An interfaith organization invites individuals from all faiths and young leaders to attend an interfaith conference. This conference should preferably take place in a country with high religious diversity. This kind of conference should happen on a regular basis to build bridges between religions and to help jumpstart a variety of a variety of interfaith projects.

An interfaith organization invites individuals from all faiths and young leaders to attend an interfaith conference. This conference should preferably take place in a country with high religious diversity. This kind of conference should happen on a regular basis to build bridges between religions and to help jumpstart a variety of a variety of interfaith projects.

Activity: Structure and Needs

The conference can be a one-week or a week-end event.  Its participants can be national people or international persons depending on the budget available. To encourage the participation of all kinds of people it is better if the totality or a part of the participant’s transportation and stay can be financed. In order to secure funding for the project, it is proposed to partner with governmental organizations or companies. Before the event the organizers should make sure to have a proper location and accommodations for the participants.

Objectives: Impact and Focus

This is a promising practice because it engages dialogue between different religious communities,. Even if participants do not agree on some issues, they can come out of the conference with a better mutual understanding. Here, diversity is seen in a positive way. This means that they use diversity as a tool to create peace and social link, in the society. The practice can be replicated in countries where dialogue between the different religious communities is scarce. Moreover, common projects can be initiated from initial steps coming out of the conference. If this conference is annual, those projects can be presented a year later, as a means to enhance their impact within that year.

Field Data: Examples and Sources (Activity – Organisation – Location)

1.) Muslim Jewish Conference – Vienna, Austria

The Muslim Jewish Conference aims to engage dialogue between different religious persons and communities and to guide groups to create interfaith actions. Once a year, 100 young people from 40 different countries gather to talk about both Islam and Judaism.  This conference is more than just informative; it gives tools to the participants to engage and create their own interfaith action or organization. During the conference the participants are divided into teams where they will discuss different topics. They can be distributed as one for each team or one topic can be assigned for each day; so the teams can work on each topic. The participants are divided into 4 to 5 working groups. Each group works on a given subject through workshops. Every day has a new topic. So each group will attend 5 or 6 sessions during one full week (if you choose this option). The issues can be about conflict transformation, women in religion, islamophobia and anti-Semitism, etc. During the conference, there can be a number of workshops around how to promote community organizing as well as how to best structure an association and develop projects.  At the end of the conference, a final plenary can gather every participant to dialogue about the work that was done during the conference. At the end of the conference, a final report needs to be edited with what emerged from the conference.

2.) International Meeting on Religions and Human Being – Sant’Egidio community – Roma, Italy

The Sant’Egidio community, in the “spirit of Assisi”, organizes this forum once a year for two to three days. Each forum works on a different topic.  Their annual conferences gather dignitaries from different confessions and from 60 countries. The event takes place in a city hall or in the premises of one of the religious communities. Workshops with religious dignitaries are implemented, while public conferences are organized. Throughout the conference, the practitioners initiate common interfaith prayers. After the conference, the organizers publish a document with the outcomes of the conference.

3.) Long Night of Religions – Berlin State Religious Dialogue Program – Berlin, DE

The initiative is part of the Berlin State Religious Dialogue Program. One night per year, more than 100 places of worship open their doors to welcome the citizens of Berlin. Other activities are organized to promote interfaith cooperation and dialogue: meals, conferences, workshops, etc. In spite of the religious diversity that exists in Berlin, the challenge remains that people ignore for the most part the diversity of faiths and focus only on their religion. Through the Long Night of Religions, prejudices and ignorance about religious people are tackled through creating social links.

4.) Festival of Faiths – Louisville, KY, USA

The Festival of Faiths began in 1996 as a multi-day event organized to celebrate Louisville, Kentucky’s religious diversity. Participants in the first Festival were historically members of a variety of houses of worship and religious organizations, to show a sense of historical continuity. Today, the annual multi-day event is featured around a theme and annually attracts thousands of visitors from Kentucky, surrounding states, and from around the world. The Festival has been replicated in other cities. In 1998, the United States Senate recognized this Festival as a model of interfaith activity. The following year, it was also recognized by the Parliament of the World’s Religions.