wfn.org | Parliament of World's Religions Event in New York , Sept 13, 1999

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@wfn.org>]

September 8, 1999
Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions
Mim Neal, 312 629 2990, mimneal@cpwr.org
John Dart, 818 363 3984, jdartnews@aol.com
http://www.cpwr.org

    Chicago - Two officers for the Council for a Parliament of the World's 
Religions (CPWR) will introduce the 1999 Parliament at a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 
gathering Monday, Sept. 13, at New York's Union Theological Seminary 
(Broadway at 120th Street).
    Dr. Howard Sulkin, chairman of the CPWR board and director of Chicago's 
Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies, and Trustee Preminder N. Jain, 
director of International and UN Affairs at New York's Interfaith Center, 
will describe the global meeting to be held Dec. 1-8 in Cape Town, South 
Africa.
    More than 6,000 religious leaders, scholars, activists, youth and laity 
are expected in Cape Town to participate in hundreds of workshops, 
seminars, and celebrations as well as the devotions of virtually all the 
world's religious and spiritual practices.
    The Sept. 13 preview will assemble a similar diversity. Leaders from 
seven faith traditions - Christianity, Baha'i, Buddhism, Judaism, Hinduism, 
Islam, and Native American -- will conduct individual devotions, breaking 
the day's activities with chants, prayers, and songs.
    Rev. Dr. Joseph C. Hough, Jr., president of Union Theological Seminary, 
and the Very Rev. James Parks Morton, president of the Interfaith Center, 
will open the gathering. Three workshops will be held. One, on the 
Parliament's "Gifts" project, will cite examples of effective service to 
humanity to be featured in Cape Town. Another will focus on the 
Parliament's key document, "A Call to Our Guiding Institutions," which 
invites powerful segments of society to reassess and redefine their roles 
in a just and sustainable future. A third will focus on building a world 
movement for nonviolence.
    A presentation by local young people will anticipate the Parliament's 
youth initiative, the Next Generation. In Cape Town, young people will have 
their own symposia as well as access to other Parliament sessions. Based on 
these encounters, they will create the Dec. 6 plenary session. In a similar 
exercise, New York youth will meet Sept. 8 to prepare a presentation for 
the Sept. 13 event.
    The Interfaith Youth Corps (IFYC) will also be introduced. Designed 
last June by CPWR, the United Religions Initiative in San Francisco, and 
the Interfaith Center of New York to enable young people to express their 
spirituality through service, IFYC will be officially launched at the Cape 
Town Parliament.

************************************************

Ms. Mim Neal
Public Relations Manager

Mr. John Dart
Media Consultant - CPWR / California
Tel. / Fax: 818-363-3984
     E-mail: mailto:jdartnews@aol.com

    CPWR Tel.: 312-629-2990
    Fax: 312-629-2991 / 3552 / 1287
    Direct Line for Mim Neal: 312-629-1120

    Web site: http://www.cpwr.org
    Parliament General Info: mailto:99info@cpwr.org