SIKHS ADMITTED TO INTERFAITH GROUP

The Interfaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington has voted unanimously to admit the Sikh community to full membership, a move that makes the conference the first interreligious body in the nation to include the Sikh religion.

The Guru Gobind Singh Foundation, representing Sikhs in the area, was granted observer status in January 1988 "for both groups to get to know each other better," explained the Rev. Clark Loberstine, conference director. The group was voted full membership status this year.

The Interfaith Conference provides a common meeting place and opportunities for joint action on common concerns for Protestant, Catholic, Jewish and Islamic communities as well as the Sikhs.

Rajwant Singh, a director of the Guru Gobind Singh Foundation here, said joining the conference provides "an excellent opportunity to interact with other religious traditions for mutual understanding and to work towards a more just and peaceful society."

Sikhism emphasizes a personal relationship to God and an obligation of believers to work for social justice.

Singh said the local Sikh community has taken turns with other area religious groups in providing food for homeless people. "On March 18 we collected food from Indian homes to provide for 1,200 people" cared for by activist for the homeless Mitch Snyder, he said.

He said Sikhs are "attuned to the concept of interfaith efforts" and welcome "the opportunity for dialogue with other religions."

Observant male Sikhs never shave, as a sign of respect for the natural order of God.

There are more than 4,000 Sikhs in the Washington area, he said. "Once one family starts coming here, others hear about it and they follow," said Singh, who is in his final year at Georgetown University Dental School.

Sikh worship centers, called gurdwaras, are in Silver Spring and Burke. In addition, the community is constructing a national Sikh center in Potomac.

The Interfaith Conference, formed in 1978, seeks to focus the energies of member religious groups on a range of community problems ranging from racial tensions to AIDS. A current project is a "Children Under Siege" seminar April 30, open to the public, dealing with the medical, legal, social and economic threats to the family.

Articles appear as they were originally printed in The Washington Post and may not include subsequent corrections.