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Perkins School of Theology hosts a reception welcoming the visiting Site Selection Task Force of the Parliament of the World’s Religions (PWR) on Friday, December 17, from 3:00 – 5:00 pm. The event, sponsored by the DFW Interfaith Coalition, welcomes a diverse group of area religious leaders along with SMU President R. Gerald Turner, Perkins Dean William B. Lawrence, Fort Worth Mayor Pro Tem Danny Scarth, Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert, and Sulaiman Hemani, Chair of the DFW Interfaith Coalition Steering Committee.

The Dallas-Fort Worth area is one of three finalist cities in the bid to host the Parliament of the World’s Religions in 2014. Other locations under consideration by the PWR are Brussels, Belgium and Guadalajara, Mexico. The reception at 91��Ƭ�S�ϼ�, in Perkins School of Theology’s Prothro Great Hall, constitutes the Site Committee’s final formal meeting during their six-day in-depth visit to North Texas.

The Parliament of the World’s Religions seeks:  (1) to promote interreligious harmony, rather than unity;  (2) a convergence of purpose, rather than consensus of belief and practice;  (3) to operate through facilitation, rather than formal structure;  and (4) to build trust as much as agreement.

The original Parliament of the World’s Religions was held in Chicago in 1893. Since 1993 the event has convened four times in locations around the world. In addition to thousands of delegates representing religions and nations from around the world, attendance at past Parliaments has included scholars and academics, representatives from worldwide news media outlets, workers with non-governmental organizations and relief agencies, and a wide array of religious and political dignitaries.

For more information about the Site Committee’s visit, contact Dr. Robert Hunt, director of Global Theological Education at Perkins, 214-768-1374 or rhunt@smu.edu.