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  • Peace Ambassadors from the Rotary Club of Gwinnett County a shared message of peace at Gwinnett County’s National Day of Prayer.
    Asif Lakhani and Farida Nurani | 23 August 2018 | USA

    Gwinnett's Interfaith Prayer Breakfast finds common ground

    Peace Ambassadors from the Rotary Club of Gwinnett County a shared message of peace at Gwinnett County’s National Day of Prayer. Akbar Hakim
  • Doug Shipman, President and CEO of the Woodruff Arts Center in Atlanta, shared his personal interfaith journey and the power of prayer and silent reflection in every religion.
    Asif Lakhani and Farida Nurani | 23 August 2018 | USA

    Gwinnett's Interfaith Prayer Breakfast finds common ground

    Doug Shipman, President and CEO of the Woodruff Arts Center in Atlanta, shared his personal interfaith journey and the power of prayer and silent reflection in every religion. Akbar Hakim
  • Gwinnett County Fire Honor Guard started the breakfast program with the presentation of colors.
    Asif Lakhani and Farida Nurani | 23 August 2018 | USA

    Gwinnett's Interfaith Prayer Breakfast finds common ground

    Gwinnett County Fire Honor Guard started the breakfast program with the presentation of colors. Akbar Hakim
  • “Contemplation Chant,” a combination of Buddhist, Muslim, Jewish, Christian and Hindu prayers was performed by the Ismaili Muslim Choir of Atlanta. Pictured left to right- Aftab Chithiwala, Shafina Khabani, Sana Hashim and Farah Remtulla.
    Asif Lakhani and Farida Nurani | 23 August 2018 | USA

    Gwinnett's Interfaith Prayer Breakfast finds common ground

    “Contemplation Chant,” a combination of Buddhist, Muslim, Jewish, Christian and Hindu prayers was performed by the Ismaili Muslim Choir of Atlanta. Pictured left to right- Aftab Chithiwala, Shafina Khabani, Sana Hashim and Farah Remtulla. Akbar Hakim
  • Over 150 diverse faith and civic leaders attended the inaugural Gwinnett Interfaith Prayer Breakfast.
    Asif Lakhani and Farida Nurani | 23 August 2018 | USA

    Gwinnett's Interfaith Prayer Breakfast finds common ground

    Over 150 diverse faith and civic leaders attended the inaugural Gwinnett Interfaith Prayer Breakfast. Akbar Hakim
  • The event included prayer, inspirational speeches and devotional cultural presentations including a Hindu classical prayer dance by Shivani Gandhi and Bianca Ramchandani.
    Asif Lakhani and Farida Nurani | 23 August 2018 | USA

    Gwinnett's Interfaith Prayer Breakfast finds common ground

    The event included prayer, inspirational speeches and devotional cultural presentations including a Hindu classical prayer dance by Shivani Gandhi and Bianca Ramchandani. Akbar Hakim
Related Information
In the News: Interfaith unity on full display at Gwinnett’s inaugural prayer breakfast

“The history of the word prayer means to beg or to entreat, which means to negotiate. This notion of negotiation—of finding common ground—began to strike me as the meaning of interfaith prayer. While religions are different in many ways, we can find common ground only if we listen, are still, and make time to be in each other’s presence.” -Doug Shipman.

Doug Shipman, the President & CEO of the Woodruff Arts Center and founding CEO of Atlanta’s National Center for Civil and Human Rights shared his thoughts in the keynote address at Gwinnett’s inaugural Interfaith Prayer Breakfast in May 2018. A son of a Pentecostal preacher, Shipman has a degree in Theology from Harvard University and lives in an interfaith marriage. Shipman elaborated that although “religions are really different,” there is, however, one common theme among all major religions: “Almost all of the great moments of religious history happen when someone is in prayer, or when they’re in silent reflection.”

The first Thursday of May every year is the National Day of Prayer, which was created in 1952 by a joint resolution by the U.S. Congress, and signed into law by President Harry S. Truman. “It is a day that transcends differences, bringing together citizens from all backgrounds.”

Gwinnett County, a minority-majority county in Georgia, is celebrating its bicentennial this year. To mark the occasion and to bring Gwinnett’s diverse communities of faith, culture, and commerce together, Gwinnett residents embarked on an inaugural interfaith prayer breakfast. A host committee of Rotarians, Gwinnett County government leaders, the Ismaili Muslim community of Gwinnett and other faith and business leaders planned the breakfast, which brought together faith leaders from Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Hindu communities along with government and civic leaders, students, business owners, and residents to the Infinite Energy Center in Gwinnett.

The event included prayers and keynote addresses by faith and civic leaders, a folk dance and a devotional prayer dance by Gwinnett residents. The Ismaili Muslim Choir of Atlanta performed the “Contemplation Chant,” by Sarah Thompson, and the Echoes of Peace Choir, with five prayer chants from Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, and the Hebrew tradition, to unite the diverse faith traditions present in the audience.

“Through the centuries, religion has been a great divide,” Paige Havens, past President of Rotary Club of Gwinnett County, adding, “Today is so much different than that, it makes us draw deep into our souls to figure out where we are as humans.”