PUBLIC / PRIVATE VENTURES is a Philly-based agency in the forefront of demonstrating the work of faith-based and community organizations in civil society. It has launched and overseen a variety of demonstration projects around the country to test the capacity of such organizations to implement effective programs. It is particularly interested in partnerships between faith-based and secular organizations and institutions (both public and private), as they address the needs of at-risk and high-risk populations, especially youth. Former Mayor Wilson Goode is one of P/PV's most prominent voices.
THE INTERFAITH CENTER OF GREATER PHILADELPHIA was founded in 2004 to promote broad dialogue, education and immersion experiences. It offers models for interfaith dialogue and strategies for defusing inter-religious tension. It engages teens and college students in service to the community, in order to build understanding and trust, bridge differences, and strengthen youth development and identity.
METANEXUS INSTITUTE, a creation of the Conshohocken-based Templeton Foundation, advances what it calls "the constructive engagement of science and religion" by collaborating with specialists from diverse religious traditions and scientific disciplines. It does this though conferences, publications and public awards to scholars in this often-controversial pursuit.
PHILADELPHIA INTERFAITH ACTION is an independent community organization created to be "a vehicle for citizens to cross over the lines of race, religion, neighborhood and single issue narrowness that often divide poor, working and middle class families with common interests." PIA, with 30 member congregations and organizations, is a activist voice on issues that impact the city and the region.
BLACK CLERGY OF PHILADELPHIA AND VICINITY, representing pastors from about 400 churches, is an activist group that runs social service programs and advocates for community development, anti-crime and other issues. The group receives federal funds for a job training program and has encountered criticism for its endorsements and politicking on behalf of local public officials.
THE ARTS AND SPIRITUALITY CENTER, born in 2000, focuses on artistic and spiritual expression as an avenue for social and personal healing. It holds workshops, programs, and artistic productions around the city in partnership with a various community organizations, addressing a wide range of needs and concerns. Among its initiatives are MasterPeace and the Interfaith Youth Poetry Project and it is now launching an innovative Drums for Peace initiative.
CALVARY CHAPEL OF PHILADELPHIA embodies the "post-denominational" worship and born-again lifestyle that is booming in the U.S. -- and it is distinctive for its multicultural membership. It is a huge, evangelical "megachurch" that holds several services on Sundays and is a beehive of activities during the rest of the week.
BHARATIYA TEMPLE is a Hindu complex recently built by Indian immigrants in the northern suburbs. A visit there would show how these prosperous expatriates are coping in their diaspora. Bharatiya is a pan-Indian "multi-diety" temple. To help keep the culture alive, Bharatiya also houses a cultural center for the community where children of the area can learn languages and their culture. Additional features are a library, kitchen facility, classrooms and a large auditorium for weddings and cultural programs.
CATHOLIC SOCIAL SERVICES, an arm of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, is the largest social-service provider in Pennsylvania, operating in large part under contract to the city and state government. Its role and its ground rules (as faith-based but scrupulously secular in its delivery of public services) would be of interest to foreign visitors. CSS's ten agencies offer services including residential treatment programs for at-risk children, family preservation services, foster care, adoption, immigration services, counseling, senior citizen centers, programming for the elderly, transitional housing, homeless services, and care for medically fragile men and women. It provides residential and community-based education programs to court-adjudicated youth, and sponsors residential and community-based care for persons who are developmentally delayed.
UNITED MUSLIM MOVEMENT, founded by the former record czar Kenny Gamble, has developed affordable housing for Muslims and non-Muslims within the Philadelphia area and assisted Islamic schools and businesses. UMM's vision is to build, from the ground up, a Central Masjid for the entire City of Philadelphia. UMM has acquired a site to build the Central Masjid along the prominent Avenue of the Arts. Meanwhile, it operates a radio program, runs special events like Islamic fashion shows and has a scholarship fund.
"LET FREEDOM RING" is a nonprofit, grassroots public-policy organization supporting the Conservative agenda at the intersection of faith and politics. It holds workshops tp encourage pastors to speak out during religious campaigns, and believes left-wing groups have stifled such expression. The group was founded by a conservative Chester County politician, Colin Hanna. Hanna also since created a controversial website WeNeedAFence.com, about immigration reform.
