Name: Abraham's Bridge: Film and Discussion
Start: 2025-04-07T18:30:00-05:00
Location: University of St. Thomas

How can intentional proximity foster dialogue, understanding, and collaboration across religious and cultural divides? Abraham’s Bridge, a visually stunning short documentary, explores the Tri-Faith Initiative in Omaha, Nebraska, where a mosque, synagogue, church, and interfaith center share a campus, a garden, and a symbolic bridge. Through powerful storytelling, the film reveals how faith communities can move beyond mere coexistence to actively building relationships of trust and solidarity. The film also offers an intimate glimpse into how the events of October 7, 2023, challenged these relationships, as community members wrestled with unity in the face of deep grief and division. Following the Minnesota premiere screening, filmmaker Ellie Pierce will join Minnesota multifaith leaders for a moderated discussion on the film’s themes, reflecting on the challenges and possibilities of interfaith collaboration in today’s world. Click here for more information about the film and to view the trailer.

Elinor (Ellie) Pierce is the Research Director at the Pluralism Project at Harvard University. From her first involvement as a student researcher in San Francisco, Ellie has been actively engaged in field research and multimedia content development for the Pluralism Project. She co-edited World Religions in Boston: A Guide to Communities and Resources, co-produced and co-directed the documentary film Fremont, U.S.A., together with Rachel Antell, and served as content advisor for Acting on Faith: Women’s New Religious Activism in America. Ellie leads the Case Initiative and is the author of the case collection Pluralism in Practice (Orbis 2023). She is the co-editor of two volumes, With the Best of Intentions: Interreligious Missteps and Mistakes and Pilgrimage, Place, and Pluralism. She completed her B.A. in anthropology and international studies, with a core in religious studies, from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota; she earned her Master of Theological Studies degree from the Harvard Divinity School. Ellie’s most recent project is the short documentary film, Abraham’s Bridge.

Panelists:
Dr. Tamara Gray, founder and Executive Director of Rabata, an organization dedicated to promoting positive cultural change through creative educational experiences
Dr. Anant Rambachan, Emeritus Professor of Religion at Saint Olaf College.
Rabbi Adam Spilker, senior rabbi of Mount Zion Temple in St. Paul.
moderated by David Jordan Harris, founding executive director of Rimon: The Minnesota Jewish Arts Council. Harris has been interfaith arts special consultant for the Jay Phillips Center for Interreligious Studies at the University of St. Thomas and Saint John’s University since 2010.
Sponsored and organized by the Jay Phillips Center for Interreligious Studies at the University of St. Thomas in collaboration with the Minnesota Multifaith Network and co-sponsored by the Department of Music, Film, and Creative Enterprise.
This event is part of the 2025 Culture of Encounter Ideas Festival: https://sites.google.com/view/encounter2025/home