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Interfaith Working Group Projects
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Letter writing
In nine years our letterhead has grown to include
twenty-two congregations and religious organizations and
seventy-six clergy
from seventeen religious traditions.
We've sent an average of ten
letters
a month to newspapers, magazines, TV stations,
state and Federal officials, school boards, school officials and the heads of
national organizations.
We have written to support gay teachers and gay-friendly school policies
and teaching materials, to protest censorship and forced religious
participation, to argue against the policies of the
Radical Religious Right,
to uphold marriage for same-sex couples, to
counter the demoralization programs of groups like the
American Family Association,
and to dispute claims that all religious people think alike, or that the
extension of privacy rights or the practice of minority religions has led to
a general moral decline.
Our letters have been published in the
Philadelphia Daily News,
the Philadelphia Inquirer,
Au Courant,
the Philadelphia Gay News,
the Philadelphia Forum, the Philadelphia Weekly,
the Atlantic City Press,
the Centre Daily Times of State College PA,
the Delaware County Daily Times,
the Lancaster New Era,
the Lancaster Intelligencer,
the Lancaster Sunday News,
Main Line Life,
The Morning Call of Allentown PA,
the York Daily Record,
American Biology Teacher,
American School Board Journal,
Billboard,
the Christian Science Monitor,
Education Week,
Teaching Tolerance,
U.S. News and World Report,
the Wall Street Journal,
the Aberdeen (SD) American News,
the Akron Beacon Journal,
the Amarillo Globe-News,
the Anchorage Daily News,
the Argus Leader of Sioux Falls, SD,
the Athens (GA) Banner Herald,
the Bakersfield Californian,
the Bergen Record (NJ),
the Birmingham (AL) Post-Herald,
Boston Globe Magazine,
the Brookings (SD) Register,
the Charleston (WV) Daily Mail,
the Charleston (WV) Gazette,
the Charlotte Observer,
the Chicago Tribune,
the Cleveland Plain Dealer,
the Cumberland (MD) Times-News,
the Daily Oklahoman,
The Daily Star of Oneonta, NY,
the Des Moines Register,
the Deseret News,
the Detroit Free Press,
the Detroit News,
the Duluth (MN) News Tribune,
The Eagle of American University,
the Fargo (ND) Forum,
the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette,
the Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
The Free Lance-Star of Fredericksburg, VA
the Freeport (IL) Journal-Standard,
Garden Island (HI),
the Grand Island (NE) Independent,
the Greensboro (NC) News & Record,
the Harvard Crimson,
the Honolulu Star Bulletin,
Iowa State Daily,
the Kansas City Star,
the Knoxville News-Sentinel,
the Las Vegas Review-Journal,
the Las Vegas Sun,
the Lincoln (NE) Journal Star,
the Manchester (NH) Union Leader,
the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder,
the Mississippi Press,
the News and Observer of Raleigh, NC,
the News-Leader of Springfield, MO,
The Olympian of Olympia, WA,
the Omaha World-Herald,
the Orange County (CA) Register,
the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,
Prince George's Journal of Lanham, MD,
the Providence Journal-Bulletin,
the Rocky Mountain News,
the Rutland (VT) Herald,
the San Luis Obispo County (CA) Tribune,
the Schenectady Daily Gazette,
the Shreveport (LA) Times,
the South County Journal of Kent, WA,
the South Idaho Press,
the Southwest Times Record of Fort Smith, AR,
the Standard-Examiner of Ogden, UT,
the Times-News of Hendersonville, NC,
the Tulsa World,
the Ventura County (CA) Star and
the Washington Blade.
We are always interested in adding to the names on the letterhead, especially
congregations and organizations from under-represented religious traditions.
We currently limit our official supporters list to South Jersey,
Delaware, and Eastern and Central Pennsylvania, and to established,
legally recognized religious organizations and congregations,
regional groups whose members come from one or more such bodies, and
individuals ordained as clergy by such bodies.
We will be happy to schedule a visit to talk to your group about joining.
Let us know if you're interested.
Newsletter
Our free four page monthly
newsletter goes out to local reporters,
columnists, and editors, and to over 350 clergy, music
directors, officials, and individual members of progressive congregations,
religious organizations, and civil rights organizations
in the Philadelphia area. The newsletter features news and summaries
of media treatment of the news,
a calendar of upcoming events,
a list of letters from the previous month,
opportunities for action, and mentions of
useful reading materials.
Pamphlets
We publish
Religious Liberty,
Religous Support for Equal Marriage Rights,
Religion and Reproductive Freedom,
Religion and Sexuality,
and
Welcoming Congregations
pamphlets in both hardcopy and web-based formats.
iwgonline.org
Interfaith Working Group Online attracts
visitors from all over the world.
Our links page is our most popular feature.
We also have a collection of writings by our clergy
supporters, text and bulletins from
interfaith services,
our monthly newsletter, a
summary of the current month's news
one year of letters,
and a directory of state and local
progressive interfaith organizations in North America.
Media Assistance
We've found interview subjects, studio guests, and guest opinion writers
for the Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News,
Lebanon (PA) Daily News,
Philadelphia Gay News, Au Courant, Action News,
the Channel 17 News, the Channel 29 News and AM Philadelphia.
We've been interviewed by and quoted in the Philadelpha Daily News,
the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Northeast Times,
Au Courant, the Philadelphia Gay News,
City Paper, Visions Today,
the Lynchburg News and Advance and Christianity Today.
We've appeared on
It's Your Call With Lynn Doyle (discussing the
Chester County Courthouse and the Ten Commandments),
the local radio shows Labors of Love
(discussing the Christian Coalition)
and qzine
(discussing internet activism) and on the Boston area show
1 in 10 (talking about the gay-related work of the IWG).
Events
We have publicized, cosponsored, helped organize, and
provided speakers for conferences, protests, symposiums, meetings,
rallies and services on a wide variety of topics related to our mission
If you are interested in
talking to us about an event please
click here.
We march every year in the
Philadelphia Pride Parade
Congregational Referrals
Our Guide to Welcoming Congregations
is available on the web and as a pamphlet. We also provide referrals
by phone and email.
Fund Raising
We have organized, publicized and/or participated in fund raising efforts
for several other organizations.
Organizational Cloning
We provide information and advice on starting local
interfaith organizations. And we encourage the development of
independent Interfaith Working Groups in other regions.
Organizational Relationships
The Interfaith Working Group is a member of the
National Religious Leadership Roundtable, and
we work closely with
Americans United on matters relating
to religious liberty and church-state separation.
We have worked on events with
Philadelphia and
Southern New Jersey
chapters and members of PFLAG, the
Center for Lesbian
and Gay Civil Rights, the
Alliance for Tolerance and Freedom,
the
Freethought Society of Greater Philadelphia,
Soulforce, Inc.
and
Soulforce Philadelphia.
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