Jean M. Anderson is a lay person who serves on the board of the Metro-East Interfaith Partnership (MEIP). She is their representative for Compassionate St. Louis. She has been a Christian all her life and identifies most closely now with The Progressive Christian Movement. The Air Force influenced her interest in diverse cultures. Over the course of her husband’s (Jerry), twenty-seven year career as a military man, the family moved nearly every two years. Overseas locations include: four years in Germany and two years in Taiwan. Child rearing, with an emphasis in education, of their four children was the main focus of the first twenty-five years of their fifty-one year marriage (and counting). At fifty-three, she obtained a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) majoring in design and painting. She has participated in numerous Bible studies over the years including Bible Study Fellowship and Community Bible Study. While attending Southwestern Illinois College (SWIC) she became inspired for future spiritual exploration by two classes taught by Rev. Roger R. Karban. They were: The Bible as Literature Old Testament and the Bible as Literature New Testament. She completed the four year course called Education for Ministry (EFM) through Sewanee University in Tennessee and then joined an alumni group to continue further discussions. While a member of the Episcopal Church Jean filled many leadership roles including Synod Delegate, Bishop’s Committee Member, Search Committee Member whose mission was to assist in the selection of a new priest and then a separate search committee whose role was to assist in the selection of a new Bishop for the Springfield Diocese. In 2020 she completed The World’s Religions semester course with Dr. David Oughton through Saint Louis University.
Dr. Jeanne Aguirre, retired program coordinator/professor for SIU-Carbondale at Scott AFB, has over 40 years' experience in Education-- including high school, English as a Second Language, and Instructional Systems Design for military/business/industry students. She serves on several boards and committees at SIUE and in the metro-east, with special interest in promoting multicultural understanding and interfaith harmony. Dr. Aguirre is a member of the Baha'i Faith.
Rev. Annie Clark, retired after serving for 21 years at her beloved Radiance Center for Spiritual Living (Religious Science) which she founded in 1990. She continues her ministry through Inner Splendor, an interactive informal monthly gathering for people of all faith traditions. Visit their website: www.theinnersplendor.org for more information. She is also the author of "Our InVisible World: Reflections on the Awesome, Loving Power of God Within Each of Us".
Fr. Bob Flannery, serves as priest at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Carbondale and as the Ecumenical and Interreligious Office for the Catholic Diocese of Southern Illinois. He helps organize the annual interfaith Thanksgiving event and Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in Carbondale and is a participant in the Ralph Anderson Interfaith Dialogues.
Jim & Cindy Forbes, as members of the Baha'i community, Jim and Cindy reflect the passion of their religion in their interfaith involvement.
Rev. Lana Gilbert-McCarty, a minister with the Community of Christ, serves as the President of the Metro-East Interfaith Partnership.
Rev. Tim Harrison graduated from Bethany College in May of 1984. After four years teaching special education in the public schools, he entered Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Tim then graduated in May of 1990 with a Masters of Divinity. Following seminary, Tim spent a year studying in Germany. He served various United Methodist Churches as pastor-in-charge and as an associate during the years 1991-1992 and 1995-1998. In between, Tim served at Reinhardt College, a United Methodist institution, as an associate minister and campus minister from 1992-1995. In May of 2007, Tim graduated from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. with a Doctorate of Ministry degree in the Campus Ministry tract. In 1998, Tim came to McKendree to serve as Chaplain and Director of Church Relations. He is responsible for religious life programming on campus and continued development of relations with churches and religious bodies in the region. Tim, his wife Danielle, and his three children, Elana, Lukas, and Alexander reside in Lebanon. McKendree Center for Faith & Spirituality
Dr. Mohammed Kibria, as one of the founding members of the Metro-East Interfaith Partnership, Dr. Kibria continues to invite the local Muslim community into dialogue with the local community. He is a member of the Masjid Islamic Center in Swansea. A devout Muslim, Dr. M.G. Kibria is a relentless advocate for good will between religious faiths, ethnic groups and nations. He is a proud and patriotic U.S. citizen, though he was born in East Pakistan, now Bangladesh. Dr. Kibria is a co-founder, officer and former president of the Belleville Mosque. He is well known for inviting leaders and members of other faiths and those with no religious affiliation to visit the mosque for conversation and fellowship. Dr. Kibria has accepted countless invitations to explain his faith to a wide array of groups, youth and adult, throughout the region. Dr. Kibria responds with a chuckle if someone asks about the status of women in Muslim society. “We think women are the best,” he said. “They are the most gentle, the most powerful. We have elected women president in our country, and three of my sisters have master’s degrees. It’s not a dogmatic society in which we live.”
Father Kevin Laughery is a priest of the Catholic Diocese of Springfield in Illinois. From 1986 to 2017, he was active in the Greater Springfield Interfaith Association, serving four stints as president. He served as ecumenical officer of his diocese from 2002 to 2017, and as interreligious officer from 2011 to 2017. In July 2017 he became pastor of the Catholic parishes of Troy (St. Jerome) and St. Jacob (St. James). He is on the leadership team of the Illinois Conference of Churches and is active in its anti-racism team. He attended the Parliament of the World's Religions, Chicago, 1993, and Salt Lake City, 2015.
Kevin takes his interfaith inspiration from the declaration on the relation of Catholic Christians to non-Christian religions, Nostra Aetate, Second Vatican Council, 1965: "The Church ... exhorts her [children], that through dialogue and collaboration with the followers of other religions, carried out with prudence and love and in witness to the Christian faith and life, they recognize, preserve and promote the good things, spiritual and moral, as well as the socio-cultural values found among these [people]."
Kevin takes his interfaith inspiration from the declaration on the relation of Catholic Christians to non-Christian religions, Nostra Aetate, Second Vatican Council, 1965: "The Church ... exhorts her [children], that through dialogue and collaboration with the followers of other religions, carried out with prudence and love and in witness to the Christian faith and life, they recognize, preserve and promote the good things, spiritual and moral, as well as the socio-cultural values found among these [people]."
Father Carroll Mizicko serves as the priest at St. Augustive in East St. Louis and as the treasurer for our organization.
Christopher Smith, J.D. is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org) and currently serves as the Communications Director for the regional office of the church - O'Fallon Illinois Stake. This role involves interfaith work, communication with media, attendance at public relations events as well as encouraging compassionate service to others through putting faith in Jesus Christ in action (https://www.comeuntochrist.org). He is the Bishop Emeritus of the Belleville congregation after having served as it’s Bishop for 5 years and has served in numerous leadership positions in the church. Chris is active in a variety of interfaith work and serves on the board for the Metro East Interfaith Partnership (http://www.metroeastinterfaith.org) and has participated with another non-profit group, Racial Harmony (http://centerforracialharmony.org), on a Spiritual Wellness Panel. Chris served as a proselyting missionary for his church in Italy, sharing his faith and participating in a variety of service projects and interfaith activities in addition to teaching conversational English. Chris serves as the Secretary of our organization and is one of the administrators for our website and Facebook page.
