We reported last week about how Clergy Beyond Borders (CBB) has taken the country by storm – visiting over 13 cities in the last two weeks.

The rousing Reconciliation Tour were greeted by Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley at their final stop. USDemocrazy was a at St. Katherine Drexel Church in Frederick, MD to bring you the scoop:

Sunday’s program began with scriptures, music, and prayer from all of the three Abrahamic faiths.

O’Malley offered a short address and proclamation for the organization and praised how the tours promotion of

Deeper understandings of one another, of the dignity of every individual, of the religious traditions of our neighbors, and of the essential unity that we all share.

The keynote address was given by President and Founder of CBB Imam Yahya Hendi, who started out by recounting that

A year ago, cynical voices told us this caravan will not take place.

But after two weeks on the road, Imam Hendi and his traveling band of Rabbis and Reverend had proved the naysayers wrong. The group had spoken with over 6,000 people and covered over 3,000 miles. Hendi reported an “overall positive” reception from the public during the tour, explaining that

people came with warm hearts…[they] are looking for hope, for people to tell them that there’s something good out there.

United Methodist Minister Steve Martin told USDemocrazy that the tour was

a spectacular success! It has gone beyond what a lot of us expected.

Martin recounted a specific moment in Chattanooga, Tennessee, when the group had stopped to deliver their message to a mega-church, not known for its inclusion or tolerance.

However, after Hendi’s message, the crowd leapt to their feet and gave him a standing ovation. The Imam’s message of religious pluralism and harmony echoed with them.

Hendi gave a similar message to the St. Katherine Drexel parish members, as well as the community leaders and other attendees who had gathered for the program on Sunday.

He stressed that the organization is named Clergy Beyond Borders, not Clergy Without Borders because the organization respects and values the specific faiths and traditions that all its members come from. The point of CBB and of interfaith work in general isn’t to water down or erase the distinctions between religions but to build partnerships and understanding across them.

Hendi closed his message by reminding the audience that

The journey of healing America…has just started. We still have a long way to go, to heal America, to heal our neighborhoods, to heal our religions, to heal our houses of worship. But our hopes are up. We are inspired. Our dreams are real. We will overcome someday. Our faith is strong, for with faith we can move mountains and turn walls of separation into tables of dialogues.

At every stop on the Caravan, a large scroll of paper was brought out for attendees to leave their prayers and wishes. Rabbi Gerry Serotta explained that the group hopes to eventually present this scroll to President Obama, whose White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships strongly supported the tour.

Some of the messages left included

Peace, Shalom, Salaam.

My prayer is that one day all the labels will disappear and we will be known as human beings, worshipping and serving God, the creator of us all.

And one participant left a message of gratitude, saying

Thank you very much for coming to us and opening up our minds.

Imam Abdullah Antepli from Duke University spoke with USDemocrazy and explained that the tour’s intent was to provide exactly such an opportunity and offer

timely needed dialogue [about the] urgently required action for clergy to use religion as a tool of reconciliation when it’s usually used for division.

Antepli serves on the Advisory Board for Clergy Beyond Boarders and was along for part of the Caravan. At today’s event, he shared a scripture from the Qur’an, both in Arabic and English.

The most memorable moment of the tour for Antepli was their visit with legislators in Nashville, TN. Antepli said that he could see how torn these leaders were. In their communities, the legislators were seeing the rise of exclusive voices and “seeing how deeply troubling attitudes toward Islam” were.

This interaction caused Antepli to realize

how urgently we need to respond and challenge exclusive voices with peace and love.

The Caravan may be the first of its kind, but Imam Hendi says he knows it won’t be the last. The group is already planning and fundraising for future trips, including one to the Middle East to share their message of interfaith compassion and pluralism.