Emory Interfaith Center


The Interfaith Center

Emory Interfaith Center Artwork: Make Your Voice Heard

Emory OSRL is working with Dashboard, a nonprofit arts organization that helps connect artists with creative projects, to envision artwork for the new Emory Interfaith Center at 1707 N. Decatur Road, which is set to open in Fall 2023. Recognizing the rich spiritual, religious, and philosophical diversity at Emory, we want to hear from students, faculty, staff and affiliates about the artwork you would like to see in the new space.
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Monday, December 5, 2022
  • 6:00-7:00 pm, Student Dinner Session, Brooks Commons, Cannon Chapel
    • Register for in-person here
    • Register for Zoom here
Wednesday, December 7, 2022
  • 10:30-11:30 am, Faculty, Staff, and Affiliate Breakfast Session, Brooks Commons, Cannon Chapel
    • Register for in-person here
    • Register for Zoom here
With questions, please contact religiouslife@emory.edu.

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Emory University is currently undertaking an exciting project to develop an Emory Interfaith Center.

View the Emory Interfaith Center website here

This project has been contemplated for many years in order to create a place of worship, prayer, meditation, and retreat on campus for Emory's diverse spiritual communities that will also be a space to foster interfaith engagement, education, dialogue, service, and social justice work. It will be a home away from home for Emory's diverse spiritual communities, as well as a gateway between the campus and the Atlanta community and world beyond.

The Center is slated to encompass large and flexible sacred spaces, community and meeting rooms for hospitality, gatherings, studying, and retreats, as well as nearby offices for Emory's multifaith chaplaincy staff, interns, and student spiritual organization leaders. In addition, the grounds will offer spaces for contemplation and enjoying the beauty of creation. The Center will communicate through the arts and its design a broad, inclusive welcome of the rich spiritual diversity that composes the Emory community.

In the summer of 2021, the project received authorization to begin a design phase in fall 2021. After a year of design work, the construction phase began in fall 2022, and the goal is to complete and dedicate the new center in the fall semester of 2023.

A stakeholder engagement process involving students, faculty, staff, alumni, and donors has been underway to provide input to shape the project. When completed, we hope we will be able to dedicate the Center with earth that was blessed by His Holiness The Dalai Lama at Emory for this purpose.

Project Goals

  1. Provide the campus with a multifaith retreat and spiritual program facility that will be available for worship, prayer, meditation, music, gatherings, receptions, conferences, and wellness activities for undergraduate and graduate/professional students, faculty, and staff of all Emory Schools
  2. Establish a Center on campus to advance wisdom, knowledge, compassion, and service to humanity through interfaith engagement, education, dialogue, service, social action, and leadership development
  3. Create a gateway for campus and community engagement around religious and philosophical diversity, service, and social justice

Media

A student editorial that expresses some of the needs for a new Interfaith Center was in The Emory Wheel.


Giving

Philanthropic contributions to this project are currently being sought toward its design and construction goal to maximize the opportunity of this facility. Gifts of up to $250K would provide critical support to maximize construction, and additional gifts are needed to support the opening and new Interfaith Center program.

Gifts toward this project may be made through the OSRL Donate page here, or by contacting Dean Greg McGonigle or Assistant Vice President for Advancement Anya Reid at anya.reid@emory.edu. We are grateful to all our supporters who have been giving generously toward this project.