As global displacement reaches historic levels, refugees and asylum seekers face deep trauma, loss, and uncertainty. In these moments of profound hardship, faith communities have a vital role to play in offering healing, sanctuary, and hope.
Join us for a powerful and compassionate conversation that brings together faith leaders to explore how spiritual traditions and interfaith solidarity can support healing and resilience among displaced communities.
This dialogue will highlight how different faith practices approach trauma, provide sanctuary, and foster belonging, and how communities of faith can work together to offer meaningful support to refugees and asylum seekers.
Date and Time: 12:00 - 1:30 PM PST, September 3, 2025
Learning Objectives
By the end of this webinar, Participants will leave with insights, inspiration, and practical tools for faith-based engagement in refugee healing. Participants will be able to:
Understand how various faith traditions approach trauma, healing, and a sense of belonging.
Identify actionable ways communities of faith can support refugees and asylum seekers.
Cultivate interfaith collaboration for greater impact in refugee resettlement and care.
Featured Speakers
Omar Reda
Founder, Healing Trauma Institute
Dr. Omar Reda is a board-certified psychiatrist, Harvard-trained trauma expert, and accomplished author. Dr. Reda is the author of The Wounded Healer: The Pain and Joy of Caregiving. He lives with his wife and 3 children in Colorado.
Reverend Canon Eric Metoyer
Episcopal Diocese of California
The Reverend Eric Metoyer serves as Canon for Racial, Social, and Environmental Justice for the Episcopal Diocese of California, based in San Francisco, CA. He is the advisor to the Episcopal Bishop of California, Rt Rev Austin Rios, on issues of faith and justice in society, especially attentive to Bay Area concerns. In this role, Rev Metoyer speaks to Bay Area communities as preacher and seminar leader, focused on building leadership and understanding our shared responsibility to create God’s Beloved Community, especially to migrant and other marginalized communities. ‘I’m inspired by Dr Willie James Jennings, who reminded us to be ‘prophets of hope in the times of hopelessness.’
Raised in Northeastern Vermont and educated in New England, Rev Metoyer came to San Francisco in 1990 and lives here still. He served on multiple boards and committees, including the Advisory Group for Church Planting and Ministry Development (Episcopal Church), is a private school board trustee, and is a member of the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church.
Rabbi Julie Bressler
Associate Rabbi at Temple Sinai, Oakland
Rabbi Julie Bressler (she/her) serves as the Associate Rabbi at Temple Sinai in Oakland, a 150-year-old Reform Jewish congregation located in the heart of Oakland. She earned rabbinic ordination and an MA in Jewish Education from Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles. She also serves on the board of Jewish Family & Community Services East Bay. Rabbi Bressler is a passionate teacher, community builder, and social justice advocate. She enjoys supporting others through their Jewish journeys, sharing the power of Jewish tradition, and asking and discussing big questions. She focuses on elevating voices often sidelined or silenced in religious conversations and believes in the importance of each of us raising our voices to impact existing conversations.