SCRANTON – Imagine rooms full of people from multiple faiths enjoying respectful dialogue, food and fellowship; gatherings to consider the meaning and blessing of our country’s founding. We can create this together: a once-in-a-generation opportunity for neighbors to meet neighbors, a chance to regain unity through conversation about some of America’s most inspiring words.

What is faith250?

faith250 is a program that invites faith leaders and communities across the country to form clusters of congregations to act as sacred spaces for listening to one another, clarifying our shared civic values, and celebrating our hopes for America.

We can shore up the bonds between citizens because houses of worship are one of the few places where neighbors, friends, citizens, and newcomers can regularly meet face to face; where we study text and seek truth together; and where our varied faith traditions each remind us to see the Divine in every human being.
Our work centers on some of America’s sacred texts — The Declaration of Independence, Emma Lazarus’s The New Colossus, America the Beautiful, and Frederick Douglass’s address, What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?

What happens at a multifaith gathering?

A typical faith250 multifaith event runs between two to two-and-a-half hours and includes:

• A shared meal or light refreshments — breaking bread together before the formal discussion begins.
• A welcome from clergy that sets the tone: civic, not partisan; spiritual, not sectarian.
• A reading aloud of one of the four American texts.
• Facilitated small-group discussion, typically at tables of six to eight people, using the faith250 multifaith event handout for that text.
• A brief closing — a reflection, a prayer, or a moment of shared commitment.

How can I participate?

The first gathering is July 13, 2026, 7PM at Temple Hesed, 1 Knox Road, Scranton. All are welcome to attend!

Register for the event by clicking here.

To learn more, visit https://faith250.org/what-is-faith250

Participating Congregations & Organizations
• Bahá’ís of Scranton
• Bethel AME Church
• Christians for the Common Good
• Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints-Clarks Summit Stake
• Covenant Presbyterian Church
• Elm Park United Methodist Church
• Islamic Center of Scranton
• Jinyin Temple
• Roman Catholic Diocese of Scranton
• Scranton Area Ministerium
• Sisters of IHM-Scranton
• St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
• St. Mark Episcopal Church
• Temple Hesed
• Temple Israel
• United Baptist Church of Taylor