Some of the things the San Francisco Interfaith Council is currently doing or
has done:
  • Sponsor the Annual Mayor’s Interfaith
    Thanksgiving Prayer Breakfast, bringing
    together the Mayor and 200 other civic and
    religious leaders in prayer and to honor
    faith-based organizations that are working
    to reduce violence and improve the lives
    of children and youth.

  • Convene a monthly gathering -the
    second Thursday of each month from 8:
    00 am to 9:30 am at St. Mark’s Lutheran
    church, Franklin and O’Farrell -where all
    are welcome. Each month we share a
    light breakfast and showcase a program
    that serves the community. Each month a
    member of the clergy or a layperson
    shares his or her faith journey.

  • Coordinate the Interfaith winter shelter
    program, providing shelter beds for 80-
    100 men in the churches on Cathedral
    Hill with meals provided by congregations
    throughout the city.

  • Convene a forum for congregations -in
    collaboration with the American Red
    Cross, the Office of Emergency
    Management and San Francisco CARD
    (Community Agencies Responding to
    Disaster) -to be prepared to respond to a
    natural or man-made disaster. More than
    100 congregations attended a May 2006
    conference sponsored by the San
    Francisco Interfaith Council. Work and
    training continue.

  • Gather the interfaith community at times
    of civic or national disasters and also at
    times of celebration. Such a time was the
    April 18, 2006 centennial observance of
    the 1906 earthquake and fire; our
    response to 9/11; to the 101 California
    shooting and also for the 50th and 60th
    anniversaries of the United Nations.

  • Represent the interfaith community on
    behalf of the people of San Francisco. In
    March 2006, an official interfaith
    delegation represented our city in Rome
    at the elevation ceremonies of former
    Catholic Archbishop William Levada to
    Cardinal.

  • Help plan and publicize events that
    demonstrate interfaith co-operation in San
    Francisco. One example is the three-
    timesa- year gathering of “Children of
    Abraham”, where Jews, Christians and
    Muslims gather to discuss a topic of
    common spiritual concern.

  • Help sponsor the annual Church World
    Service CROP Hunger Walk. This year
    the walk hopes to raise $25,000, 25% of
    which will go to local food projects.

  • Coordinate the Fair Trade Coffee Project.
    Congregations can buy coffee from a
    cooperative in Uganda owned by Muslim,
    Jewish and Christian farmers. This fair
    trade coffee will provide a decent profit for
    these farmers and lift up support for
    interfaith cooperation throughout the
    world. St. Ignatius Church stores the
    coffee and Catholic Charities CYO buses
    make deliveries to congregations and
    agencies.

  • In 2005, sponsored, coordinated and
    raised funds for a Habit for Humanity
    interfaith build project in San Francisco
    that involved 9 congregations.

  • Publish a monthly on-line newsletter that
    informs religious and community leaders
    of interfaith events and highlighting the
    needs of the community.
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Interfaith Shelter
  • In 1991, the San Francisco Interfaith
    Council submitted a proposal to the newly
    formed national park at the Presidio to take
    over operations of the former military
    chapel. This resulted in the formation of the
    Interfaith Center at the Presidio, now a
    separate nonprofit. The SFIC continues to
    have a seat on that board.

  • In the early 1990’s the San Francisco
    Interfaith Council was instrumental in the
    formation of CARD (Collaborating Agencies
    Responding to Disasters) and served as
    CARD’s fiscal agent until 2005. CARD is
    now under the aegis of the Red Cross.

  • In 1997, the San Francisco Interfaith
    Council responded to a request from the
    City’s chief probation officer to provide
    chaplaincy services at the San Francisco
    Youth Guidance Center. With a grant from
    the Ford Foundation, the SFIC hired a
    chaplain, Rev. Toni Dunbar, who served for
    five years until the grant money ran out. Rev.
    Dunbar continued her work on a volunteer
    basis for another four years with support
    from volunteer ministers throughout the City.

  • The San Francisco Interfaith Council is a
    founding member of the Faiths Initiative at
    the San Francisco Foundation and
    continues to have a representative on its
    Leadership Committee. The Faiths
    Program brings together representatives of
    faith communities in the entire Bay Area to
    work on issues of common interest.

  • In April 2008, the SFIC was formally
    accepted as a Cooperation Circle member
    of the United Religions Initiative (URI),
    joining URI's network of over 400
    Cooperation Circles in 67 countries
    representing over 100 world religions. URI
    Cooperation Circles provide mutual support
    in achieving the purpose of URI, which is to
    promote enduring daily interfaith
    cooperation, to end religiously motivated
    violence, and to create cultures of peace,
    justice and healing for the Earth and all
    living beings.
San Francisco Interfaith Council
About the Council
From left to right: SFIC Exec. Director Michael Pappas,
SFIC Exec. Vice Chair Rita Semel, SF Mayor Gavin
Newsom, and SFIC Chair Rev. James DeLange.
SFIC Vice-Chair Rita Semel and Executive Director
Michael Pappas pose in a portable Incident Command
Center, one of 11 donated by SF CARD to San Francisco
Congregations that completed emergency management
training through the use of ICS – Incident Command
System. The training was funded by a grant from the
Walter & Elise Haas Fund.
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Interfaith Shelter
P.O. Box 29055
San Francisco, CA 94129
Mobile: 415.425.9631
Office: 415.474.1321