In addition to the annual interfaith conference, potluck suppers/dialogue meetings have
proved to be very popular. Individuals bring prepared dishes characteristic of their tradition
or culture. The opportunity to share a meal inevitably opens up conversation about the
dietary habits of this group or that, providing a reminder that knowing about eating habits
is one of the most effective ways to learn about a group. The evening typically includes a
panel discussion and group conversation on the announced topic. Examples of topics
include: Signs and Symbols of Light in Our Respective Traditions; Views of the Afterlife;
Religious Values and Politics; The Place of Interfaith Relations Within the Programmatic
Emphases of My Faith Community, etc.
Partners has also sponsored worship open house experiences, when a special invitation is
extended by one faith community to the others to attend an important event at their place
of worship. Typically this includes an opportunity to witness the host community at
worship and also affords a chance for someone in the host institution to explain the
architecture and religious symbols in their sacred space.
The faith communities involved in Partners joined together in a Witness for Reconciliation,
an effort to heal the racial divisions in the State caused by the flying of the Confederate flag
atop the State House. More recently, Partners has become involved with the South Carolina
Department of Corrections and other groups to provide an interfaith support program for
the families of prison inmates who are terminally ill.
The Department and Partners were honored by the invitation to serve as hosts of
NAINConnect'97, the annual meeting of the North American Interfaith Network, August
7-10, 1997. Connections with NAIN and the International Interfaith Centre in Oxford,
England, signal the growing maturity of the organization.
Partners has served as a consultant on several occasions to the State Board of Education. It
also works cooperatively with the South Carolina Christian Action Council and other
groups which value the diversity of religions in our State. The most recent collaborative
effort involves participation in an inclusive coalition of religious groups to work out a
consensus on what religious freedom means, in theory and practice, in South Carolina's
religiously diverse culture.
A newsletter is published several times a year.
