Respect and Dignity
Before coming to Forest Lake, I served a Lutheran church in Roseville and I invited a Muslim man, Cengiz, to the men’s Bible study that I led each week.
Cengiz shared his faith and spiritual practices. Then, he invited us to his place of worship to provide a meal for our group.
This tremendous amount of hospitality made an impact on my group. One gentleman, Ken, told me that he held a significant negative impression of Muslims and was extremely skeptical of why I would invite this stranger into our group.
After meeting Cengiz, he admitted that he had been wrong. Ken was grateful that he learned about Islam and could see a different side of this faith group that was different than the ones he’d perceived through stereotypes. Ken was in his 90s and was able to make a change in his outlook. His ability to articulate this has always stuck with me.
Earlier this month, I invited one of the Muslim Soldiers that I serve within the Army National Guard to come to Faith Lutheran and share her story. Dama, currently observing Ramadan, was fasting and wore her traditional head covering.
She fielded numerous questions, which included many about the different gender roles in her culture. She assured us that she was free to wear the hijab as her choice. She believes in practicing modesty. Members at Faith told me they appreciated hearing her story and wanted her to know how grateful they were that she came to share.
Then, last week, I attended an Iftar dinner held in Saint Paul and co-hosted by the Minnesota Department of Military Affairs and Representative Samakab Hussein, one of the first Somali Americans elected to represent the state of Minnesota.
An iftar is the breaking of the fast at sundown for practicing Muslims. Ramadan lasts from February 28th to March 29th this year. The act of fasting and devotion through prayer was beautiful for me to witness for the first time. I was honored to be invited.
I attended as a chaplain in the Army National Guard. Over 250 people joined together for prayer, messages from different leaders in the state, and then to share in a meal. It would be like inviting someone from a different religion over to your house for a Christmas meal.
As the sunset became official, an Imam led a prayer and the attendees broke the fast by eating a date and consuming water, tea, or juice. The Muslims in attendance all departed to the prayer rooms and then, we all began to eat a delicious meal of traditional Mediterranean food, including rice, chicken, lamb, salmon, samosas, and pitas with hummus. 
After the meal, Representative Hussein shared that “Ramadan is a time for self-reflection, compassion, and gratitude. It reminds us of the importance of giving, serving others, and strengthening our bonds as a community.”
This doesn’t sound radically different from what I encourage fellow ELCA Lutherans to live into each Sunday. In fact, in our community, aren’t those the values we want to hear from our neighbors?
Why do I tell these stories and invite people of other faiths to share their stories in a Lutheran church or in a community like Forest Lake?
Our neighbors deserve to be treated with respect and dignity. Is it possible this article could spark a curiosity for you to learn more about Islam and Ramadan? Would you be more comfortable asking a Muslim about their faith?
The way we treat people of other faiths says a lot about the way we practice our own faith or values.
Allah Hafiz (God protect you).
Pastor John Klawiter is the senior pastor of Faith Lutheran Church, an ELCA congregation in Forest Lake. For more information, email him at
Login To Leave Comment