Interfaith Dialoguing

The Interfaith Coalition lives out its commitment in this area through a variety of initiatives:

Monthly meetings of the Pastors for Community Ministries
On the second Thursday of every month since mid-2007, we have held a lunchtime meeting of faith leaders from a diverse set of faith traditions. The meeting is the result of dialogue and cooperation between the Interfaith Coalition and the Interdenominational Ministers Action Council (IMAC). Youth and youth leaders from Hicks Anderson Community Center also now join us. We meet to:

  • To explore and understand our different faith traditions and share in each other’s spirit

  • Build collaboration to support changes to neighborhood culture and systems that impact youth/families

  • Plan activities together like neighborhood cleanups and walks, youth council formation, and developmental asset building workshops

  • Support the initiatives of the Interfaith Coalition and learn about and support the work of each attending congregation
We gather at the Dickerson Educational Center, across the street from New Pentecostal United Holy Church at 8th and Monroe Streets. Generally we meet from 12:30 p.m until 2:00 p.m., unless otherwise noted on our website’s homepage. Let us know if you plan to attend, so we can make sure we have enough subs and beverages for lunch.

Citywide Faith Survey
As a community partner with the United Way of Delaware, we supported the collection of programs/services and profile information from 100 faith-based organizations in Wilmington and helped document areas of collaboration with government and nonprofit entities. We coordinated the vetting of the questionnaire with faith leaders, supplied local interviewers and subsidized the build of the survey database.

View the searchable faith survey database

Now that the survey is complete, we encourage dialogue around 10 questions for faith-based leaders in Wilmington to answer

The United Way is organizing and administering a follow-up activity to the faith survey. Delaware Faith In Action Weekend is scheduled for Friday, October 23 through Sunday, October 25, 2009. The purpose is to unite faith organizations and social service agencies throughout Delaware in a series of community service projects over a single weekend. Please contact the United Way if you are interested in helping to plan this event.

Interfaith Worship
We partner with IMAC to advance the interfaith nature of MLK events every January.

We promote the annual Interfaith Thanksgiving Service held each year on a rotating basis among congregations along the Baynard Blvd and Concord Avenue sections of Wilmington.

Wilmington Mission Trips (planned)
Spiritual journeying and lending a hand to someone that needs assistance can take place on an interfaith mission trip right here in Wilmington. We can:

  • Provide practical help to neighborhood residents and organizations

  • Learn first hand about important systemic issues in our City and the impact on the lives of youth and families

  • Build support for ways to strategically come together for comprehensive and socially just solutions

  • Foster interfaith, interracial, and urban/suburban relations and partnerships

Contact us if you would be interested in helping to design and plan a Wilmington mission trip with us.

Covenant of Hope
As the Hope Commission report was nearing its release date in March 2006, the Interfaith Coalition, IMAC, and the Metropolitan Wilmington Urban League drafted the Wilmington Covenant of Hope as an expression of support and unity among faith leaders, urging them to be proactive and cooperative in pursuit of a common cause…a better Wilmington for everyone.  The Wilmington Covenant of Hope has been highlighted at the August Quarterly events where it was signed by a large number of faith-based organizations in the city.

Prison Reform
In September 2005, the Interfaith Coalition organized and hosted a two-day event at First & Central Presbyterian Church with Reverend Eugene Rivers from the Boston Ten Point Coalition, to talk about ways that Wilmington’s faith based community could work together to reduce violence in the city and address other critical issues in a coordinated way. At that meeting, a petition was signed by over 30 clergy from across all faith backgrounds decrying the medical care and treatment of those incarcerated in Delaware’s prisons. The petition was sent to the Governor, and represented the first time in recent memory that such a large group of diverse faith based leaders came together in support of a single issue. As we know, investigations into prison practices were subsequently ordered due to the pressure of organized and unified efforts like ours.

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