Faith Day on the Hill

RCC members participated in planning and holding Faith Day on the Hill at the Tennessee State Capitol. 

Representative Brenda Gilmore hosted the event and a wide variety of faith groups

Rep. Brenda Gilmore

participated: Mormon, Baha’i, Sikh, Jew, Scientologist, Catholic, Methodist, Baptist, All-Denominational Christian, Muslim and more.  They came together to discuss topics of burning interest to all: education, health care, violence, jobs and the prison system. Not only did they discuss these issues but also got to know one another so that together as a unified force they could look at how to resolve the problems facing their state. Brian Fesler, Julie Brinker and Carol Mansour of the Nashville chapter participated in the planning sessions for the event.  

Dr. Michele Gourley,
TN Dept of Health

Each topic of the day was followed by a prayer delivered by a religious leader from the area. Speakers for the event included: Dr. Michele Gourley (Tenn. Dept. of Health), Commissioner Kevin Huffman (Tenn. Dept. of Education), Commissioner Derrick D. Schofield (Tenn. Dept. of Corrections), Ted Townsend (Tenn. Dept. of Economic and Community Development), Richard Moore (Tennessee Bureau of Investigation) and leaders from many faiths. 


There was a panel on Faith-to-Faith meant to bring everyone closer together by learning about one another. Representing the Sikh Community on the panel was Prem Singh Kahlon who had previously hosted an RCC meeting. The panel was moderated by Nashville chapter president Brian Fesler. 

Rev. Brian Fesler, Nashville Chapter RCC President

Prem Singh Khalon, representing the Sikh community

Remziya Suleyman, representing the Muslim community

Faith Day on the Hill proved to be a wonderful opportunity for faith communities to come together and learn from one another. In fact, many members of the Mormon religion were present who are now eager to host a meeting for RCC in the future. 

March 2013 - Search Engine Optimization for Religion Communicators

Nashville Chapter members gathered at the Church of Scientology for the March meeting to learn about the dos and don’ts of internet marketing from Dan York, Founder and CEO of Stellar E-Marketing. His company was recently acknowledged as one of the top five ethical and actionable SEO agencies by SEOmoz. A seasoned entrepreneur, administrative & marketing consultant and Internet marketing expert, York spoke about the basics of search engine optimization.  After explaining advertising techniques such as pay-per-click, York cut right to the basics of what search engine optimization really means and how to get picked up by Google, Yahoo and Bing. RCC members found they had many questions for York such as “How do I know which keywords to use?” York recommended Google Keyword Tool as a free option, but he warned that it is not as intuitive as the person working the computer. There was a new member at the meeting – Drew Pope with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He plans to host a meeting in his church soon. 

February 2013 – Health and Faith

Michele Gourley,
TN Dept of Health

Nashville RCC members met and heard from the new Director of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives for the Tennessee Department of Health, Michele Gourley. Dr. Gourley has filled this position for five months and jumped right into it. With a pastor for a grandfather who also had a knack for the political arena, Gourley was quite comfortable going into this position. After graduating from East Tennessee State University with degrees in medicine and public health, she found that a job in public health suited her more than private practice. She views her position very much like a mission in itself. 

MLK Service

RCC members participated in a fabulous service where four churches joined together to celebrate the life and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. The churches participating were: Corinthian Missionary Baptist Church, First Unitarian Universalist Church, the Church of Scientology and Historic Community Church. The Service was held at Corinthian and began with a potluck at 2pm, where all church members and others from the community came together to break bread. After that, all moved swiftly to the sanctuary where they felt a sense of community unlike anything before.  There was a mix of races and faith, and all church choirs sang together, each church pastor led a part of the service and a wide variation of people sat together in the pews. Nashville chapter members who participated were Brian Fesler, Carol Mansour and Julie Brinker. Julie also sent out a press release covering this historic event and two newspapers covered it – The Nashville Pride Newspaper and the Tennessee Tribune. 

Learning about Life in Captivity

The RCC met up with members of Amnesty International who had a guest in town: Peter Moore. Peter had been a political prisoner in Iraq during 2007–2009. He told RCC members a wild story where he was taken captive against his will, threatened, beaten and generally mistreated. Although, he was able to convey his story in an overall light-hearted manner and his communication was excellent. RCC members were very interested to hear from him and had many questions afterward. He said he is currently taking some time off from work to travel and has been sharing his story with anyone interested. 

November 2012 – Grins Kosher Restaurant

RCC wanted to focus on reaching out to learn about the various faith traditions, this month the chapter visited a kosher restaurant to learn more about Judaism and what it means to be kosher. Grins restaurant, a certified kosher restaurant on the Vanderbilt University campus, provides a nice option for Jewish diners in search of a good lunch.  Chapter members heard from Ari Dubin who works with Grins as well as his wife, Abbie Wolf, who recently became the new Community Relations Director of the Jewish Federation, relieving Judy Saks. They spoke about Judaism, what kosher means and how there are varying degrees of how one can be kosher. 

October 2012 – Visit to the Friends House

RCC met at the Friends Meeting Place.  Bill Wolfe, the Clerk of the Friends House enlightened members on the faith and encouraged further dialogue.  Bill talked about the Quaker history and beliefs then answered questions and invited them to attend an upcoming meeting.  Brian Fesler invited all of the Friends who had attended the meeting to stay involved with RCC, as did Laura as the Membership Officer.