“Soul Sunday,” written by Carrie Brown-Wolf, offers families a format through which they can explore their own faith and find out more about other religions.

“For all of us, I believe, it is important to not only understand how and why God is important to us, but to realize how and why God is important to others. A healthy curiosity is far better than living in fear. Learning about a different religion does not require conversion. It does, however, encourage tolerance. We may not always agree or even respect people with different values from our own, but in this global society, it is essential to understand them.”

Brown-Wolf, a former diversity trainer, has worked with schoolchildren and administrators about multicultural education. And as a Lutheran married to a Jewish husband, with three children, she lives her “Soul Sunday” beliefs and incorporates them in their daily lives. She also presents Soul Sunday seminars for associations, churches, religious organizations, synagogues, museums and families.

In a news release, she explained how she came to write about creating “a special time designed to ground families with a sense of self-confidence and spiritual faith.”

The inspiration to create the “Soul Sunday” format came from her young son, who asked her, “Why can’t God turn me into Spiderman if I pray hard enough?” She decided her family needed to set aside time to explore difficult questions about faith.

Their time developed into a structured setting — Soul Sunday — that allows them the opportunity to study Judeo-Christian traditions and other world religions.

The first half of the book discusses discovering spirituality and offers simple explanations of the major world religions.
Brown-Wolf outlines steps for families to set up their own Soul Sunday practice. She suggests starting with a song, a prayer of thanks and a way to include each family member.

The second half of the book, illustrated with beautiful photographs, is divided into four seasonal sections. Each provides interactive projects in segments called “playshops.”
One example, from the winter season section, is based on the Golden Rule that all five major religions share: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. The playshop encourages discussion about what the rule means and why it’s important.

The art project is an easy one, using glue to write the rule on black construction paper and sprinkling on gold glitter or sequins.

Other playshops explore the Christian celebration of Epiphany, the Muslim observance of Ramadan, Buddha’s birthday and learning about the Jewish Passover. Making sister-and-brother bracelets gives a glimpse into the Hindu festival Raksha Bandhan, which honors families.

Several blank pages in each section invite participants to write down their own ideas for projects and to record observations about their activities.

Suggestions for international and ethnic music and multicultural and religious books and movies broken down by age group are in an appendix.

The book received a first place Indie Excellence Award for a parenting/family book in 2007. The Indies, which recognize books published by independent and small presses, as well as self-published books, also tapped it as a finalist in the multicultural non-fiction category.

“Soul Sunday” is available at bookstores, Amazon.com and www.soulsunday.org.

Totts may be reached at 330-721-4063 or religion@ohio.net.

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