Who We Are and What We Do

Our Mission

“Celebrating our diverse faiths and spiritual traditions, bringing people together to build understanding and serving our community.”

Who We Serve

We count as our constituents the 800 congregations in the City of San Francisco, their respective judicatories, sectarian educational and healthcare institutions, and the faith-based social service agencies that provide the social safety net for our most vulnerable residents.

Convening, Communicating and Advocacy

The San Francisco Interfaith Council (SFIC) convenes and amplifies the voice of our City’s faith-based community on such issues as homelessness, disaster preparedness response and recovery, civil and human rights, housing affordability, immigration and so much more.

Our Work

During this time of social change in San Francisco, civic leaders and the public view the SFIC as the “go-to” organization for mobilizing our City’s religious communities. Our diverse constituencies turn to us for resources, referral and representation. Our robust relationships and communications network of over 5,600 e-subscribers allow the SFIC to bring together and mobilize San Francisco’s faith-based community to create an effective, combined force for service and issues of public policy, so that we may accomplish together what no single faith entity can do alone.

Our Programs

Bay Area Interfaith Leadership Council "We All Belong" PSA Launch

With hate, violence and prejudice on the rise, this is an extraordinarily difficult time for minority and underserved communities in the Bay Area. There have been an unprecedented number of attacks on AAPI individuals, a wave of antisemitic incidents and threats against  Muslim Americans and Islamic Center break-ins. On September 6, 2023, voices of faith joined with those of the US Attorney of the Northern District of California and the District Attorneys of San Francisco, Marin and Santa Clara counties to speak out against this hate through a series of "We All Belong" Public Service Announcements. The short videos unveiled at this event are intended to show regional solidarity in the effort to combat those voices of hate. This effort was undertaken by the newly formed Bay Area Interfaith Leadership Council, a Cooperation Circle of United Religions Initiative, whose 2019 Bowes Award to the interfaith councils of the Bay Area underwrote the project. The Bay Area Interfaith Leadership Council is comprised of the executive directors of the Interfaith Center at the Presidio, San Francisco Interfaith Council, Marin Interfaith Council, Silicon Valley Interreligious Council, Interfaith Council of Contra Costa County and the Interfaith Council of Alameda County/Tri-Cities Interfaith Council . Additional gratitude is extended to Presebyterian Church in Chinatown Associate Pastor Rev. Norman Fong, the Jewish Community Relations Council and Islamic Networks Group for their invaluable guidance and assistance in developing this collaborative project.

COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Response

The San Francisco Interfaith Council (SFIC) assumed a critical civic leadership role in the City's response to COVID-19. When San Francisco declared its "State of Emergency," in late February 2020, it triggered the activation of the SF Department of Emergency Management's (DEM) "Community Branch," a cohort of stakeholders from San Francisco's diverse sectors, charged with assisting the City in its disaster response efforts. Immediately, the SFIC employed its vast and comprehensive communications network in order to serve as the City's chief liaison to its 800 communities of faith and religious institutions. The SFIC was not only entrusted and became responsible for for conveying the City's official communications, aggressive recommendations and public health orders, but, at the urging of the San Francisco Department of Public Health (DPH), with the support of the Emergency Operations Center's (EOC) Joint Information Center (JIC) Virtual Outreach Team,  it hosted Weekly COVID-19 Online Briefings for Community and Faith Partners, featuring civic officials as well as public health and other subject matter experts, who shed light on a broad range of issues, from the virus' impact on the physical, mental and economic health in our City, to revealing and amplifying existing racial inequities suffered by vulnerable populations and neighborhoods. The SFIC'S COVID-19 response efforts are widely credited with providing its faith/lay leaders and their respective policy teams with the resources needed to pivot quickly to online worship and virtual ministry and make the informed decisions critical to ensuring the health and protection of those entrusted to their care. 

Thanks to a generous grant from the Metta Fund, the SFIC continued to offer the Online Briefings for Community and Faith Partners on COVID-19 and a broad host of other issues germane to its diverse constituencies. An archive of the Online Briefings for Community and Faith Partners recordings may be accessed here.

Aging & Adult Services

SF Department of Disability and Aging Services (DAS) and Faith Communities Round Table

Communities of faith are hubs where older adults feel safe, valued and are able to overcome social isolation. In October 2017, the SFIC collaborated with DAS in hosting a highly successful convening attended by over 200 congregation leaders to promote information exchange and connection between service providers and faith leaders. In 2018, the SFIC/DAS organizing committee worked with a CORO Fellow to survey congregation leaders regarding supportive services for older community members. As a follow up to these activities, the decision was made to convene a cohort of those in communities of faith who are responsible for and lead programs that minister to older adults and people with disabilities in order to discuss strategies and develop an actionable plan to promote deeper coordination across the faith and service networks. To lead this effort the SFIC contracted with a “Reservist” from the Community Living Campaign. The inaugural Round Table was held on Friday, August 23, 2019 at Jewish Family & Children’s Services. As we emerge from the pandemic, this Round Table will enter into its second phase.

