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Mission Statement

As members of the Council of Religious Leaders of Chicago, we are leaders of faith communities who have joined together in the fellowship of the Council in order that we might share our faith and come to know each other personally, explore matters of faith and life which we have in common, engage in dialogue within and beyond our differences in a spirit of trust and goodwill, and seek to discover ways in which we can faithfully act together in God’s name for the common good.
    In the context of this purpose, the members of the Council have sought to devise and implement ways of translating the social concerns of the Council into meaningful action and response consistent with our purposes and resources, bringing to bear the spiritual and prophetic elements of our traditions in ways that will help promote justice, health and wholeness in this community. We do this as leaders of people of faith who believe in and seek to serve the God of history, a God of justice and mercy, a God who calls men and women of all races, tongues, and nations to seek justice, correct oppression, defend the fatherless, and plead for the widow.
    Before this God and one another we recognize the need to witness to this faith in word and deed, to seek with all women and men of goodwill to help obtain a community of decency and civil discourse, a community of caring and responsibility, a society free from oppression and exploitation.
    To those ends we covenant and, with God’s help, humbly risk, to stand with those in need, to confer with those in positions of authority, to speak to the public, and to support actions and efforts which serve and glorify God as our scriptures and traditions direct us, and to seek the welfare of the people in this place where we live.