Newsletter Summer 2025
Riverside Interfaith Council Newsletter Summer 2025
Membership Drive
We are seeking to increase our membership in the council, please consider joining as a full member. We need your voice to help us better serve our community. While we will always offer a free membership to all, we encourage you to join as a full member. Our membership program is offered on a sliding scale to make it affordable for all. Free and full memberships come with the same benefits with the exception of voting in board elections which is reserved for full members. For more information or to join today please visit the link below.
https://www.riversideinterfaithcouncil.org/membership.html
Faith Chat
On Thursday, March 20th we presented our fist Faith Chat of the year. Our guest speakers were JoAnn and Barry Rayshal of the Riverside Baha’I Community. The Rayshal’s presented a fascinating look into the Baha’I faith who accepts/includes all nine major world religions.
National Day of Prayer
On Thursday May the 1st we presented our National Day of Prayer event at the Culver Center in downtown Riverside.
It all went more or less as we planned. All the presenters came, and each one spoke enthusiastically on behalf of their community's way of expressing their faith. There were 60-70 in attendance, filling all the chairs, and they were willing to sing along and chant along, even in languages they did not know. We had refreshments, and enough programs. There are photos of the event on our Facebook page and website.
We would like to thank our presenters without which this event would not have been possible:
Larry Gonzalez,Riverside Chief of Police
The Rev. Dr. Mary Crist,(Blackfeet), St. Michael’Episcopal Ministry Center
Ruben Baeza, Wiccan
Steven Robillard, Riverside City Councilperson, Ward 3
Threshold Choir
Rev. Sonja Prince, Riverside Center for Spiritual Living
Elias Valencia, President, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS)
Cantor Bob Sirotnik and Barbara Sirotnik, Temple Beth El
Ipyani Lockert, Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity
Abimael Rubio and Kim Lincoln-Hawkins, SGI-USA, Riverside Buddhist Center
Erin Thomas, Co-Pastor Calvary Presbyterian Church
JoAnn Rayshel, Riverside Bahaí Local Spiritual Assembly
Kathy Bolte and Karen May, Kirtan
Gernaro Waheed, Riverside Interfaith Council
A special thank you goes to the Culver Center for making their beautiful event space available to us.
Thank you for your work in making this happen. I know that the diversity of the planning team and its sense of partnership added to the strength of the event. Who knows what we might be able to create for Thursday, May 7, 2026?
Riverside Pride
On Saturday May 10th the council participated in the Riverside Pride event held in White Park. This was an exciting day where we were able to engage with members of the Riverside LGBTQ+ community.
I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to those who worked our booth for this event:
Mary, Ruben, Cassi, Lynn, and Michael, thank you.
Faith Caravan
The council hosted our first Faith Caravan of the year on Sunday June 1st. The event was well attended by 34 participants.
Our first stop was at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church. Reverend Benjamin Alforque presented a talk on the Catholic faith and his spiritual journey in it. The presentation was enlightening and well received.
We then caravaned to the Temple Beth El for a presentation on the Jewish faith. Rabbi Guershon Kwasniewski presented an in-depth talk on the Judaism and explained the items located in the temple.
Our thanks go out to our presenters, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, and the Temple Beth El.
Contact us at:
riversideinterfaithcouncil.org
[email protected]
https://www.facebook.com/RiversideInterfaithCouncil
Membership Drive
We are seeking to increase our membership in the council, please consider joining as a full member. We need your voice to help us better serve our community. While we will always offer a free membership to all, we encourage you to join as a full member. Our membership program is offered on a sliding scale to make it affordable for all. Free and full memberships come with the same benefits with the exception of voting in board elections which is reserved for full members. For more information or to join today please visit the link below.
https://www.riversideinterfaithcouncil.org/membership.html
Faith Chat
On Thursday, March 20th we presented our fist Faith Chat of the year. Our guest speakers were JoAnn and Barry Rayshal of the Riverside Baha’I Community. The Rayshal’s presented a fascinating look into the Baha’I faith who accepts/includes all nine major world religions.
National Day of Prayer
On Thursday May the 1st we presented our National Day of Prayer event at the Culver Center in downtown Riverside.
It all went more or less as we planned. All the presenters came, and each one spoke enthusiastically on behalf of their community's way of expressing their faith. There were 60-70 in attendance, filling all the chairs, and they were willing to sing along and chant along, even in languages they did not know. We had refreshments, and enough programs. There are photos of the event on our Facebook page and website.
We would like to thank our presenters without which this event would not have been possible:
Larry Gonzalez,Riverside Chief of Police
The Rev. Dr. Mary Crist,(Blackfeet), St. Michael’Episcopal Ministry Center
Ruben Baeza, Wiccan
Steven Robillard, Riverside City Councilperson, Ward 3
Threshold Choir
Rev. Sonja Prince, Riverside Center for Spiritual Living
Elias Valencia, President, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS)
Cantor Bob Sirotnik and Barbara Sirotnik, Temple Beth El
Ipyani Lockert, Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity
Abimael Rubio and Kim Lincoln-Hawkins, SGI-USA, Riverside Buddhist Center
Erin Thomas, Co-Pastor Calvary Presbyterian Church
JoAnn Rayshel, Riverside Bahaí Local Spiritual Assembly
Kathy Bolte and Karen May, Kirtan
Gernaro Waheed, Riverside Interfaith Council
A special thank you goes to the Culver Center for making their beautiful event space available to us.
Thank you for your work in making this happen. I know that the diversity of the planning team and its sense of partnership added to the strength of the event. Who knows what we might be able to create for Thursday, May 7, 2026?
Riverside Pride
On Saturday May 10th the council participated in the Riverside Pride event held in White Park. This was an exciting day where we were able to engage with members of the Riverside LGBTQ+ community.
I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to those who worked our booth for this event:
Mary, Ruben, Cassi, Lynn, and Michael, thank you.
Faith Caravan
The council hosted our first Faith Caravan of the year on Sunday June 1st. The event was well attended by 34 participants.
Our first stop was at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church. Reverend Benjamin Alforque presented a talk on the Catholic faith and his spiritual journey in it. The presentation was enlightening and well received.
We then caravaned to the Temple Beth El for a presentation on the Jewish faith. Rabbi Guershon Kwasniewski presented an in-depth talk on the Judaism and explained the items located in the temple.
Our thanks go out to our presenters, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, and the Temple Beth El.
Contact us at:
riversideinterfaithcouncil.org
[email protected]
https://www.facebook.com/RiversideInterfaithCouncil