Disaster Preparedness

  • “Security in Houses of Worship and Faith-Based Organizations” Workshop

The San Francisco Interfaith Council, in collaboration with the Walter & Elise Haas Fund and the Jewish Community Relations Council, presented “Security in Houses of Worship and Faith-Based Organizations” workshop on Monday, September 9, 2019 at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption. In light of recent terrorist attacks on houses of worship around the globe and in our nation, the SFIC and its collaborating partners provided necessary resources at the workshop designed to support and equip religious institutions in addressing this critical and timely need. These resources are available at: Security in Houses of Worship Resources. Link to email blast here.

A follow-up “Communal Safety Symposium Confronting Hate Crimes and Uncertain Times” was held via Zoom on Tuesday, August 25, 2021. Link to email blast here.

Additionally, online briefings on the following related topics were held:

San Francisco Interfaith Winter Shelter

Entering our 35th year, the SFIC has sponsored and coordinated an Interfaith Winter Shelter for the homeless. This shelter provides a hot, nutritious dinner, breakfast and a safe, warm overnight rest for some 100 homeless guests every night from the Monday before Thanksgiving through the end of March. The SFIC coordinates four host-site congregations, 50 meal-providing congregations, shelter staff from Episcopal Community Services with input from the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing.

At the request of the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing the Interfaith Winter Shelter remained open through the end of March 2023. Extending the shelter is made possible, in large part, thanks to our partners at Episcopal Community Services and congregations who volunteer to prepare and serve meals.

The Interfaith Winter Shelter for the 2023-2024 season will commence on Monday, November 20, 2023 and conclude Monday morning, March 25, 2024.

For additional information about the Interfaith Winter Shelter please visit: Interfaith Winter Shelter

The SFIC has created a page on their website with links to resources for the homeless.

Please visit: Homeless Resources

WinterFaith Shelter Walk

Each year the SFIC hosts a “walk against hunger” around Lake Merced. Proceeds from the walk are used to defray the cost of operating the Interfaith Winter Shelter. The 2023 Walk took place on Sunday, October 15, 2023 around Lake Merced with picture perfect weather. $30,000 was raised for the Interfaith Winter Shelter. For additional information please visit: WinterFaith Shelter Walk

 

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Observance and Interfaith Service

For 11 years the SFIC has organized the City’s annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day observance, including a popular march and interfaith service. The march proceeds from the Caltrain terminal over the Lefty O’Doul Bridge to Yerba Buena Gardens (YBG), bringing together “freedom riders” from the South Bay and others from the wider Bay Area. This march pays tribute to the 1965 crossing made by Dr. King over the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. Once at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial at YBG, a large crowd participates in the outdoor interfaith service organized by the SFIC to celebrate Dr. King’s legacy. Key religious and civic leaders address the attendees. The 2023 observance “True Peace and Equal Justice For All” was held on Monday, January 16, 2023. Link to program here. The 2024 observance will take place on Monday, January 15, 2024.

The Vigil: Interfaith Annual Homeless Persons Memorial

Every December, collaborating with the SF Night Ministry, the SFIC hosts the “The Vigil: Interfaith Annual Homeless Persons Memorial.” Religious leaders of different faiths offer prayers for the homeless who have died during the past year, and their names are read. This year’s memorial service took place on Thursday evening, December 14, 2023 at Civic Center Plaza. Livestream video here.

Annual Interfaith Thanksgiving Prayer Breakfast

Our major event of the year is the SFIC Annual Interfaith Thanksgiving Prayer Breakfast, attended by over 300 people on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Each year we shine the spotlight on a significant contribution made by the faith community to San Francisco. On Tuesday, November 21, 2023 we observed the 35th Anniversary of the Interfaith Winter Shelter. Link to program. Link to program booklet.

Annual Interfaith Thanksgiving Day Service

Each year, the SFIC sponsors San Francisco's only Interfaith Thanksgiving Day Service which brings together people of diverse faiths for prayer and thanksgiving. The 19th Annual Interfaith Thanksgiving Day Service on Thursday, November 23, 2023 was held at the Presidio Chapel. The offering collected at this service is used to offset the costs of the Interfaith Winter Shelter. Link to program.

Convener of Faith-Based Social Service Agencies (“CEO Roundtable”)

For the past 13 years, the SFIC has regularly convened the leaders of the 20 major faith-based agencies to provide a forum to address issues of common concern. The SFIC promotes the agencies’ collective impact and advocates on their behalf to increase the visibility of the economic challenges faced by non-profits and their clients. Since 2009 the CEO Round Table has responded with a significant unified voice to issues ranging from dramatic budget cuts and their impact on programs and staff, to San Francisco’s affordability crisis that prompted the displacement of numerous constituent agencies. Additionally, the focus is being placed on the attraction and retention of staff in light of shrinking availability and soaring housing costs. As well, the Round Table is developing a strategic response to the significant shift in federal policy priorities and the threat of funding cuts. Currently, this body is addressing the impact of COVID-19 on its respective agencies, staff, programs, clients and the neighborhoods they serve. None of this work could be accomplished by any single agency. Its continued impact has established the CEO Round Table as a major stakeholder at policy-making tables. For a list of the faith-based agencies please visit: http://www.sfinterfaithcouncil.org/social-service-agencies                                                     

