Fourth Meeting of the Elijah Board of World Religious Leaders
Every two years, since 2003, the stellar gathering of world religious leaders, that make up the Elijah Board of World Religious Leaders, come together in person in a major religious site or important city. They have come together for the fourth time, this time in Haifa and Galillee, where the vision of the Elijah Institute was born, back in 1996. Haifa carries the memory of the Prophet Elijah, a harbringer of messianic peace, through several locations, sacred to Christians, Jews and Muslims. This is why the Institute bears his name. This meeting thus brings us back to our visionary roots.
The meeting was devoted to the theme “The Future of Religious Leadership”. It explored what it means to be a religious leader, in all participating religions, what challenges religious leaders face today and how religious leaders should be trained. One specific focus of the meeting is how forgiveness is practiced as part of the vocation of the religious leader in all religions.
As always, the meeting of the Elijah Board of World Religious Leaders takes place through the preparations of a team of scholars. The scholars met in Kalamazoo, Michigan in May, at the invitation of the Fetzer Institute. The work of the scholars is integral to the deliberations of the leaders. Part of Elijah’s uniqueness lies in the bringing together of religious leaders and scholars to develop novel resources and fresh reflections.
