Under the historic vaulted ceilings of the Salt Lake Tabernacle, strains and refrains of unity and love rang out on Sunday, April 27, 2025—not merely through sacred song, but through the gathering of hearts from every corner of the faith spectrum in and around the Salt Lake area.
The Salt Lake Interfaith Roundtable’s annual “Sacred Music Evening,” a tradition born out of necessity during the 2002 Winter Olympics, has matured over the ensuing decades into one of Utah’s most quietly powerful traditions of spiritual solidarity.
At a time when the world teeters under the weight of division and conflict, the Roundtable offers something rare and deeply needed: a celebration of sameness and solidarity that seeks not to dilute, but to deepen.
“It’s sort of like you put a frame around your faith, and the other faiths are sort of a frame around your own,” explained Rabbi Alan Scott Bachman, co-chair of the Roundtable and one of the evening’s musical contributors. “Like a frame enhances a picture, the interfaith experiences enhance each person’s own faith.”
History Rooted in Friendship
The Salt Lake Interfaith Roundtable began as a logistical task during the 2002 Olympics: provide faith services to a global community of athletes.
But as Rabbi Bachman recounted, “Some great friendships developed out of that, and so they decided to continue operating after the Olympics.”
What might have ended in 2002 became, instead, an affirmation of shared humanity and an annual event that gets better (and bigger) every year. “There’s a special feeling in the Tabernacle when you have different faiths and different parts of your society coming together to do something peaceful,” said Bachman. “That’s when God sort of shows up.”
And . . . this isn’t just metaphor.
As Bachman put it: “God is omnipresent, but there are times when you can feel God more than others.” Those moments are extremely special, spiritual, and sacred, like when he witnessed Jewish and Muslim children singing together–as they did not long after the October 7, 2023 conflict.
The Strength in Shared Difference
Interfaith dialogue often raises questions of doctrinal compromise or religious dilution. But the opposite has proven true for Rabbi Bachman. “There are many instances where people became stronger in their own faith,” Bachman noted. “Once you have to tell somebody about your own church, you sort of have to know what your own church is [and believes].”
He also shared instances of how Rountable relationships have grown deeper and evolved into personal friends. One example is how his friends involved in the Roundtable from the Hindu community—Neale and Indra Neelameggham—drove hours and hours from Utah to Colorado to attend his rabbinic ordination. “We became so close… and I have other friends like that too, from the Roundtable—Episcopal, LDS, Muslim, Buddhist. A lot of these people have become friends with each other outside of Roundtable activities.”
This sentiment was mirrored in the Sacred Music Evening program’s finale: the audience stood for a stirring rendition of “Let There Be Peace on Earth,” led by Rabbi Bachman on piano, his wife Andalin Shekhinah Bachman on flute, and organist Bonnie Goodliffe as the congregation sang:
“With God, our Creator, family all are we.
Let us walk with each other in perfect harmony.”
A Response to Division
Rabbi Bachman offered a grave reminder of the urgency behind interfaith work: “We’re now at a time when we can destroy the entire planet… and so we can’t afford to be this divided.”
Indeed, when people share songs, stories, and prayers, the perceived “otherness” dissolves. “We need to learn what our commonalities are,” Bachman urged, “and understand that people we thought were very different from us aren’t really all that different.”
A Community of Bridge Builders
The success of the Sacred Music Evening is due to the tireless efforts of its leaders and contributors. Rabbi Bachman, Chair of the Sacred Music Evening, was supported by the co-chairs of the Interfaith Roundtable, Josie Stone and Pastor Curtis Price. They were supported by a dynamic board of representatives from faiths including Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism, and Indigenous spirituality.
And while the online world may reward controversy with clicks, events like this remind us that the deepest power lies in connection. “Every year people walk out and say, ‘Oh, this was the best one ever,’” said Bachman. “And maybe they’re right. Because there’s always a new moment of divine presence that leaves you speechless.”
As the final notes of sacred music faded from the Tabernacle rafters, what remained was more than a memory—it was a collective, sacred vow.
A vow that with faith, friendship, and intentional purpose, peace on earth might indeed begin with each of us.
dyejo
Guest Author
J Washburn
