Interfaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington

The Interfaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington (IFC) is a Washington, D.C.-based interfaith organization that brings together eleven historic faith communities to promote dialogue, understanding and a sense of community among persons of diverse faiths and to work cooperatively for social and economic justice in metropolitan Washington.

IFC members are the Bahá'í, Buddhist, Hindu, Islamic, Jain, Jewish, Mormon, Protestant, Roman Catholic, Sikh, and Zoroastrian faith communities in this region.

IFC works towards creating a just community through coalition-building, education, training and advocacy, by uniting diverse faith leaders to speak and act together, networking with other groups, publishing community resources and holding public events involving music, award ceremonies and lectures.

IFC is committed to protecting religious liberty through education and outreach, advocacy, and policy. For youth, IFC participates in and leads a variety of service programs where young people of many faiths come together to clean up the environment, help build houses with needy families and other socially constructive projects, with time for discussion as they learn about each other.

In 1997, IFC released a strongly-worded condemnation of attempts to convert people from one religion to another. This rebuke was in response to a resolution of the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in the United States, calling on its members to redouble their efforts to evangelize Jews. Particularly singled out for criticism was the Messianic Jewish movement:

This opinion voiced in this statement is generally rejected by Evangelical and Pentecostal Christians, as well as by Messianic Jews. Messianic Jews maintain that Jews are being assimilated into secularism at a high rate, and they are following the example of Jesus to reacquaint such lost and disenfranchised Jews with traditional Jewish religious practices. [ [http://www.ourrabbis.org MJRC] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.ifcmw.org/ InterFaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington]