The Interreligious Communities Project
ICP
ICP
The Program
The Interreligious Communities Project (ICP) is Sharing Sacred Spaces’ hallmark program.
The ICP brings religious and spiritual communities together within a safe and tested format. We visit one another’s sacred spaces, extend hospitality, equip ourselves with tools for dialogue, and build an interfaith city-wide community. The ICP is designed to engage religious diversity, to widen participation in inter-religious activity, and educate across each geographic context.
First piloted in Chicago in 2011, the program has now run successfully in 6 cities with positive results for building sustainable interfaith relations and bridging differences. ICP currently runs in multiple locations at once -- with another twelve cities planned for next year -- building and training interfaith leaders along the way. Please reach out to us if you are interested in having or running an ICP in your location!
The ICP is unique so far as interfaith programs go in that it:
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requires a 9-month commitment of all participants
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uses sacred architecture and sacred space (rather than worship services or panel presentations) as the inviting focal point for building relationships, conveying and respecting spiritual and communal histories and meaning, and experiencing awe
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includes several specific touch-points during the program that offer varied learning experiences and weave together the interfaith community
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most importantly, offers a sustainable solution to ongoing interfaith relationships and collective action.
There are two essential layers to the program.
Layer 1: Sacred Site "Experiences"
Each congregation participating in an ICP will host a site visit to their sacred space. Each visit is more than a ‘tour’ or ‘open house’, and must contain 7 specific tested elements. SSS has perfected our model for site visits over 14 years, and they are consistently lauded as joyous, educational, and overwhelmingly positive experiences of connection and hope.
A member of the SSS team holds a "design meeting" with each congregational team about a month before their scheduled site visit to build the visit in accordance with our framework and also to tailor the visit to the particulars of that religious tradition and that particular congregation.
Layer 2: Ċore Leadership Training
Online trainings once per month bring participants together across religious differences into a long-term, structured, facilitated process that develops core leadership competencies for understanding, listening, and communicating across a range of differences in our pluralistic world. These trainings begin in September and wrap up in May or June. Each training lasts 2 hours, and there are 8 sessions in total.
Participants are paired with partners throughout the program, and have light homework between each session.
The core leadership training is required and free for all core leadership team members. It is also open to members of the general public for a modest tuition fee.
The core leadership training services our ICPs and individuals from all across the US in a strong nation-wide network.
SUM: What the program looks like over the course of one year is a combination of sacred site experiences coupled with the once-a-month online training. The program is a commitment of approximately 40-45 hours for the core leadership team over the course of the program, creating a deeply transformational journey that surfaces a true sense of our common humanity.
The Process
So how does a city come to run an ICP?
ICPs are initiated in a city by a person who is either appointed as, or who independently wishes to take on, the role of Volunteer Coordinator. (Perhaps this is YOU?!). Sometime the Coordinator is a representative of an interfaith organization; sometimes a member of a congregation; sometimes they are an individual who wishes to build a network, gain community-organizing training, and make a meaningful difference in their city.
All it takes to run an ICP in your city is to have a person to take on the role of Coordinator. You may have two or even three people to share this role as well. Coordinator(s) receive a $2000 stipend as appreciation, and for any expenses they might incur in their role. This is the total amount per location, so if there are multiple coordinators, this stipend would be split pro rata.
The Sharing Sacred Spaces team asks for Coordinators to be on board by May 1st for their ICP to launch in September, and SSS trains and supports all Coordinators with an orientation, coaching, interfaith awareness, community-building skills, and all materials and resources they will need along the way. The Coordinators all become part of our national volunteer network of incredible leaders.
If you are interested in having an ICP in your city, please contact us so we can help you launch the process!
Proven Results
Post-program interviews reveal participants in the program gain:
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a wider perspective
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breakdown of stereotypes
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loss of defensiveness and fear
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deep knowledge of difference
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an overcoming of one's own limitations
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impeccable, fun experiences
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relief and satiation of curiosity
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hope and optimism
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feelings of solidarity
100% of people who have attended our events state they would like to attend another.
WHAT PARTICIPANTS SAY
Venkat Gade
The Chinmaya Saraswati Ashram
Venkat Gade
The Chinmaya Saraswati Ashram
What I found to be of the most value was working as a group to understand our own limitations and fear, and removing the ignorance and understanding of only one worldview. The program helped me progress along these lines.
Dr. Thomas Lovia Brown
The Dixwell Avenue Congregational United Church of Christ
Dr. Thomas Lovia Brown
The Dixwell Avenue Congregational United Church of Christ
I’m fascinated with it. We get a chance to go into another institution to see how it works on the inside. As you look on the inside, you see the souls of people.
Sarah Berry
Congregation Beth El-Keser Israel (BEKI)
Sarah Berry
Congregation Beth El-Keser Israel (BEKI)
I can’t believe how amazing the site visits were. They were heads and tails above any other site visits I’ve done. People really learned. It’s been a pleasure. My daughter came with me to one visit and asked if this program is happening in Boston where she goes to college. I had such a good time this year!
Steven Yates
St. Barbara’s Greek Orthodox Church
Steven Yates
St. Barbara’s Greek Orthodox Church
I learned a lot of factual mechanical information about others…but even more, just seeing people in the midst of who they are…it’s hard to see someone in one dimension anymore.
KellyAnn Carpentier
Lay Dominican
KellyAnn Carpentier
Lay Dominican
I’ve been inspired to try new things like different foods and restaurants since participating in the program. And when I go to those new places, I feel like I know how to relate. I’m no longer fearful of making a mistake. I’m really expanding my possibilities and I’m making a lot of new friends!
Dr. Charles Warner, Sr.
The Dixwell Avenue Congregational United Church of Christ
Dr. Charles Warner, Sr.
The Dixwell Avenue Congregational United Church of Christ
There was a very comfortable feeling from day one. Being black and going into situations where you’re the only one, one always feels like one has to be on the defensive. I never felt that way here. I think I have changed as a result of the program. It’s made me more broad-minded. It’s opened me up to a bigger world. The only missing was that it came to an end so quickly!
Jane Whelan
Roman Catholic
Jane Whelan
Roman Catholic
I felt relief as it was made possible to really talk about differences. It was an unburdening type of experience.
Jane Bedell
The New Haven Society of Friends
Jane Bedell
The New Haven Society of Friends
It was so comforting to have people describe their tradition and then be able to ask questions. Normally I’d feel rude or like I would offend if I asked questions. But never here. I think this is because it was built into the structure of the program and that structure was repeated at each place.
Vivian Kwok
This program has been one of the highlights of my interfaith career. It has been a lot of joy and a lot of blessings. It has help us to get to know each other and grow together as people who share certain commitments like understanding each other and standing together in solidarity, both in happy times and in difficult times. The program has created a deep bond that will support us for the rest of our lives.
Roman Catholic
Imagine: a world in which religious difference is leverage for peace, a world in which people of all faiths receive each other in warmth and grace; and a world in which the interfaith reservoir of friendship and trust becomes a cradle of mutual understanding, support and protection that stands up to the ills of the world.
Vanessa Avery