Ames Interfaith Council, a local organization that promotes unity among Ames’ religious groups, is co-sponsoring a series of forums for religious understanding this fall.

“This is very beneficial so people have a chance to learn about other religious traditions than their own,” said Pat Whiteford, chairman of the Ames Interfaith Council.

Whiteford said the main purpose of the forums is to encourage people to gain a better comprehension of other religions.

“I would hope that people would come to understand other faiths than their own,” he said. “That would contribute to the better understanding of all religions. We live in a very small world, and we all need to get along. I think the better we understand each other, the easier it is to get along.”

Sidi Tandia, participant observer on the Ames Interfaith Council board, said she thinks people should discuss their religious beliefs with those of different faiths.

“When people share their faith system, one will understand them better,” he said.

Tandia, program coordinator for International Education Services at Iowa State, said he hopes the forums will help Ames become a model of diversity within faith systems.

“Diversity is an advantage because it has lent itself to tolerance and not persecution,” he said.

The forums feature speakers representing different religions in the Ames area. The speakers are asked to give an overview of their religion’s history and describe characteristics of their faith and beliefs.

Mary Richards, program coordinator for the Passages program at Youth Shelters and Services of Ames, spoke last weekend on behalf of the Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship.

“It is always important for groups to be able to express what their basic tenets and beliefs are, because there is, I would say, on the basic part of the vast majority of people a lack of knowledge about other groups,” she said.

Richards is a two-time past president of the Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship of Ames and former Story County Attorney.

Following the speakers’ presentations, the audience is allowed to ask the speaker questions and participate in discussion about the speech.

“I was really impressed by the variety of people from different religious backgrounds, people from other countries whose religion was not primarily Judeo-Christian, who expressed interest,” Richards said.

Tandia said the same issues that concern secular culture pop up when discussing different religions.

“It has been very interesting,” he said. “Definitely gender and sexual orientation have been interesting topics for questions.”

Other past speeches have highlighted world religions, the faith of the Unity Church of Ames and the faith of the American Baptist Church.

The idea of sponsoring forums is new this fall to the Ames Interfaith Council. Tandia said the organization had developed a Speakers’ Bureau a few years ago. The Speakers’ Bureau consists of the names of 23 different religious organizations in the area that are willing to provide speakers who will talk about their religion.

“The forums grew as a way of using the Speakers’ Bureau,” Tandia said.

The forums are co-sponsored by the Baha’i Student Association, making it possible for some to be held on campus.