The National Day of Interfaith Youth Service Toolkit
On April 9-10, 2005 the National Day of Interfaith Youth Service will bring together religiously diverse young people in hometowns across the nation to serve their communities. These young people will explore and act upon the impulse of service in their religious traditions and work towards better inter-religious understanding. Grassroots organizers of the National Day will come together on May 16-17, 2005 at the 3rd National Conference on Interfaith Youth Work in Chicago to celebrate the impact of 2005 and strategize towards 2006.

The United States is the most religiously diverse country in the world. This diversity gives rise to the following question: How are young Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus and others, as they live, study and work in increasingly close quarters in America, going to interact with one another?

The Interfaith Youth Core has prepared this 'toolkit' to help student groups address these important questions.

View/download the Toolkit in MS Word .doc format.

The Hospitality Model
The purpose of this resource is to help a group of students discuss how different religions view and practice hospitality. A variety of activities are included. Hospitality is an important value that all faith traditions share. Our hope in this session (or sessions) is that you develop a deeper understanding for how your own religion views and practices hospitality, and learn about how hospitality is viewed and practiced in other religions. Moreover, we hope that this workshop inspires you to apply the value of hospitality through service and social action projects, within your faith community, and hand-in-hand with people from other communities who share this same value.

View the Hospitality Model in Adobe .pdf format.

The Martin Luther King Model
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is one of the men and women of faith whose interfaith journey has changed the world. His work has shown people all over the United States and the world how to imagine that communities bound by different faiths could work together for the good of all humanity. Deeply moved by the example of Mahatma Gandhi, he worked closely with Abraham J. Heschel and Thich Nhat Hanh, both leaders in their respective faith communities. He also reached out to Malcolm X even though they disagreed over how best to achieve civil rights for African-Americans. This resource explores Dr. King's interfaith journey in relation to these other great leaders, and provides a discussion guide for students.

View the Martin Luther King Model in Adobe .pdf format.

The Quest Video Model
Announce the launch of an interfaith dialogue project on your campus in the fall of 2004 with a screening of "The Quest For Peace." This original reality TV show from Faith & Values Media follows three multi-ethnic teams of young Jews, Christians, and Muslims as they travel to the Middle East, the Mediterranean, and the United States on a mission. They are seeking to understand the interfaith conflicts that threaten world peace. "The Quest for Peace" will air nationally on Hallmark Channel in two parts, October 3 (Part I) and October 10 (Part II) at 12:00 p.m. ET/PT. Faith & Values Media will provide you with a video of the film along with a full kit of marketing materials to promote your event, including: posters, t-shirts, pens, a trailer on DVD. At the screening, start to identify a team of students and faculty who will work together to develop a plan for interfaith activities on your campus or in your community. Plans should have a time-span of about six months, culminating in April.