Guides
Pastor Don Mackenzie, Rabbi Ted Falcon, and Sheikh Jamal Rahman have been working together since 9-11-2001 (September 11th, 2001). They have become friends who support each other as spiritual companions. By teaching and promoting interfaith dialogue and collaboration nationally and internationally, they have become known as the Interfaith Amigos. Their first book together, Getting to the Heart of Interfaith: The Eye-Opening, Hope-Filled Friendship of a Pastor, a Rabbi & a Sheikh
Rabbi Ted Falcon, PhD, a popular teacher of Jewish traditions of meditation and spirituality, explores the frontier of interfaith spirituality. Ordained in 1968 at the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, Rabbi Ted served in Los Angeles as a congregational and then a campus rabbi until earning a doctorate in Professional Psychology in 1975. He pursued a career in spiritually oriented psychotherapy and, in 1978, founded Makom Ohr Shalom, A Synagogue for Jewish Spirituality. When he moved to Seattle, Washington, USA in 1993, Rabbi Ted and his wife, Ruth Neuwald Falcon, founded Bet Alef Meditative Synagogue, where he served as rabbi for sixteen years. Rabbi Ted is co-author of Judaism for Dummies
Pastor Don Mackenzie, PhD, recently retired as Minister and Head of Staff at University Congregational United Church of Christ in Seattle. Previously he served congregations in Hanover, New Hampshire and Princeton, New Jersey. Ordained in 1970, he is a graduate of Macalester College, Princeton Theological Seminary, and New York University. His interest in interfaith work began while a student at Macalester and continued while living and teaching in Sidon, Lebanon in the year prior to the Six-Day War in 1967. His country music band, Life’s Other Side, recorded the sound track for the documentary film Family Name and has sung at the Ernest Tubb Midnight Jamboree at the Opry in Nashville.
Sheikh Jamal Rahman, MA is co-founder and Muslim Sufi Minister at Interfaith Community Church in Seattle and adjunct faculty at Seattle University. He is a graduate of the University of Oregon and the University of California, Berkeley. Jamal has a passion for interfaith work and travels often, presenting at retreats and workshops. His books include The Fragrance of Faith: The Enlightened Heart of Islam
Hosts
Rev. Terry Moran serves as the chair of the Coordinating Council of Spiritual Directors International. He has been a member of Spiritual Directors International for more than twelve years and collaborated in the translation of the Guidelines for Ethical Conduct in Spiritual Direction into Spanish. He is fluent in English, Spanish, Italian, and French. Terry brings to the pilgrimage experience with people from a large variety of circumstances, cultures, spiritual and religious traditions, having given retreats and courses in more than thirty countries.
Canon Iyad Qumri, an Arab, Palestinian, and Christian, is licensed as a Guide by the State of Israel's Ministry of Tourism. He is fluent in Arabic, English, and Hebrew; and has become one of the most knowledgeable guides in the area. His wife Simone and sons Sami and Rami contribute to his ministry. According to one client, “there is no one better equipped to assist in planning a pilgrimage to this area.”