2022 JCRC Multi-Faith Freedom Seder / Ramadan Interfaith Iftar Dinner

The Jewish Community Relations Council’s (JCRC) annual Multifaith Freedom Seder, has brought people from various faiths and cultures together for 26 years. It was an opportunity to build bonds and strengthen allyship among the Bay Area’s diverse communities. More than 200 people came together for the first time since 2019 at Grace Cathedral under an outdoor tent and on Zoom for a social justice and human-rights focused Passover seder, including Dmytro Kushneruk, the San Francisco-based Consul General of Ukraine. At the seder, faith leaders, government officials, activists and foreign dignitaries were asked to participate in the retelling of the Passover story and how it connects to contemporary issues. The SFIC co-sponsored this event and SFIC Executive Director Michael Pappas served as Co-Emcee.

Ramadan: The Month of Revelation, Gratitude and Community, was observed with an Iftar Dinner, hosted by the Pacifica Institute, at sunset on April 21, 2022, also at Grace Cathedral. Recognizing the confluence of Muslim, Christian & Jewish holy observances, this interfaith coming together around a common table lifted up the Muslim virtues of prayer, fasting and charitable works, with peace as the overarching theme. The SFIC was a co-sponsor of this event and SFIC Executive Director Michael Pappas was invited to offer a prayer for peace. Link to email blast here.

2020 Complete Count (Census)

Every 10 years, the U.S. Census counts every resident in the nation. A complete and accurate count of California’s population is essential to the state because the data collected by the Census determines the number of seats each state has in the U.S. House of Representatives and is also used to distribute billions of dollars in federal funds to local communities. More than 70 federal programs that benefit California, including education, health and human services, use Census numbers as part of their funding formulas. Communities of faith are central to the count as they comprise trusted institutions and leaders that are able to identify and convey the importance of the count to marginalized and "hard-to-find" residents (e.g. undocumented immigrants and the homeless). A key challenge surrounding the upcoming count is the transition from paper to electronic surveys and related confidentiality and security concerns. SFIC Executive Director Michael Pappas was selected to participate among community stakeholders on San Francisco's highly successful 2010 Complete Count Committee and was designated to assist in the 2020 effort. An expanded role he played was to coordinate census efforts of regional religious communities participating in the The San Francisco Foundation's FAITHS Program. The SFIC received a grant from The San Francisco Foundation and was selected to host a Coro Fellow, which enabled the SFIC to develop a comprehensive Tool Kit tailored for the use of communities of faith in their outreach efforts to their congregants. Additionally, the Tool Kit provided important resources related to census employment opportunities, linguistic and technological capacities, as well as how houses of worship could become data collection hubs for census responses.

US State Department International Visitors Program Delegation Visits

The SFIC regularly hosts visiting delegations from across the globe at the Presidio Chapel organized by the US State Department International Visitors Program. Recently, the SFIC has hosted delegations from Belgium, Bulgaria, Finland, France, Germany, Malaysia, Malta, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Republic of North Macedonia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Interfaith Essential Housing Efforts

With the growing scarcity of housing and climbing rents, low paid/middle income workers who provide essential services for the City are leaving San Francisco. By repurposing religious institutions’ underutilized parcels for affordable rental housing, our faith communities seek to stop the outmigration of essential services workers. At the urging of our civic partners and building upon the important work of the SF Interfaith Essential Housing Task Force, spearheaded by the Council in 2014, the SFIC continues to collaborate with City planning officials, and counsel and work closely with congregations and religious institutions seeking to repurpose their facilities to create housing units for low paid workers who provide essential services in our City. Our efforts in this arena are focused upon helping to identify prospective parcels for development, facilitating public/private sector relationships, exploring sources of pre-development funding, and connecting religious entities interested in such redevelopment projects with critical technical/professional expertise and resources.

SFIC in the News

For further articles and media related to the SFIC, we would direct your attention to the following link: SFIC in the News

Broad Civic Engagement

Because of the important stakeholder role the SFIC plays in many arenas, the SFIC has been invited to take a place at many tables. Most recently, SFIC Executive Director Michael Pappas served on the San Francisco Economic Recovery Task Force, the 2020 Complete Count Census Committee, the SF Disaster Council, and The San Francisco Foundation/FAITHS Leadership Council. He previously served on the SF Human Rights Commission, SF Aging & Adult Services Commission and was designated as its representative to the In-Home Supportive Services Public Authority Governing Body. Additionally, he was selected to participate on the Aspen Institute's cohort on religious pluralism and multifaith engagement, and also serves on a number of nonprofit boards and advisory committees.

The accomplishments listed above are the work of two full-time staff, an active Board of Directors, and dedicated volunteers. We gratefully acknowledge the funding provided by congregations, judicatories, agencies, individuals, and foundations which make these achievements and others not listed here possible.