Annual Philadelphia Interfaith
Peace Walk
Thank you for Twenty Years of Philadelphia Peace Walks
A walking dialogue among people of all faiths and others
What The Peace Walk is All About
Since 2004, the annual Interfaith Walk for Peace and Reconciliation has drawn crowds ranging from 500 to 1,000 participants; an even more impressive feat given that the Peace Walk is an entirely grass root initiative. Read our complete history Here
The Philadelphia Interfaith Walk for Peace and Reconciliation strives to create an environment to nurture a transformative process of reflection, relationship building, and action among faith and secular groups working toward peace and justice through periodic dialogues about challenging issues such as
community service, outreach to religious and ethnic groups experiencing intolerance or persecution, and an annual Peace Walk. 2023 was the last year of our annual Peace Walk.
Renewing and Refocusing Our Energies as a Thriving Peace Walk Community
In late 2023/early 2024, after our 20th and final Philadelphia Interfaith Walk for Peace and Reconciliation, Peace Walk planners held two facilitated retreats to refocus our energy on deeper accompaniment and collaboration with Philadelphia groups sharing our values of peace and justice.
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We asked ourselves: How can the Peace Walk continue to be a force for reconciliation in the midst of the grief and trauma of the Israel-Gaza war—affecting many in our interfaith community and recalling our inception in 2003, a short time after 9/11? How can we help eradicate gun violence in our Philadelphia streets?
How can we continue to effectively work for racial justice? How can we prevent intolerance and hateful acts, as we helped to do after the pig’s head incident at Al Aqsa Mosque; the desecration of Jewish cemeteries; the TSA requirement for Sikh men to remove their turbans at airport checks; and the Islamophobic SEPTA ads? In many of these instances, and others, our actions led to reconciliation and policy changes not to target specific ethnic/religious groups. How can we positively impact our environment and deal with climate change? And how can we more fully engage youth in this crucial work?
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Connecting these questions with results from a survey that participants of the 2023 Peace Walk filled out, we identified the following issues and inspiring local groups / chapters to continue working with: Peace and justice in Israel-Palestine: Combatants for Peace and the Israeli Palestinian Bereaved Families for Peace / Circle of Bereaved Families Anti-gun violence on our streets / promoting racial justice: Men Who Care of Germantown, Heeding God’s Call, and Mothers in Charge Encouraging ongoing interfaith gatherings, such as workshops, dialogues, musical and artistic activities: Interfaith Philadelphia and ArtWell
Addressing climate change: Citizens’ Climate Lobby—Philadelphia
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As we continue evolving as a vibrant Peace Walk community, we invite you to join us at our monthly meetings (currently still by Zoom) on the third Wednesday of each month at 6:30 pm.
If you would like to be involved, please contact any of the following persons: Vic Compher – viccompher@comcast.net; Lance Laver – llaver4@comcast.net; or Linda Toia – linda.toia@verizon.net.
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For an Update of our activities of Fall 2023 to Fall 2024 read more.
Join us in our Journey as we seek Peace, Understanding, and Justice.
Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to help support the work of the Interfaith Peace Walk.