Religious Self, Religious Other: Coformation as a Model For Interreligious Education

Abstract

What does adequate preparation for the next generation of religious leaders and educators look like, given the complex multireligious context in which graduates will serve? This is the core question addressed in this chapter. To explore the question, I draw on a decade of experience as associate professor of interreligious studies at Andover Newton Theological School where I co-founded CIRCLE (the Center for Interreligious and Communal Leadership Education). The key to instilling interreligious competency is moving from a model of formation to a model of coformation. Coformation in this context is a term I coined to describe the model developed at CIRCLE that privileges learning with diverse religious communities over learning about the religious other. CIRCLE classes, shared between Hebrew College and Andover Newton, were co-designed, co-taught and jointly attended by Jewish and Christian faculty and students. The model detailed here creates a blueprint for both individual and institutional transformation towards an ethos of interreligious understanding.