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The Thanks-Giving Foundation is a non-profit organization based in Dallas, Texas. It was founded in 1964 and is the chief operator of Thanks-Giving Square, providing resources so that citizens from diverse backgrounds can use thanksgiving and gratitude as ways to heal divisions and enhance mutual understanding.
As an advocate of interfaith dialogue, the Thanks-Giving Foundation has organized international convocations and seminars to promote understanding, harmony, and friendship in a community of diverse faith traditions and cultures. It has hosted numerous guests at Thanks-Giving Square since 1976 including President Gerald Ford, the Dalai Lama, Rosa Parks, Arun Gandhi, President George H.W. Bush, Cardinal Francis Arinze, Martin Luther King III, W. Deen Mohammed, and Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey. [1]
The Thanks-Giving Foundation sponsors two interfaith networks: The Interfaith Council (consisting of representatives from 26 faith denominations, covering almost every major continent of the world), and Faith Forward Dallas at Thanks-Giving Square (a broad and diverse coalition of Dallas’ faith leaders).
In 1981, the Thanks-Giving Foundation collaborated with President Ronald Reagan and Ambassador Anne Armstrong to name the first Thursday in May the National Day of Prayer, reviving a long-dormant tradition. Confirmed by Congress in 1988, the annual event assembles civic, community, religious, government, and business leaders in a celebration of unity around prayer and gratitude inclusive of “all faiths in America.” [1]
The organization hosts an annual National Day of Prayer luncheon or event for the larger Dallas community.
The Center for World Thanksgiving celebrates humanity’s oneness in expressing gratitude to God and is dedicated to exploring the healing and uniting power of thanksgiving. The Center has historically gathered the creations and traditions of thanksgiving from cultures of every continent to inspire individual acts and expressions of thanksgiving. It also has organized world assemblies on the topic. [2]
As a longtime United Nations Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), the Thanks-Giving Foundation inspired the U.N. to adopt the year 2000 as the “Year of World Thanksgiving.” In 2012, the Foundation received the Spirit of the United Nations Award for Youth Outreach. [1]
Interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive, and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels. It is distinct from syncretism or alternative religion, in that dialogue often involves promoting understanding between different religions or beliefs to increase acceptance of others, rather than to synthesize new beliefs.
Thanks-Giving Square is a private park and public facility anchoring the Thanksgiving Commercial Center district of downtown Dallas, Texas, United States. Dedicated in 1976, the complex consists of three components: a landscaped garden and non-denominational chapel building, a major section of the underground pedestrian network, and the Bullington Truck Terminal. It was the first public-private partnership of its kind in Dallas.
There have been several meetings referred to as a Parliament of the World's Religions, the first being the World's Parliament of Religions of 1893, which was an attempt to create a global dialogue of faiths. The event was celebrated by another conference on its centenary in 1993. This led to a new series of conferences under the official title Parliament of the World's Religions with the same goal of trying to create a global dialogue of faiths.
The National Day of Prayer is an annual day of observance designated by the United States Congress and held on the first Thursday of May, when people are asked "to turn to God in prayer and meditation". The president is required by law to sign a proclamation each year, encouraging all Americans to pray on this day.
Diana L. Eck is a scholar of religious studies who is Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies at Harvard University, as well as a former faculty dean of Lowell House and the Director of The Pluralism Project at Harvard. Among other works, she is the author of Banaras, City of Light, Darsan: Seeing the Divine Image in India, Encountering God: A Spiritual Journey from Bozeman to Banaras, A New Religious America: How a Christian Country Became the World's Most Religiously Diverse Nation, and "India: A Sacred Geography." At Harvard, she is in the Department of South Asian Studies, the Committee on the Study of Religion, and is also a member of the Faculty of Divinity. She has been the chair for the Committee on the Study of Religion. She also served on the Humanities jury for the Infosys Prize in 2019.
