Tblisi, Georgia — Baptists in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia initiated a historic Christmas Day gathering of Muslims and Christians hailed as a model for interfaith relations.
Muslim clerics from both Shia and Sunni traditions from Georgia, Iran, Turkey and Azerbaijan gathered with Orthodox and Baptist clergy Dec. 25, 2013, at the event hosted by the Evangelical Baptist Church of Georgia.
Malkhaz Songulashvili, archbishop of the 72-church Baptist union, led the service along with Imam Zurab Tsetskhladze, the head of Georgian Muslim Union.
The service featured readings about the birth of Jesus from both the Bible and Qur’an and culminated with the exchange of gifts. Muslim clerics gave Georgian-translation copies of the Qur’an to Christian clergy and Christians gave copies of the New Testament to Muslims.
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