John Parent

John Parent is a student of Transformative Leadership and Spirituality at Hartford Seminary. John is active in promoting interfaith relations, education, understanding, peace and fellowship via various networks, joint-services, and community educational opportunities throughout the greater Hartford area.

Sami Abdul Aziz (Sammy Aziz)
Imam/Chaplain Sami A. Aziz is a public educator and spiritual peacemaker. He is the founder of Common Ground Institute & Services (www.CommonGroundServices.org), an Islamic consulting firm dedicated to educating the public on Islam and collaborating for peace. He also serves as the Chaplain for Wesleyan University as well as the Imam for Bloomfield Muslim Community Center. In the virtual world he is an Imam for PrayerSpark.com, a global interfaith prayer service as well as the founder and/or maintainer of many websites & Facebook pages including; Philly Muslims, Connecticut Muslims, and Lighthouse for Humanity and to name a few. In his capacity as Imam he represents the Muslim community at the Bloomfield Interfaith Association and the Interfaith Refugee Resettlement Committee of which he is a founding member. He is a graduate of the Master’s in Islamic Chaplaincy program at Hartford Seminary.

Imam Aziz has been on an educational campaign since 2015 to fight against ignorance, hate, and fear of Muslims, while creating peace between faith communities. He has visited institutions across America to spread the message of peace, which is the core of Islam.

Imam Aziz believes strongly in establishing peace and justice between all people regardless of color, race, ethnicity or religion. He often refers to the following verse from the Quran for guidance: “O you who have believed, be constantly upright with equity (with others), witnesses for God, even if it be against yourselves or (your) parents and nearest kin. In case (the person) is rich or poor, then God is the Best Patron for both. So do not ever follow prejudice, so as to do justice; and in case you twist or veer away, then surely God has been Ever-Cognizant of whatever you do.” ~Quran Chapter 4 Verse 135