'Tour of Faiths' showcases diverse religious communities throughout Cache Valley

LOGAN — The tapestry of religious faith across Utah has been interwoven with dozens of faith traditions throughout its history. In Logan, religious leaders have decided to highlight 10 of those traditions available to those seeking a higher power, community, or even just understanding.

The Cache Valley Tour of Faiths kicks off on Friday, starting a two-week-long journey for visitors to explore the faiths that exist in northern Utah. Ten participating faiths will open their doors for an hour to teach visitors about their religions.

The gathering, the third such event sponsored by Cache Community Connections, seeks to highlight three principles: unity, understanding and respect.

Each religion will host informal, 15-minute introductions to visitors, allowing them a chance to learn about the beliefs, traditions and practices of their neighbors. Following the introductions, visitors can pose questions to the presenters to learn more.

Interested visitors are welcome to return during the churches' worship hours, according to Jason Tubbs, director of the Cache Valley Tour of Faiths. However, he was very strict about one thing for the tour:

"There's no sermonizing, there's no preaching and there's no proselytizing," he said. "None. ... This isn't the forum nor the opportunity to convert or proselytize. It's an opportunity to open eyes and educate."

This year, 10 faiths agreed to open their doors to visitors during the Tour of Faiths, each of which participated last year. An 11th group also initially agreed to participate, but needed to back out for undisclosed reasons.

Tubbs said he approached 52 different faith organizations. Some of the organizations told Tubbs they were not interested, while other faith leaders said they might be interested in participating in future events.

"If somebody called me Thursday night ... and said, 'Hey, can we get a part of this?' I would find a way to put them in without a doubt," Tubbs said.

The previous year, several of the tours overlapped, forcing visitors to choose between which location they would like to visit. This year, the tours have been streamlined to allow visitors a chance to flow from one location to another.

During the first weekend, six different faiths will open their doors — three on Friday and three on Saturday. The following week, four different faiths will do the same, with two on Nov. 20 and two on Nov. 21.

Tubbs expects that between 25 and 50 people will come to tour the different locations, likely traveling together as a large group.

Cache Community Connections will also be hosting a special Gratitude Concert, which will be held at 7 p.m. on Nov. 22 at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church at 725 S. 250 East in Hyde Park.

The concert, which features local musicians from different faiths, is not attached to the Tour of Faiths, but Tubbs said he thinks it will be "a good capstone" to the event.

"We would love to have anyone visit," Tubbs said. "We've had people from Idaho down to Layton that are coming up to visit, and that is absolutely welcome."

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