Leader of interfaith organization honored with leadership award

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Religions for Peace USA (RFPUSA) executive director Tarunjit Singh Butalia, an Indian-American Sikh, was recently honored with the 2020 Gwynne Guibord Award for Excellence in Interreligious Leadership award.

The National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA (NCC) gave the award to Butalia on Oct. 13, 2020, which also happens to be Butalia’s 55^th birthday, according to a news release.

The interreligious leadership award is given to those who work closely with leaders of many faiths and traditions to explore and uphold the experience and presence of the holy body, the NCC said.

According to RFPUSA, Butalia has been involved in the interfaith movement for over two decades. He is also a member of Board of Trustees of Parliament of the World’s Religions as well as North American Interfaith Network.

He is also a founding trustee of Sikh Council for Interfaith Relations and serves on the Advisory Committee of the Global Sikh Council. He is former advisory board member of the Journal of Interreligious Studies. He has served on the board of National Religious Coalition Against Torture as well as World Sikh Council – America Region.

He has worked with Interfaith Association for Central Ohio for more than 20 years and is co-editor of the Ohio Bicentennial book ‘Religion in Ohio: Profiles of Faith Communities’. He has received other recognitions as well.

RFPUSA is one of largest and most broadly-based representative multi-religious forums in the United States, with participants from more than 50 religious communities, representing each of the major faith traditions, according to its website.