Thanksgiving is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. It is sometimes called American Thanksgiving to distinguish it from the Canadian holiday of the same name and related celebrations in other regions. It originated as a day of thanksgiving and harvest festival, with the theme of the holiday revolving around giving thanks and the centerpiece of Thanksgiving celebrations remaining a Thanksgiving dinner. The dinner traditionally consists of foods and dishes indigenous to the Americas, namely turkey, potatoes, stuffing, squash, corn (maize), green beans, cranberries, and pumpkin pie. Other Thanksgiving customs include charitable organizations offering Thanksgiving dinner for the poor, attending religious services, and watching television events such as Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and NFL football games. Thanksgiving is regarded as the beginning of the Christmas and holiday season, with the day following it, Black Friday, being the busiest shopping day of the year in the United States.
The Temple of Understanding is an interfaith organization founded in 1960 by Juliet Hollister and located in New York City.
A Day of Prayer is a day allocated to prayer, either by leaders of religions or the general public, for a specific purpose. Such days are usually ecumenical in nature. They usually are treated as commemorative in nature, rather than as actual liturgical feast days or memorials.
International Association of Sufism (IAS) is a California nonprofit organization headquartered in Marin County. It is a United Nations' NGO/DPI and the first organization established to organize an inclusive forum that opens a line of communication among Sufis all around the world. IAS launched a global intra-faith movement among Sufis and Sufi Schools reaching from the borders of Indonesia to the Coasts of West Africa.
Anju Bhargava is a management consultant who was a member of President Barack Obama's inaugural Advisory Council on Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnership.
Project Interfaith, based in Omaha, Nebraska, is a nonprofit organization [501(c)(3)]. Founded in 2004 by Executive Director Beth Katz, Project Interfaith aims to create a sustainable interfaith program. Through donor support, Project Interfaith was formally launched in December 2005. Project Interfaith has since formally incorporated and received tax-exempt status. Project Interfaith started a multimedia video website, RavelUnravel on May 17, 2012 which explores spiritual and religious identities that make up the world. Project Interfaith closed its doors in February 2015.
Jack Moline is an American Conservative rabbi who retired as executive director of Interfaith Alliance in 2022, having served in the post since January 2015.
The Jordanian Interfaith Coexistence Research Center is a non-governmental organization for promoting peaceful religious coexistence based out of Amman, Jordan. It focuses on fostering interfaith dialogue on a grassroots level and creating interreligious harmony. The JICRC is currently run by its founder and director, Father Nabil Haddad.
Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC) is a Chicago-based non-profit founded in 2002 by Eboo Patel. In May 2022 it changed its name to Interfaith America. The organization’s stated mission is to make interfaith cooperation a social norm. Today it operates with approximately 30 full-time staff and a $4-million budget. It has worked on five continents and with over 200 college campuses domestically.
The Sufi Centre Rabbaniyya by the Sufi-Master Sheikh Eşref Efendi is a group of the Naqshbandi Sufi Order in Germany.
Sally ("Salwa") Shatila Kader is the co-founder and president of the International Federation for Peace & Sustainable Development, a bipartisan, non-profit and non-governmental organization, which has seventeen chapters around the world including its headquarters in New York City. Kader is a peace activist and currently leads IFPSD programs and events at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City and around the world. She has been recognized by world leaders and organizations for her contributions towards peace.
Salvatore Martinez is an Italian scholar, the first layperson president of the Rinnovamento nello Spirito Santo in Italy. President of the Vatican Foundation "International Center Family of Nazareth" and personal representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office 2018 on Combating Racism, Xenophobia, and Discrimination, also focusing on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians and Members of other Religions".
The InterFaith Leadership Council of Metropolitan Detroit is a faith-based civic organization founded in 2010 by members of a Detroit-based interfaith group known then as the Interfaith Partners. Its headquarters are in Oak Park, Michigan.
Baitus Samee Mosque is a prominent Ahmadi Muslim mosque in Houston, in the U.S. state of Texas. It was developed in stages during 1998 to 2004; its doors opened in 2001 or 2002.
Omar Suleiman is an American Muslim scholar, civil rights leader, writer, and public speaker. He is the Founder and President of Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research, and an adjunct professor of Islamic Studies and member of the Ethics Center Advisory Board at Southern Methodist University. He is currently the Resident Scholar of the Valley Ranch Islamic Center and the Co-chair Emeritus of Faith Forward Dallas at Thanks-Giving Square, a multi-faith coalition of clergy for peace and justice.