On October 25, the inaugural event of the new Interfaith Leadership Forum explored how to deepen interfaith work in religious communities, professional life, and our culture. Leaders from all segments of society, and those who want to become leaders, joined us for this virtual event.

The ILF aims to promote pluralism by convening leaders of various religious, ethnic, racial, cultural, and gender backgrounds to exchange ideas and generate action-oriented agenda. It provides a venue where a diverse group of community leaders, scholars, clergy, and public officials can engage in in-depth discussions on shared values and explore ways to harness them for social action. ILF is open to all individuals who are interested in advancing their interfaith literacy and serving the community as interfaith mobilizers in their professional or individual capacities.

Objectives:
* To strengthen interfaith relationships, literacy, and leadership by:
• Equipping one another with various models of dialogue with distinct ends.
• Experiencing deeper levels of interfaith encounter and dialogue
• Strengthening literacy about other’s faiths and about one’s own
• Overcoming prejudices and misconceptions about other faiths
• Elicit social action through interfaith engagement

Topics and workshops for the event include:

• Stories of Interfaith Dialogue
• Tackling Prejudices
• Learning from Differences
• Engaging a Racialized America, and
• The Life Cycle of Dialogue

Presenters at the Forum will include:

• Ibrahim A. Anli, Executive Director, The Rumi Forum
• Ann Delorey, Program Director, Interfaith Council of Metropolitan Washington
• Dr. Beverly Goines, Assistant Pastor, National City Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Washington, D.C.; Associate Director, Disciples Center for Public Witness; Adjunct Professor, Dept. of Theology & Religious Studies, Georgetown University
• Dr. Ori Soltes, Professor, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University
• Dr. Pim (Wilhelmus) Valkenberg, Ordinary Professor of Religion and Culture, The Catholic University of America
• Moderator: Dr. Larry Golemon, Executive Director, Washington Theological Consortium

Special thanks to the following for their sponsorship of the event:

• The Rumi Forum
• The Washington Theological Consortium
• The Interfaith Council of Metropolitan Washington
• Washington, D.C. Mayor’s Office of Religious Affairs