Enlarge Rabbi Judy Schindler is committed to community behind her congregation at Temple Beth El

Posted: January 13th, 2010 Ken Garfield

In a sense, Rabbi Judy Schindler’s involvement in the Xchange Sermons is a sermon in itself, for the new initiative embodies the message to which she has devoted her life and ministry.

“This helps build bridges of connection,” says Schindler, among the first clergy to swap pulpits through the Crossroads Charlotte/Mecklenburg Ministries program. “We open our doors and we open our hearts, and, as we do that, we open our minds.”

Spiritual leader of Temple Beth El for the past six years, Schindler is committed to the care and nurture of the 1,100 families that belong to her Charlotte synagogue. But she is committed as well to the community beyond her congregation. The mission, to her, is clear: Bring together people of different faiths to pray, serve, study and push one another respectfully to think harder about what they believe and why.

“When we dialogue,” she says, “we need to challenge each other.”

Schindler, a frequent and passionate speaker in other houses of worship, has led her congregation into an abiding relationship with Myers Park Baptist Church and Masjid Ash-Shaheed, a Muslim congregation on West Sugar Creek Road.

An outspoken activist on behalf of many social causes, she was project coordinator on Mecklenburg Ministries’ "Souls of our Students." The documentary film features high school students talking about the difficulties of being different in terms of race, religion and sexual orientation. The film, and study guide, is being marketed to schools nationwide, its lesson the one that Schindler preaches about often: Treat all with respect.

Maria Hanlin, who leads Mecklenburg Ministries, says Schindler isn’t afraid to think beyond the traditions of a faith community like Charlotte’s, where some preachers and congregations shy away from interfaith interaction. “She is never daunted by new ideas,” Hanlin says. “She thinks big.”

If the Xchange Sermons series isn’t outside the box enough, Schindler leads a Torah Yoga class on Fridays.

A highlight of the year at Temple Beth El in Shalom Park comes the Friday before Martin Luther King Jr. Day, when the congregation welcomes an African American preacher and choir to lead the Sabbath service.

This year’s celebration on Jan. 15 represents Schindler’s involvement in the Xchange Sermons, as Johnson C. Smith University President Ron Carter delivers the Martin Luther King Shabbat Sermon at Temple Beth El. Music that evening will be provided by the choir from East Stonewall A.M.E. Zion Church.

In exchange, Schindler has helped craft, and will help teach, a new course this semester at Johnson C. Smith: African American-Jewish Relations.
None of this, Schindler says, is meant to push people to believe differently. Exchanging pulpits, engaging in interfaith conversation – it’s all meant to help people strengthen their convictions while finding the common issues and common ground on which to serve the broader good, together.

Like everything else, Schindler approaches the Xchange Sermons at 110 mph. "I feel passionately about things.”

Ken Garfield, former religion editor of The Observer, is director of communications at Myers Park United Methodist Church. He often writes on faith and values for Charlotte Magazine and other forums, and will be profiling clergy participating in the Xchange Sermons.

Click here for a schedule of the exchanges and for more information on the faith leaders who are participating.

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