorzer ’19, an Elon alumna who was involved in planning the Ripple Conference when she was a student and is working in communications for public health as well as expressing her faith through art.
Gibbons highlighted how many attendees will be traveling from around the country to take part in the conference, which will help create a community of experiences and ideas.
“One of the great things is that we’re not only creating these conversations for our participants, but also giving them a chance to connect with people that they likely never would have the opportunity to otherwise,” Gibbons said.
For Gibbons, they said the Ripple Conference offers an opportunity for people to learn about others' faiths and connect with them. They find interfaith provides a bridge between all peoples, regardless of religion.
“Interfaith is one of those bridges where, yes, there are so many different takes on religion. There are so many different beliefs and belief structures and ties to culture, and it’s very complicated and nuanced,” Gibbons said. “That’s also why it’s so amazing and beautiful when you are able to find that bridge, that connection through interfaith.”