Respecting the Sacred, a Feb. 25 interfaith dialogue program at Temple B’nai Abraham in Bordentown, had not yet begun, but you could already see its benefits, observed Richard Shain.

All around him in the synagogue’s meeting room, some 40 people were mingling — Jews, Christians, and Muslims — some wearing kipot, others wearing the rounded Muslim cap known as a kufi, one wearing a matching kufi cap for his striking African dashiki.

“It’s quite amazing,” said Shain, adult education chair of the 60-family Reconstructionist congregation, “because there are so many different spiritual communities here, and everybody is interacting on the basis of equality and spiritual fellowship.”

Added Sharin: “Even as you look now around the room, you can see something coming out of it — having communities interested in each other in a positive and social way and learning more about each other.”

A sense of spiritual fellowship was at the very heart of the day’s activities, according to Rabbi Alex Lazarus-Klein of B’nai Abraham, who participated in the Sunday afternoon panel discussion with the Rev. John Wesley Morrison of the United Methodist Church in Crosswicks and Dr. Levent Koc, director of the Carlstadt- and Newark-based Interfaith Dialog Center.

The synagogue has a close relationship with Morrison and his congregation as partners in an ongoing local interfaith discussion group, interfaith services, and a pulpit exchange program, the rabbi explained.

“Those things are well instituted,” he said, “but we wanted to go well beyond that experience to include Muslims and Hindus.” With that in mind, Morrison recently reached out to the Interfaith Dialog Center, an initiative of New Jersey’s Turkish-American community.

“The purpose of their group is to promote respect and mutual understanding among all faiths and to really promote cooperation after Sept. 11,” said Lazarus-Klein, a member of the Board of Rabbis of Princeton Mercer Bucks. “They were especially interested in working with a Jewish group.” In fact, he said, the Feb. 25 program marked the first time an Interfaith Dialog Center luncheon program was being hosted by a synagogue.

“I’m very excited about exploring this type of dialogue,” Lazarus-Klein said. “It’s very difficult to get Muslims involved in this, just because they’re kind of out of reach of our community. We don’t have already established networks. For our community — a very small community — it’s wonderful to be able to be the first Jewish group involved in this.”

For Morrison, the idea behind the luncheon and panel discussion was simply to bring congregational leaders together — both clergy and laity — to discuss interfaith issues.

“The topic we decided on was timely, because there are tensions about the question of sacred things and how they should be treated between Muslims, Christians, and Jews,” the minister said. “This is a point of friction, so it’s something a discussion could help us deal with in a better way. When our communities talk together, they’re finding we have so much in common. That’s the greatest significance of this kind of thing.”

Promoting such exchanges is the single mission of the Interfaith Dialog Center, which was founded in 2003, according to Koc. He has been serving as director since the summer of 2004.

“We learn from each other,” he said as he stood in the synagogue kitchen, unwrapping traditional Middle Eastern luncheon dishes of hummus, eggplant salad, rice, and the dessert of wheat berries, beans, fruits, and almonds known as Noah’s Pudding. “This is the philosophy we have. And always, we develop solid, sound friendships.”

As the panel discussion unfolded, Lazarus-Klein, Morrison, and Koc displayed and discussed sacred objects from their communities’ traditions — for the rabbi, the braided candle and pungent spice box of the Havdala service that separates the sacredness of Shabbat from the secular week; for the minister, a purple satin bookmark for the Christian Bible, with its cross and its letters — IHS — signifying the Greek name of Jesus; and for the Turkish Muslim, a copy of the Koran, the Muslim book of law, prayer, wisdom, and worship.

The three panel members discussed their holy books and their sacred stories. They spoke about showing respect for the sacred in their own faith traditions and the faith traditions of others. And they explored the tensions between the sacred and the secular.

It was exactly the kind of interfaith exchange several of the participants had looked forward to during the luncheon before the program.

“It’s not often you get a chance to have direct dialogue with people of other faiths,” said Betsy Ramos of Mansfield, president of B’nai Abraham. The synagogue participates in many joint community-service projects with the United Methodist Church in Crosswicks, she added. “We don’t have that kind of relationship with the Muslim community,” she said, “and it would be nice to forge that kind of relationship.”

Another B’nai Abraham member, Marcy Schwartz of Bordentown, called the initiative “a very creative and productive effort.” Her friend and neighbor, Kate Williamson of Christ Church in Bordentown, pointed to the importance of the different faith traditions getting to know one another.

“I personally know nothing about Islam,” Williamson said, “and I don’t think that’s something I should continue to be ignorant about.”

Laura Matecha of Hamilton, a member of the United Methodist Church, said she was looking for “open, honest communication,” and Tom Reilly of Hamilton, a member of the Dorothea Dix Unitarian Universalist Church in Crosswicks, said he saw the program as a continuation of the kind of exchanges Unitarians engage in all the time. “It’s sort of like an effort to break down barriers,” he said.

Two others who were hoping to break down barriers were Mona and Salim Manzar of West Windsor, who volunteer with the Institute of Islamic Studies in East Windsor. The couple had brought with them a gift for B’nai Abraham — a copy of the Koran.

“We’ve been part of the [local] interfaith dialogue for a few months, and it’s been wonderful,” said Mona Manzar. “We’re hoping we’ll be able to learn as well as communicate what’s sacred in the different religions.”

“I’m happy and excited to participate,” added her husband. “It’s an opportunity for me personally to learn the traditions and the teachings of the various Abrahamic faiths.”