United Religions Initiative

United Religions Initiative
HeadquartersThe Presidio in San Francisco, California, USA
Membership +1 million people
Leaders
 -  Global Council Chair Kiran Bali
 -  President The Rt. William E. Swing
 -  Executive Director The Rev. Victor H. Kazanjian, Jr.
Establishment
 -  United Religions Initiative Charter 26 June 2000 
Website
www.uri.org

The United Religions Initiative (URI) is a global grassroots interfaith network that cultivates peace and justice by engaging people to bridge religious and cultural differences and work together for the good of their communities and the world. The purpose of the United Religions Initiative is to promote enduring, daily interfaith cooperation, to end religiously motivated violence and to create cultures of peace, justice and healing for the Earth and all living beings.

This mission is carried out through local and global initiatives that build the capacity of more than 600 member groups and organizations, called Cooperation Circles,[1] to engage in community action such as conflict resolution and reconciliation, environmental sustainability, education, women’s and youth programs, and advocacy for human rights.[2]

Guided by the vision of founder The Rt. Rev. William E. Swing the URI Charter was developed through a series of international conferences and consultation with transformative organizational design practitioners David Cooperrider and Diana Whitney.[3] The URI Charter was signed by more than two-hundred people present, and hundreds more joining over the Internet, at a ceremony in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA on June 26, 2000.[4]

Organizational structure

The URI is composed of 640 Cooperation Circles (CCs) in 84 countries worldwide as of July 2014. CCs are groups of seven or more individuals representing three or more different faiths or spiritual expressions. CC members are located in one of eight regions; some span across multiple regions:[5]

Activities

Before the formal charter signing in 2000, URI supporters around the world participated together in a project called "72 Hours for Peace", in which more than 250 local organizations united in projects promoting peace and justice during the turn of the millennium.[6]

Examples of global and member initiatives documented in the public record:

References

  1. Cooperation Circles, United Religions Initiative
  2. "United Religions Initiative Charter".
  3. Cooperrider, David L. and Diana Kaplin Whitney, Appreciative inquiry: a positive revolution in change, page 31, Berret-Koehler Publishers Inc., 2005
  4. Pittsburgh Post Gazette, June 28, 2000, Ervin Dyer, Charter Signed for Religious Coalitions "Google archive".
  5. Cooperation Circles, United Religions Initiative
  6. Talcott, Sarah, Building the Interfaith Youth Movement: Beyond Dialogue to Action, p78, ed. by Eboo Patel and Patrice Brodeur, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2006
  7. Religion News Service, January 8, 2008, Jason Kane, Ugandan Religious Leaders Set Aside Rivalries in Pursuit of Peace "Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life".
  8. Marshall, Katherine and Lucy Keough, Mind, Heart, and Soul in the Fight Against Poverty, The World Bank, 2004 pp232-233
  9. Christian Today, April 12, 2005, Interfaith Group Backs Call to End Darfur Genocide, "christiantoday.com archive".
  10. Interfaith Peace-building Initiative

External links