Date/Time
Date(s) - 30 Apr 2011
7:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Location
Historic Christ Church
Category(ies)
Who:
Confirmed Mayoral Candidates: United States Representative Bob Brady; Pennsylvania Representative Dwight Evans; United States Representative Chaka Fattah; Former City Councilman Michael Nutter; Greater Northeast Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce President Al Taubenberger
Invited Candidate: UnitedHealthcare Chief Executive Officer Tom Knox
Sponsors: Partners for Sacred Places; Robert A. Fox Leadership Institute at the University of Pennsylvania; Program for Research on Religion and Urban Civil Society at the University of Pennsylvania; and The Gesu Institute
Moderator: John DiIulio, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania, Political Science Professor
Why:
Philadelphia hosts more than 1,000 historic churches, synagogues, meetinghouses and mosques, and 90 percent of the city’s congregations open their doors to the larger community.
In a national study, Partners discovered that 81 percent of community program users in houses of worship are not members of the congregation.
- Of these service program clients, children and youth benefit more than any other group.
- More than 75% of congregations use their older buildings to meet basic human needs through food and clothing programs.
Candidates are invited to discuss:
- The role that congregations play in sustaining social service programs, and how the city can help support key resources – such as aging, historic buildings – that are key to housing these programs
- The role that religious schools that serve low-income populations will serve in meeting the candidate’s educational goals for Philadelphia
- The role that faith-based organizations will play in providing after-school and other important services in our City’s neighborhoods.
