Interfaith Marriage: Challenges and Opportunities

with visiting speakers:

Rabbi Michal Woll and Jon M Sweeney

Interfaith couple and co-directors of the

Lux Centre for Catholic-Jewish Studies, Wisconsin, USA

Interfaith Glasgow and St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art invite you to the next event in our ‘Faith to Faith’ dialogue series.

Faith plays an important part in many people’s lives. For many couples, faith strengthens and supports their union. But what happens when couples practise different religions from each other? Is it still possible for faith to be a unifying factor? How are difficulties and disagreements negotiated and can having different religious worldviews bring any positive benefits?

Jewish-Catholic couple Jon and Michal are seasoned speakers on interfaith relationships and have even co-authored a book on the topic - titled Mixed up Love. They will share their reflections on navigating the challenges and finding commonality and love through their differences, raising children (and deciding which religion to raise them in), and on the role faith plays in daily family life. They will be joined by their 15-year-old daughter Sima, who has just become bat mitzvah, assuming responsibility for her Jewish faith.

Come along to listen to one family’s learnings, share your own thoughts, and engage in conversation with people from diverse backgrounds on this fascinating topic.

Tea, coffee, and cake will be provided.

People of all faiths and none are welcome!

Meet our speakers:

Michal Woll is rabbi of Congregation Shir Hadash in Milwaukee, Wisconsin US. A third career rabbi, she is a graduate of Northwestern University, MIT, and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. She was ordained following decades of work in corporate and clinical medicine. Since ordination, Michal has maintained her interest in medical ethics and end-of-life care. As a rabbi, she integrates her passions for music, movement, learning, self-discovery, pastoral care, and community building. Rabbi Michal is active in the Interfaith Council of Greater Milwaukee and Tikkun Ha-Ir/Repair our City and is affiliated nationally with T’ruah: The Rabbinical Call for Human Rights as well as Dayenu: A Jewish Call to Climate Action.

Jon M. Sweeney is an award-winning author and independent scholar who has been interviewed by the Dallas Morning News and The Irish Catholic, on radio with NPR and the BBC, and on many television programs in the US. His books have sold more than 300,000 copies, and have been translated into several languages. They include Meister Eckhart’s Book of the Heart, coauthored with Mark S. Burrows, Thomas Merton: An Introduction to His Life and Practices. The Pope Who Quit, optioned by HBO, and a memoir published in May 2024 called My Life in Seventeen Books. Jon has also worked as an editor in publishing for thirty years.