by Paul Eliefrom Georgetown University
Today in Tulsa: The American Pilgrimage Project
A Buddhist convert to Catholicism; a couple of rabbis, married to each other, who recently moved to Tulsa from the Bay Area; a transgender man who is studying for the ministry; a woman who struggled to keep faith after she was blinded in a vicious attack; a survivor of the Holocaust; a pastor whose spirituality blends Pawnee and Baptist traditions …
These are some of the people who are taking part in the American Pilgrimage Project in Tulsa, Oklahoma, this week. The project – a partnership of Georgetown and StoryCorps – has been two years in the making, and Tulsa is the first full stop (following on pilot efforts in New Orleans and western Pennsylvania). Our goal is to gather ordinary Americans’ stories of the ways their religious beliefs have figured into crucial moments in their lives.
But the people who are participating are obviously far from ordinary. Who else? A Catholic priest from Burma who works with Burmege refugees; a local leader in the naturalist spirituality movement; a woman who does outreach work in a prison for women; a young man, a son of immigrants from Mexico, who now captains the University of Tulsa soccer team …
If their stories are as colorful as their capsule biographies, we’ll have a vivid representation of American religious diversity right from the beginning.
Many thanks to all in the people in various communities in Tulsa who have helped us identify and reach out to participants. And thanks to the Jewish Federation of Tulsa and the Unitarian Church of All Souls, which are hosting the three days of conversations.
The American Pilgrimage Project will go to Minneapolis – St. Paul in May and to New York state’s Capital Region (Albany, Schenectady, Troy, Saratoga Springs) in June.