GOOD SHEPHERD CHURCH, Rosemont is a prominent "Anglo-Catholic" Episcopal parish that is at war with the liberal local bishop, Charles Bennison. Good Shepherd parish is headed by David Moyer, who has become a bishop in a splinter group that does not recognize the US Episcopal leadership. The church has become a national platform in the running conflict over gay, women clergy, and other articles of faith and doctrine.
THE MIDDLE EAST FORUM is a conservative Philadelphia think tank whose goal is "to define and promote American interests in the Middle East," defining those interests to include "fighting radical Islam (rather than terrorism), working for Palestinian acceptance of Israel, urging the Bush administration to better manage its democracy efforts, reducing funds going to the Middle East for energy purchases, more robustly asserting U.S. interests vis-à-vis Saudi Arabia, and containing the Iranian threat." The Forum is headed by scholar Daniel Pipes, who has drawn controversy for his Islamist Watch and Campus Watch, which counters what it considers biased information about Israel and the West.
THE RUTGERS JOURNAL OF LAW AND RELIGION is an innovative scholarly journal based at Rutgers-Camden Law School. Its goal is to explore how law impacts different religions, and reciprocally, how various religions impact the law.
PEOPLE FOR PEOPLE, INC., in North Philadelphia, is a model of faith-based social services funded under the Bush administration's controversial ?charitable choice' initiative. People for People is the community-development arm of Greater Exodus Baptist Church, which is headed by Pastor Herb Lusk, a prominent protégé of Bush's. People for People operates job training programs and has undertaken community development and revitalization programs that have gotten national media coverage.
JEWISH COMMUNITY RELATIONS COUNCIL of Greater Philadelphia has a long record of intergroup and civil rights advocacy. It was instrumental in creating laws against employment and education discrimination, and works with religious and civic groups on a range of common causes.
SALVATION ARMY is a venerable Christian organization that provides a broad range of social services in the region, often under government contract. Programs include emergency food and housing, child-care, and afterschool programs.
TEMPLE UNIVERSITY has scholars in its religion and history departments who can speak about US religious history, women and religion, US evangelicalism, religion and politics, interfaith affairs, and the role of the black church in civil society.
THE FOUNDATION FOR ISLAMIC EDUCATION is a private institute dedicated to serving the needs of Muslims in the Greater Philadelphia area. Located on 23 suburban acres, it houses a masjid, the Villanova Academy for Honor Studies (a madrassah, grades pre-kindergarten through 6th), the Villanova Weekend School (Qur'anic, Islamic and Arabic studies and other educational and recreational activities), the Da'wah and Media Department and the Community Service Department.
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN JEWISH HISTORY presents programs and experiences to connect Jews more closely to their heritage and to promote in everyone a greater appreciation for American diversity and freedoms.
NEIGHBORHOOD INTERFAITH MOVEMENT (formerly the Northwest Interfaith Movement) develops programs to aid young children, their families and the elderly. Acting in alliance with 36 Protestant, Catholic and Jewish congregations (and very recently with Muslim groups), NIM carries on a wide range of programs all working to fulfill its mission "to build a more just and sensitive community though advocacy and service."
CHILDREN'S CHOICE is an evangelical Christian nonprofit agency providing services to children and families "in need of the re-integrative process of family living." It focuses on foster care and adoption, and is good example of the often-controversial Christian social work based on biblical values.
OPERATION UNDERSTANDING is a community based organization designed to train young people in cross-cultural leadership and promote dialogue between the African American and Jewish communities. Operation Understanding was established in 1985, by former U.S. Congressman William H. Gray 3d, a pastor in North Philadelphia.
PHILADELPHIA JEWISH ARCHIVE CENTER collects and preserves the historical record of the Jewish communities of the region, and makes this record accessible to the public. Its holdings include memoirs, family, business, organizational, and synagogue papers, and over 6,000 photographs.
QUAKER INFORMATION CENTER provides information and referral services about the Religious Society of Friends: beliefs, practices, history, literature, organizations.
ARCH STREET FRIENDS MEETING HOUSE, built in 1804, is the oldest Friends meeting house still in use in Philadelphia and the largest in the world.
