The Pluralism Project at Harvard UniversityCenter Profile
Interfaith Community for Action in Wellesley (2009)
(Interfaith)
35 Emerson Road
Wellesley MA 02481
Phone: 781-235-5615
Description
The Interfaith Community for Action in Wellesley (ICAW) is a diverse organization comprised of volunteer representatives from twelve Wellesley houses of worship, including Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Christian (Catholic and Protestant),communities. ICAW works primarily with social justice issues, seeking to move "from charity to justice," addressing the root causes of social problems. Since its inception in 1992, the organization has moved toward a focus on serving the youth of Wellesley, working with the Wellesley Youth Commission to provide safe and drug-free spaces for the youth of Wellesley to gather. The group also serves as a vehicle of communication among the various houses of worship in Wellesley; members of ICAW are often called upon to distribute information among the faith groups in the community.Serving Youth
ICAW's primary focus has been in serving the youth of Wellesley. Soon after its inception, ICAW polled the various houses of worship in the area to identify what social problems these communities felt needed to be addressed in Wellesley. One commonly cited problem was a lack of programs and places to gather for middle and high school aged young people in Wellesley, especially since the town does not have a mall or any fast food restaurants where the youth could congregate. Before taking action on this issue, ICAW conducted a series of interviews with the high school principal and other school leaders, the school board, the police department and area merchants, to identify what they felt were the problems involving young people in the area. They also interviewed high school students themselves and discovered that the youth did not feel welcome in the town and felt there was no place for them in the community. To respond to this problem, taking into account the feedback they had received from members of the community, ICAW worked to re-establish the Wellesley Youth Commission, which had been the victim of tax cuts in the 1980s. After reviving this organization, ICAW worked closely with the youth commission to provide places where the youth could gather eight weekend nights out of the school year. The host site of the youth event rotates between the houses of worship represented on ICAW, who donate the use of their facilities to the youth commission, who plans the structure of the activities. Events have included karaoke nights, a demonstration by a magician, bake nights (when the youth would make cookies and other snacks) and concerts by some youth bands. Dwin Schuler, ICAW secretary, described the events as "low key," a place where the youth could simply hang out together on the weekends. John Schuler, another ICAW member, said the events originally drew around 40 to 50 youth, but by 2004 the numbers had risen to a maximum of between 80 and 100 youth at the most popular event.Interfaith Thanksgiving Service, Lectures and More
Since 1998, ICAW has been known for its co-sponsorship, with the Wellesley Interfaith Association (an interfaith organization of mostly clergy leaders), of the annual Interfaith Thanksgiving Service, which is held each November at one of the ICAW members' houses of worship. In addition, after being invited to a lecture sponsored by the Weston-Wayland Interfaith Action Group in 2003, ICAW decided to start their own annual lecture series in Wellesley, bringing in speakers to address broader concerns that would apply to the entire community, not just the youth. Since 1994, ICAW also has compiled an Interfaith Calendar, listing the major religious holidays celebrated by various faiths, which is continually edited and revised each year and distributed to the Wellesley schools, the public library, the local newspaper and the Chamber of Commerce in an attempt to make the community more aware of its religious diversity and to respect the holidays of various faiths. For example, Louisa Gelser said the schools have made an effort not to give exams on the religious holidays of any of its students. In the first several years of its existence, ICAW's monthly meetings were composed of an interfaith dialogue component, followed by a business meeting. The first year, each week a representative would explain his or her tradition to the group, and in the second and third years each representative gave a presentation on sacred music or liturgy and prayer, respectively. However, as ICAW member Louisa Gelser explained, the time required to present a dialogue program before each business meeting became burdensome, and this component eventually was dropped from the group's activities. Another activity the group has sponsored in the past but is not currently engaged in was a series of "Wellesley Walkabouts," tours of the houses of worship in Wellesley for third- and fourth-graders and their parents. The tours, held on a weekend day, lasted about four hours and ended with an ice cream social for the group. ICAW sponsored these tours for four years (1998-2001).Social and Fundraising Events
ICAW also sponsors a community picnic each May, during a community weekend that includes a parade and a fireworks display. This "frankfurters and baked beans" dinner is the group's only fundraiser each year, bringing in a few hundred dollars that are used throughout the year for the group's minimal expenses. The group stressed that they are not primarily an organization that gives out funds to other groups, but they have been approached by groups for donations, such as a group of youth raising funds to travel to Selma, Alabama to re-trace the route of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s civil rights movement. The group does not have a budget or any sizeable amount of money, but has raised some funds in the past by asking their various houses of worship to donate funds for events such as the youth's Alabama trip. The ICAW is also in charge of deciding where to send the money collected as an offering during the annual Thanksgiving service, which in the past has gone to the Salvation Army, gift certificates for food, clothes or toys for low-income families in Wellesley, or other charitable institutions.History
ICAW was founded in 1992 as a project by the Episcopal City Mission that was not necessarily interfaith in its vision, but the Wellesley community decided to take the group in that direction, according to Louisa Gelser. Following a training program by the Episcopal City Mission, the group visited the Brockton Interfaith Community (BIC) as an example of another Boston-area interfaith organization that had a similar goal and focus to what the Wellesley group wanted to accomplish. John Schuler mentioned that there was an interfaith group in Wellesley in the 1960s, focused on civil rights and peace issues, that dissipated after its sixth or seventh year in existence, but that ICAW is committed to making its existence a permanent part of the Wellesley community, and he said the group has become well-established and recognized in the community. He said that during the first five years of ICAW's existence, only a minority of the religious organizations in Wellesley took part in ICAW, but in the past five years, the group's membership has risen to include almost all of the houses of worship in Wellesley. Dwin Schuler mentioned that there were several faith communities that are not involved with ICAW by their own choice; all houses of worship were invited to participate through written letters and, in many cases, personal phone calls or visits.Membership
As of January 2004, the Interfaith Community for Action in Wellesley was comprised of representatives from Christ Church (United Methodist); First Church of Christ, Scientist; St. Andrew's Episcopal Church; St. Mary's Episcopal Church; Temple Beth Elohim; Wellesley Hills Congregational Church; St. James the Great Roman Catholic Church; the Islamic Center of Boston; the Hindu Temple of Ashland; the Wellesley Friends Meeting (Quaker); the Unitarian-Universalist Society of Wellesley Hills; and the Wellesley Congregational (Village) Church. Membership does not rotate unless the particular house of worship decides to change their representative, and several members of ICAW have been representatives from their congregation since ICAW's inception.Date Center Founded
1992
Membership
The group is comprised of representatives from twelve houses of worship in the Wellesley area. 10-15 members
Affiliation with Other Communities/Organizations
At its founding, the group looked to the Brockton Interfaith Community as a model, and later got the idea for its lecture series from the Weston-Wayland Interfaith Action Group.