CBS to Air WORLD RELIGIONS: SIKHS, SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS & MENNONITES, 12/14

WORLD RELIGIONS: SIKHS, SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS, & MENNONITES, a CBS Interfaith Special, looks at three faiths and asks them to share with us their beliefs, traditions, histories and modern voice. This special broadcast will be on the CBS Television Network Sunday, Dec. 14, 2014 (check local listings).

On the program, we interview Simran Jeet Singh, who is a Sikh and a PhD candidate at Columbia University's Department of Religion, about the tenets of the Sikh tradition, which originated more than 500 years ago in South Asia, in a region called Punjab. Singh also talks to us about common misconceptions and how this sometimes leads to discriminatory practices in the U.S. The show features services at the Sikh Cultural Society in Queens, N.Y.

Also featured on the broadcast is John L. Ruth, a Mennonite who is a descendent of the first early Mennonite settlers in the U.S. who settled in Pennsylvania in the 1600s. With the Mennonite tradition dating back all the way to 16th century Europe, we also speak with Joel Alderfer and Forrest Moyer of the Mennonite Heritage Center in Harleysville, Pa.

Finally, we spend time in Silver Spring, Md., with Ella Smith Simmons, Vice President of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, a Protestant denomination that began in America in the mid-1800s, and ask her about what it means to live as an Adventist today. We also hear from Dr. Bill Knott, editor of the Adventist Review and Adventist World, about how the religion was first founded. Also interviewed is Richard Duerksen, Assistant to the President for Maranatha Volunteers International. He shares his reflections on the faith and the mission work his organization is doing all over the world.

John P. Blessington is the executive producer and Liz Kineke is the producer. In creating the topics and content of this Cultural & Religious Documentary CBS seeks input from the National Council of Churches, the Interfaith Broadcast Commission, and from clergy, scholars and other representatives of each of the religions presented within a program.

Following the Dec. 14 air date, this program may be viewed again at www.cbsnews.com/religion-and-culture. "Like" us onFacebook.com/CBSReligion and follow us on Twitter @CBSReligion.