Partners in Dialogue began in the summer of 1991 when the Department of Religious studies invited representatives of the several faith communities in South Carolina to help plan a major interfaith conference. At the time two of the Department's faculty were in the process of writing a grant proposal to the South Carolina Humanities Council to help fund the conference. The timing of the conference was keyed to the Centennial celebration of the World's Parliament of Religions, held in the summer of 1993 in Chicago. The University of South Carolina conference was promoted as Columbia's contribution to the observances leading up to the Centennial celebration -- fitting, it seemed, since the 1893 Parliament was held in conjunction with Chicago's Columbian Exposition.

Representatives of seven faith communities responded to the Department's invitation and quickly endorsed the proposed conference theme -- “Partners in Dialogue: The Changing Face of Interfaith Encounter.” The theme, as well as the actual planning of the conference itself, proved to be extraordinarily effective tools to create a true partnership of faiths. The conference was held in February, 1992, with over 500 in attendance. Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, Christians, Muslims, Unitarian Universalists, and Bahá'ís became full partners in this undertaking, and have been so ever since.

At the conference challenging addresses by Marcus Braybrooke, K.L. Seshagiri Rao, Masao Abe, Nancy Fuchs-Kreimer, Khalid Duran, Leonard Swidler, and James Forbes framed the discussion topics for the small group conversations. These dialogue sessions gave participants opportunities to engage in face-to-face conversation with people of other faiths. The experience, although new for most participants, received an overwhelmingly positive response.

Conference planners did not realize that they were launching an organization that would last beyond the inaugural meeting. In the weeks following, other meetings were held in response to appeals by dozens of people who wanted the interfaith initiative to continue. Within a few months a continuing organization was launched, and committees began work on the next conference and a variety of other programs and activities.