Founder and President Emeritus, United Religions Initiative

Bishop William Swing is the Founder and President Emeritus of the URI. Bishop Swing had the original vision of URI in 1993 in response to an invitation from the United Nations which asked him to host an interfaith service honoring the 50th anniversary of the signing of the UN Charter. Bishop Swing served as the Episcopal Bishop of California from 1980 until his retirement in 2006. In that capacity, he was a national and international leader in response to the AIDS crisis, co-founded Episcopal Community Services to address San Francisco’s homeless problem, and co-founded Community Bank of the Bay to support local businesses and the economy. Biography as at 01.04.24 The above narrative biography is sourced from https://uri.org/who-we-are/our-team/staff