Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies Inc.

The 2021 Board-approved Strategic Framework names five core goals:
1. Increase interreligious literacy. Equip our learning communities with knowledge about the religious traditions, teachings, practices, and history of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam for interreligious understanding and dialogue.
2. Build resilient interreligious networks. Facilitate strong relationships among people with diverse religious and nonreligious identities who will work against religious bias and bigotry and work together for the common good.
3. Advance the academic field of Interreligious and Interfaith Studies. Be a leader in academic discourse and publishing on core concepts and principles in this emerging field
4. Inspire the public to champion religious pluralism. Act as a thought leader to help the American public value religious difference.
5. Foster a culture of equity and inclusion for our interreligious work. Build and increase trust, support, and involvement of those marginalized in interreligious spaces so that everyone is included in our work.

- Expand educational programs that promote understanding of one’s own religious tradition and sacred texts, other religious traditions and sacred texts, and the history and practices of religious bigotry (e.g., Islamophobia and Antisemitism) that continue to permeate religious communities and society
- Use the Fellowship model to effectively reach into community sectors (e.g., education, nonprofit, congregations)
Cultivate strategic partnerships with secular, religious, and interreligious institutions;
- Train a diverse pipeline of interreligious leaders.
Establish the Silber-Obrecht Endowed Lectureship as the premier lecture in the field of Interreligious and Interfaith Studies;
- Equip faculty from diverse institutions (e.g., colleges, universities, seminaries) to develop interreligious literacy in their courses and seminars;
- Provide insight on interreligious issues through commentaries in local and national press;
- Recognizing where ICJS has an opportunity for growth and improvement, build and develop ICJS relationships with Muslims, people of color, and women;

As an independent organization, not connected to any specific religious or academic institutions, ICJS is in a unique position to promote religious diversity and inclusion. Because ICJS believes that the most effective interreligious learning is grounded in local relationships, we use the diverse Greater Baltimore Region to build models of robust interreligious learning and community. However, much of our programming is now offered online and reaches a global audience.

ICJS is home to four resident scholars who bring their academic and theological understanding to bear on ICJS’s work in the community. These scholars partner with four program directors who craft programming that reflects the diversity of lived religion today.

Since its founding in 1987 as the Institute for Christian and Jewish Studies, ICJS has focused on disarming religious hatred through education. In 2013, ICJS expanded the mission to include Islam. In 2015, ICJS developed programs to reach deeper into the divided community, equipping community leaders (“Justice Leaders”) and secondary teachers to be interreligious leaders in the public square.

In 2021, ICJS launched a new Congregational Program to bring religious and lay leaders from Muslim, Jewish and Christian congregations in the Greater Baltimore region to study and dialogue together.

ICJS is committed to five central Values: Difference, Equity, Dialogue, Learning, and Community. These values highlight how ICJS differs from other interreligious organizations in that it welcomes and embraces differences, rather than merely focusing on finding commonalities.