Civic Life
Faith-Specific Convenings
Faith-Specific Convenings bring together leaders within individual faith traditions to explore their community’s understanding of religious liberty and pluralism and its contributions to American civic life. Each convening culminates in a public event and shareable storytelling that highlights the diversity, complexity, and democratic commitments of that tradition.
The Need
Leaders and communities of faith and conscience play critical roles in building pluralism, protecting religious liberty, and advancing American democracy. These leaders bring to the table well-organized constituencies, deep credibility, and values-based passion, commitment, and care.
As we approach America’s 250th anniversary, polarization and the prevalence of “us-versus-them narratives” both within and between identity communities create a feeling of threat that lead many to build walls rather than bridges. Communities and leaders of faith and conscience are needed now more than ever to leverage their strengths and capacities for the good of all. But in these difficult times, many are struggling to find the inspiration and tools needed to keep going and to respond effectively. America’s 250th provides a needed opportunity for leaders to re-examine their capabilities and values for building pluralism and strengthening democracy, and to re-energize themselves and their constituencies to find needed inspiration and strength.
The Need
This process looks different for each community. Each community experiences and understands the concepts of pluralism, religious liberty, and democracy differently; has unique internal and external challenges and opportunities; and needs different messages and tools. A community or leader cannot come to the potluck with their identity if they have not had the chance to wrestle with their identity internally. It is thus critical to provide chances for each community to meet privately, to understand within what they need to make change without.
The Opportunity
Interfaith America’s Faith-Specific Convenings (FSC) bring together leaders from particular communities of faith and conscience to articulate communal understandings of religious liberty and pluralism, and to examine their communities’ experiences with these concepts, both historically and moving forward. As we commemorate America 250, the program is an opportunity to consider the historical and future role of faith and faith communities in strengthening pluralism and American democracy. The program involves closed-door roundtable discussions, public events, and video production. Each roundtable discussion involves personal storytelling, source collection and examination, crafting internal and external messaging, and discussing the challenges and opportunities of pluralism and democracy at this moment.
Outcomes & Outputs
- Leaders are inspired. Leaders see their tradition’s role in American history, feel proud of their contributions, and feel called to continue their community’s legacy. Leaders build strength and energy through gathering with other leading pluralists in their communities.
- Leaders are equipped with models of pluralism and leadership by participating in a guided experience involving the surfacing of values and stories, speaking and cooperating across differences, and modeling interfaith leadership. Leaders are equipped with community-specific stories, values, case studies, and messages that enable them to inspire and lead their communities in building pluralism.
- Leaders are connected to other communal leaders representing different professional interests and beliefs, creating stronger and broader coalitions for change and opportunities to learn from each other.
- Stories, ideas, and proof points are disseminated through video production, public events, and through leaders returning to their communities and sharing messages from within their community’s language and values – in turn inspiring their communities to engage in pluralism, strengthen democracy, and protect liberty.
Faith-Specific Convenings
Interfaith America’s Faith-Specific Convenings project will help faith-based institutions and leaders understand their own community’s perspectives and roles in building pluralism and protecting religious liberty and develop content and resources that highlight how their community contributes to strengthening American religious and civic life. These intrafaith conversations will help tell the stories of 10 different communities and faith and conscience. Each convening, held in partnership with a civic, educational, or social institution important to the community, will include two elements:
1. Private Intrafaith Conversation
A private facilitated conversation for 12-15 civic leaders, clergy, and experts from a shared religious identity looking at how that the diverse opinions within that tradition understand religious liberty, their contributions to American civic and religious life, and the current challenges their community faces with respect to religious liberty.
2. Public Religious Liberty Event
A public event focusing on that faith’s distinctive understanding of and connection to religious liberty as an American ideal.
Interfaith America will record and produce shareable videos about each convening. The videos will communicate each community’s complexities, diversity, and contributions to American democracy and be a tool for community members to discuss their faith and participation in American pluralism.
In 2026, IA will hold roundtable discussions with the Black Churches, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, and Sikh communities.
Jewish Convening
On April 14th, Jewish leaders convened at Hebrew College for a 2-day Jewish Intrafaith convening hosted by Interfaith America’s Civic team. What ensued was a succession of roundtable discussions and activities focused on religious liberty, building pluralism, and engaging with American Democracy.
“As people of faith tell their own stories… important truths emerge both about the role that politics is playing in religious communities, and the unifying potential of spiritual belief.”
— Promising Revelations: Undoing the False Impressions of America’s Faithful, More in Common
Contact Us
Please contact us with any questions.
Jake Shapiro
Program Manager, Democracy Initiatives
Interfaith America