The Interfaith Family Journal is an invaluable resource for couples and family members practicing different religions (or none). Interactive exercises and creative activities help interfaith families decide how they want to honor their histories, cultures, and beliefs in ways that nurture joy, creativity, and empowerment. This five-week program encourages deep reflection, intimate dialogue, constructive ways to engage with extended family, and strategies for connecting with local communities. With space for writing directly in the book, the Journal becomes a keepsake of the interfaith journey.
March 31st 2019 from Skinner House Books!
Order from your favorite local bookstore, or online now.
PRAISE:
“Susan Katz Miller has created a way for interfaith families to embark on a joyful journey of discovery. As part of an interfaith family for over 25 years, (Muslim, Jewish, UU) I know that stories of family histories are crucial to understanding who we are today. This journal will become a part of your family’s story for many years to come.”
-Aisha Hauser, MSW
“A brilliantly original, practical approach to interfaith family building that combines structure with flexibility, common sense with spiritual depth. This book will become a lifelong companion.”
-M.H.P. Rosenbaum, co-author, Celebrating Our Differences: Living Two Faiths in One Marriage; Director, Dovetail Institute for Interfaith Family Resources
“Having spent my rabbinate working to support interfaith couples, I can think of no better gift than a tangible way to communicate about how to navigate two different backgrounds in one home. This will be an invaluable resource for clergy and wedding officiants and a beautiful resource to offer so many couples before their wedding and as they begin their marriage.”
-Rabbi Ari Moffic, founder of Cohere
“The Interfaith Family Journal is a wonderfully inventive and engaging resource for families blessed with more than a single faith tradition. More than this, its value reaches far beyond the ‘interfaith’ issue. It is a tool for clarifying a family’s aims for religious, spiritual and cultural meaning in their lives-and helping a family to tailor its life accordingly. It is pitch perfect for all 21st century families.”
-Sheila C. Gordon, PhD, President and Founder, Interfaith Community, Inc.
“As the child of an interfaith family, partner in an interfaith marriage, and co-director of an interfaith arts community, I’ve found that most questions of difference are to be lived rather than solved. In this guide, Susan Katz Miller equips us with creative tools and courageous tactics to do just that.”
-Rev. Erik W. Martínez Resly, Founder and Co-Director, The Sanctuaries
“Susan Katz Miller is a pioneer on multi-religious belonging and our wise guide in the realm of non-binary faith. Miller’s comprehensive, yet accessible blueprint empowers interfaith families and individuals in preserving, sustaining, and growing complex, beautiful religious and spiritual identities in the modern world. The Interfaith Family Journal is the gold standard map on this path.”
-J. Dana Trent, professor of World Religions and author of Saffron Cross: The Unlikely Story of a How a Christian Minister Married a Hindu Monk
“Susan Katz Miller has created a glorious and indispensable workbook for interfaith families navigating their collective spiritual life. She guides family partners through a series of smart journaling exercises that will help them see what would nourish them most thoroughly in the spiritual dimension and how to change and grow gracefully in that path. As someone who writes and teaches about how to create powerful personal and family rituals, I’m deeply impressed with the way she emphasizes tradition and helps families assess how to amplify and expand their own. She gets to this by explicit questions like: ‘On which religious or secular holidays would you expect to exchange gifts in your household?’ This journal is a flexible tool and true treasure for multi-faith families of all varieties.”
-Meg Cox, author of The Book of New Family Traditions: How to Create Great Rituals for Holidays & Every Day
No need to worry about having a difficult or painful conversation that goes in circles. Rather, the activities in Susan Katz Miller’s The Interfaith Family Journal will assist you to plan and dream together, with resources to help you deepen your connection as you go. As a couple and family therapist, I will be recommending this vital resource to all my interfaith clients and their families.”
-Jennifer Kogan, MSW, LICSW
“The Interfaith Family Journal builds a bridge between more than just two individuals who share their lives together-it also helps communities to build bridges in ways they never thought possible. It’s amazing to see a step-by-step process of discussing the questions and challenges that individuals and couples may have in sharing their convictions with one another, all while making a new commitment and intersection in life. Crafted with Susan Katz Miller’s own life experiences and extensive knowledge and research, this journal will help families value their differences and enrich their sense of belonging in each other’s lives and worldviews.”
-Tahil Sharma, Faith Outreach Manager, Brave New Films and Interfaith Minister in Residence, Episcopal Diocese of LA
“The themes in this book are broad enough that a family who comes together from different Christian backgrounds can use this book.”
Jim Erwin, Patheos.
Share the official book trailer! #myinterfaithfamily
Praise from families who tested the Journal...
It started conversations that we can continually revisit in our growing, blossoming, evolving marriage.
Caused me to think deeply about why I think something or why a certain tradition is important to me.
The format allowed self-reflection, helped us focus on issues in manageable segments, and encouraged us to really listen to each other’s viewpoint.
It invited us to have a conversation instead of leading us to choose a side.
We loved the creative sections. We were huge fans of the religions ancestry tree exercise. That is one that we plan on doing again when our children are old enough to participate.
Very helpful in determining what parts of our religious background are spiritually based vs culturally based, which was invaluable for us.
The questions were a good mix of practical and deep and helped us understand how we envision expressing our faiths to both ourselves and each other.
I did not feel pushed to make any particular decision, since the questions and exercises did not feel loaded or pointed at a certain conclusion.
We found the questions helpful because they covered so much ground and approached issues from a number of angles.
The journal sparked valuable conversation and could be a great tool for periodically checking in on growth or development in the course of the interfaith relationship (and especially during times of change, such as welcoming a child).
It inspired a deeper conversation around the level of involvement that we wanted religion to play in our future family.
Something about answering a high number of questions in relatively quick succession felt very productive. It was a great exercise in learning about each other, our preferences, and the motivations behind those preferences.
The specificity of the questions really encouraged us to think deeply about how we feel and what is meaningful to us independently.
It certainly had the feel of an unbiased, safe, non-judgmental couples’ counseling workshop.
We had never really dove into our parents’ and grandparents’ religious upbringing. The journal led to us calling our parents and grandparent to talk about their religious lives growing up. It was quite fascinating.
We had never talked about death as it pertains to our religions. This section opened us up to that conversation for the first time.
Reminded us that being partners in an interfaith relationship requires frequently revisiting conversations.
IN THE PRESS
8 Ways to a Peaceful December for Interfaith Families (And All of Us), PsychBytes, December 10 2019.
The Interfaith Family Journal, review, Jim Erwin, Patheos, November 25 2019.
The Interfaith Family Journal, review, Teresa Konopka’s blog, November 5 2019.
What’s Good with…Susan Katz Miller?! Q&A with Haywood Turnipseed Jr, Washington City Paper, August 25 2019.
Q&A with Susan Katz Miller, deborahkalbbooks, April 27 2019.
All in the Interfaith Family, Q&A with Emily Ruth Mace, Killing the Buddha, April 17 2019.
There is No One Way to Be an Interfaith Family, Q&A, Beacon Broadside, March 21 2019.
How Modern Families Are Celebrating Their Diversity During The Holidays, Yahoo News, November 23 2018.
