Silicon Valley Interreligious Council (SiVIC) builds interreligious harmony and understanding so as to promote a just and compassionate society in Silicon Valley.
Subscribe to SiVIC NEWS for news and announcements
of upcoming interreligious opportunities in the South Bay and beyond.
Join the Silicon Valley Interfaith Book Club!
SiVIC has created a new opportunity for those interested in reading together with people of differing religious traditions. Find out how you can take part.
High School Students! Sign up for the 2014 New Mexico Interfaith Immersion Trip to take place July 31- August 4, 2014. The Teen Interfaith Leadership Council seeks to engage and inform teenagers about issues of social justice through acts of charity and advocacy. Find out more...
Dalai Lama at Santa Clara University
February 24, 2014
Warm Coat & Soup Project
|
On behalf of Emmanuel Baptist Church and Grace Baptist Church, we'd like to express our most heartfelt appreciation for everyone's incredible dedication to meeting the needs of the San Jose Downtown community. Our 11th Annual Coat and Soup Giveaway was again a tremendous success and everyone's efforts allowed us to "come together as a village" to meet the needs of God's people. Our interfaith efforts were represented by members of the Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Mormon and Catholic faiths. We had WestMed College students doing blood pressure checks, different fraternity and sorority organizations represented and many other civic and business organizations donate. To date, we collected 1247 coats, raised $4113, served at least 285 families, provided 120 blood pressure checks and had 225 volunteers serve throughout the two days of the event. Even after our one day event, the needs of the Downtown Street Teams and the needs of the Eastside of San Jose residents were met with whatever leftover items existed. God allowed our efforts to overflow because of everyone's generosity and giving spirits. Thank you. We could not do it without everyone's dedication. May this Christmas season of celebration find you also overflowing in peace, love and joy with you and yours. Until next year..always the second Saturday in December. Blessings, |
ROOTED IN FAITH - FORWARD IN HOPE
Interreligious Prayer Gathering
Over 100 people joined the Interreligious Prayer Gathering on Sunday, September 22nd at the Sacred Heart Community Services facility in San Jose.
Learn more and see photos of the event here.
Silicon Valley Teen Interfaith Council
2013 New Mexico Immersion Trip
Sponsored by Shinnyo-en Foundation in San Francisco and Working Partnerships USA in San Jose, nine teenagers, Shinnyo-en Buddhists, Jewish, Zoroastrian, Catholic and Hindu, set out on an interfaith journey taking them to Santa Fe and Taos New Mexico. They visited various religious centers (Hasidic, Tibetan Buddhist, Sikh, Hindu, Catholic) and learned from and prayed with the people of these various religious traditions.
The Silicon Valley Teen Interfaith Council helped plan and present the Duveneck Forum at Hidden Villa in April. See some photos.
Here's a video from that day:
- - -
Upcoming Events
See our listing of upcoming interreligious opportunities in the South Bay.
Sustainable, Just and Healthy Food Campaign
Shir Hadash already does a lot to support eating that is healthy and socially responsible. Within each of the four areas of the SiViC pledge, there are multiple options, and a congregation chooses one from each area to constitute its pledge. We found that our existing activities already met at least one option in each area. We made a conscious decision to pick another pledge activity in each area, one that we did not already do, to ensure that our pledge was a motivation for continuing to improve what we do – to paraphrase Lo Alecha from Pirke Avot, we must continue to improve upon the work we are doing. Read more . . .
Join congregations across Silicon Valley in making a pledge to better connect our food choices with our values. Faith institutions are becoming the front lines of health and sustainability movements, for many reasons. We are communities of people that care deeply about each other and about our responsibilities as stewards of the earth. We gather regularly for celebrations, meetings and rituals which involve food. We can become the force that turns around the obesity epidemic and creates the cultural shift needed to make our food system more sustainable. Find out how . . .
Our Religious Neighbor Next Door: Photo Project
Today's Silicon Valley is home to communities from virtually all of the world's religions. Indigenous peoples, Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox Christians, Hindus, Zoroastrians, Muslims, Buddhists, Pagans, Jains, Baha'i, Jews, Mormons, Sikhs, and many others have put down roots here, making our region a microcosm of the globe's diverse religious landscape.
This year, SiVIC invited local congregations and organizations to submit photos that capture their distinctive identities. The resulting collection – or better, collective snapshot of religion in the Valley in 2012 – made its debut at the closing event for this year's Silicon Valley Reads. Eventually it will be posted online. Although the original deadline is now past, we still invite communities to participate in expanding the exhibit.
Find out more . . .
October 2013
Two affiliate congregations of SiVIC – Congregation Sinai and the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community – joined with Lincoln Glen Church for a trialogue, "Serving Humanity and Its Challenges." The event was moderated by SiVIC Chair, Andrew Kille and co-sponsored with Abrahamic Alliance International. You can see a video of the conversation at the AAI website, or read more in the AAI Newsletter, OlivA.
September 2013
Recognizing the United Nations Peace Day, SiVIC co-sponsored a Peace Conference in Berkeley that drew participants from around the Bay Area, as well as the Sounds of Peace concert that was held at the Presidio in San Francisco.
July 2013
SiVIC Board Chair Rev. Andrew Kille spoke at a prayer gathering in Burlingame for the victims of the Asiana 214 flight crash, sponsored by Tzu Chi.
May 2013
SiVIC Board Chair Rev. Andrew Kille joined with community and religious leaders to open the new dental clinic for the poor sponsored by Tzu Chi in Milpitas.
SiVIC presented a panel with Rev. Gerry Sakamoto of the San Jose Buddhist Church, Diane Fisher of the Jewish Community Relations Committee, and Imam Tahir Anwar of Southbay Islamic Association speaking on culture and religion and how their communities are involved in public service at a session of the Faith-Based ReEntry Consortium held at SBIA.
Several SiVIC members attended the "Bathing the Buddha" ceremony at the Chung Tai Zen Center in Sunnyvale.
The SiVIC Interreligious Leaders Forum was held at Congregation Sinai with a panel discussion on "Sharing our Scriptures," including several speakers from the ING Interfaith Speakers Bureau.
April 2013
Students from the Silicon Valley Interfaith Teen Council helped to plan and present the Duveneck Forum at Hidden Villa in April. See some photos.
Former SiVIC Board member Rev. Bruce Bramlett was Master of Ceremonies at the annual Holocaust Remembrance observance for the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. Board members Diane Fisher and Steve Herrera worked with students who made presentations.
March 2013
SiVIC presented a panel on interfaith cooperation for several groups of students at the Hoover Middle School in San Jose. Traditions represented included Christian, Jain, Hindu, Buddhist, and Wiccan.
See more of the activities of SiVIC on our News page.
SiVIC emerged from discussions among a varied coalition of religious communities, non-profit agencies, educational institutions, and governmental offices in Santa Clara County that has been meeting since the beginning of 2010. Download our brochure.
We invite you to become a part of creating this new interreligious network!
- Send us your contact information at info@sivicouncil.org to be notified of upcoming events and news
- Let us know what you'd like to offer! Write us at info@sivicouncil.org.
