By Nate Feldman
The Art of Interfaith Understanding is an ongoing
series of tours of the Philadelphia Museum of Art led by Reverend John Hougen
of Interfaith Philadelphia: https://www.interfaithphiladelphia.org
Initiated in 2013, members of diverse religious communities
come together to study different works of art that have a spiritual theme. The goals of the tour are to teach the
traditions of other religions through the artwork of people of that faith, to engage
the tour participants in discussion about how spirituality influenced different
artists, and to assess the spiritual impact of the artworks on the
participants.
Reverend Hougen, a retired Lutheran pastor, believes
art is an excellent vehicle for promoting interfaith dialogue as it encourages
people to discuss faith and its influence on “aesthetically pleasing” items
without getting too deep into doctrine.
“It’s a non-dogmatic way of introducing other people to different
traditions,” he believes.
He also feels the artwork has the ability to raise
curiosity among the tour members about other people’s traditions. They want to understand more about the
tradition that inspired the different kinds of art.
A unique activity members of the program get to take
part in is when they split off and find something in the museum with a
religious theme that catches their attention.
When they reconvene, they tell the others about what they found and what
interested them the most. They also
engage in discussions about how what the artist has done relates to their own spiritual
life.
The tours are open to the general public several times
throughout the year, and individuals or different congregations are invited to
join. To register go to https://www.interfaithphiladelphia.org/art
