\u201cThe whole world is here!\u201d exclaimed Beth\n Broadway, president and CEO of InterFaith Works of Central New York, in\n opening the seventh annual World Interfaith Harmony Assembly in the \nSyracuse area on Feb. 6, 2017. The program at the University United \nMethodist Church showcased Syracuse\u2019s increasing diversity, with \nrepresentatives of the 12 participating faith communities including \nimmigrants from the Middle East, South Asia, East Asia, Europe, and \nAfrica.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Betty Lamb, president of Women Transcending\n Boundaries, who co-sponsored the Assembly together with InterFaith \nWorks, told the standing-room-only audience: \u201cWe are all together in \nthis world, and one person can make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last year\u2019s host, Hassina Adams, a leader of the Mosque of Jesus, Son\n of Mary, quoted Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: \u201cDarkness cannot drive out\n darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love\n can do that.\u201d She passed the baton of leadership to Rev. Alicia Wood, \npastor of University United Methodist Church. In the customary opening \nof these annual assemblies, members of the Interfaith Roundtable of \nFaith Leaders<\/strong> each lit a candle and expressed their hopes for the \noutcome of the event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n