Just Interfaith Collaboration: Dr. James Buchanan, Interfaith Cincy

Dr. James P. Buchanan was educated at Yale University and University of Chicago where he completed a PhD in comparative religions and value systems. He also studied at the Sorbonne in Paris, The University of Moscow, and the University of Beijing. His teaching and research has focused upon ethics, global systems, and interfaith dialogue. He held the first endowed chair in E/RS at Xavier before becoming University Professor and Executive Director of The Brueggeman Center.

Interfaith Cincy began as a joint academic and interfaith project between the Brueggeman Center for Dialogue at Xavier University and the Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati Fellowship through Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion. They began at a planning meeting between Judie Kuhlman, a Xavier Graduate student in Theology, and Nathan Farb, a Rabbinical Student at HUC-JIR, as well as Dr. James Buchanan of the Brueggeman Center. They set out to answer the basic question: “What is the state of interfaith activity in Cincinnati?” They soon found that no one in Cincinnati had attempted a comprehensive study of the people and organizations participating in interfaith projects. They began by interviewing many leaders and members of diverse organizations across the tri-state metro area. They found a lot of passionate individuals serving their communities through interfaith cooperation toward meeting common needs. They also found that the greater the level of cooperation, the greater the level of success. With this new knowledge in mind, they set about creating a permanent and dynamic resource to serve the interfaith community: InterfaithCincy.org.

Their goal is to seek out these groups and the services they provide, in order to enable them to expand their capacity. The website provides a communication network for individuals to share success stories and their best ideas. Interfaith Cincy uses academic resources to objectively represent the variety of organizations that we have encountered in a growing directory.

In keeping with their scholarly roots, InterfaithCincy.org is also an educational tool designed to strengthen interfaith dialogue.

https://www.interfaithcincy.org/