Your passage should come from a religious tradition you identify with personally. 

Select a passage that takes about a minute to read out loud (around 200 words).  Discussion participants read three or four passages to each other at the beginning of a session, and may want to reread them during discussion.  Your passage should be substantial enough to reward close reading, but concise enough to be grasped in one hearing.

Choose an English translation is easy for contemporary readers to understand but which conveys the meaning and form of the original with minimal interpretation.   The Jewish Publication Society (JPS) and New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) translations of the Bible.  (We hope to develop collections of texts in languages other than English as well.  Let us know if you are interested in contributing.)

Write a short introduction to your passage, also around 200 words.  Give readers who might be unfamiliar with your tradition any context they will need.  You don’t have to introduce them in detail to the scripture your passage comes from—Torah, Qur’an, or Bhagavad Gita, for example— but consider what readers might need to know about the story, people, or settings involved.  Tell them why you think this passage speaks to the selected theme.  And let them know if the passage has some personal significance to you and your life.  You do not need to write as a scholarly expert, and you should not attempt to speak on behalf of an entire faith tradition—just speak from your own understanding of the text, and your relationship with it.

Tell readers, in broad strokes, in one sentence, who you are.  Because these texts will be shared in correctional facilities, we suggest leaving out identifying details.  Go with something like “SB is a seminary student preparing for a career as an interfaith chaplain” or “CB serves as Associate Priest at an Episcopal church in Manhattan.”

Give permission for the Interfaith Center of New York to share your contribution publicly for non-commercial use.