ORLANDO — The sounds of a Buddhist chant led into the songs of the Southwest Orlando Jewish Congregations Cantorial Corps. Muslim children sang “The Beautiful Names of Allah” after a Chiricahua Apache Medicine Man sang to Wankan-Tanka, the Great Spirit. People from eight different faith traditions sang “Let There Be Peace on Earth,” the Prayer of St. Francis.

And one after another Native Americans, Hindus, Jews, Buddhists, Muslims, Sikhs, members of the New Thought Movement, Catholics, Protestants and non-denominational Christians prayed to God for peace and harmony.

Approximately 500 people from throughout Central Florida gathered Jan. 6 at the Rosen Plaza Hotel Ballroom in Orlando for the first Interfaith Call to Prayer for Peace and Harmony.

Members of Orlando’s St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, which has a long-term relationship with the local Muslim community, wanted to do something to diffuse the hostility against Arab and Arab-looking people following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. They invited the Florida Council of Churches to be involved.

More than 350 people attended an unpublicized and hastily-planned Muslim and Christian prayer service in Altamonte Springs Sept. 17. The success of that event was the inspiration for this latest event.

The Florida Council of Churches sponsored the Interfaith Call to Prayer and the Rev. Fred Morris, its executive director and a retired United Methodist elder from the Northern Illinois Conference, led the planning committee. The United Methodist Committee on Relief gave a $2,600 grant that covered the cost of printing and renting sound and lighting equipment.

The Florida Council of Churches seeks to “promote and facilitate the oneness of the Body of Christ while celebrating the diversity among the various confessions,” according to its mission statement.

“We called together all the leaders we were able to identify,” Morris said. “We met two weeks later and wanted to do an intentional statement of our unity under one God, though we have different ways of understanding…and worshipping that God. As people of the United States, we need to stand together.”

Richard Crotty, chairman of the Orange County Commissioners, opened the service by reading a proclamation from the county commissioners naming Jan. 6, 2002, “Interfaith Call to Prayer Day.”

Each of the eight faith traditions participating presented music and offered a prayer for peace from its own tradition. The prayers were printed in their original language with phonetic and English translations. Many of the faiths offered their prayers in both the original language and English to allow participants to join in the prayer. Brief histories and statements of faith by each of the religions were also included in the program and prayer book.

In his closing remarks to participants, Morris said God is “bigger and better” than any one religion or religious tradition.

“It’s important you believe your religion is true, or else why bother?” he said. “The God we all worship is bigger…than any of our religions can understand. None of our scriptures exhausts the God that created 40 billion galaxies with a billion stars each. I’m a fifth generation Methodist, and I don’t think we have a corner on God. We need to get beyond defending our own particular religion…and fulfill our religious traditions by loving each other.”

In addition to the Interfaith Call to Prayer, Morris said the Florida Council of Churches is working with the National Council on Community and Justice to coordinate regional gatherings that will allow people from different religions to talk about their faiths.