Outreach in action: Growing effort to build bridges is changing Utah

Despite a constant stream of public dialogue in recent years about how religion divides Utahns, there is a flip side that may surprise some of its most vocal contenders.

More often simply acted on than shouted about, there is evidence of a growing tide of interfaith outreach around the Beehive State. Its ultimate aim — to challenge long-standing stereotypes and bridge what for many has been a historical tendency to segregate along the lines of "member" or a "non," "Jew" or a "Gentile," "active" or "less active" or "inactive."

If you fail to recognize the lingo, you haven't been in Utah very long. Embedded in the culture over time, the phrases have come to commonly refer to whether you are a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as some 70 percent of the population is characterized, and if so, how involved you are in the faith.

For many, determining another's "category" has long been considered a built-in guidepost for the tone of future dialogue, potential friendship, and even the innate level of shared trust that must exist among residents who call themselves a community.

Some have managed not only to move beyond the comfort zone of their own faith but to encourage others to do the same. While their activities are sometimes chronicled in print, more often they meld into the realm of the mundane.

Yet those who put themselves out enough to start bridges find there are many waiting in the wings, willing to help with construction.

A five-year search of the archives at the Deseret Morning News brings up numerous interfaith event announcements and stories including chronicles of joint annual Thanksgiving and Christmas services, Easter processions and musical performances. But the picture of cross-faith endeavor now under way in Utah is slighted by such a cursory look.

Besides, many would argue that anyone can "tolerate" another — or better yet, be friendly — for a mere hour or two. Especially if all you have to do is show up.

But what if the endeavor absorbs a chunk of your free time, costs you money or changes your opinion?

Linda Walton, a chaplain at Utah Valley State College, has seen a distinct change in Utahns' willingness to cross religious lines in recent years.

She came from California nearly two decades ago and says things are definitely "not the same as it used to be when I first moved here."

"It was just one way at that time, and it was very homogeneous."