Priests, imams, rabbis, pandits, ministers and pastors will gather in council chambers to talk about homelessness and housing, food banks and poverty, refugees, immigration and after-school programs at a one-day conference called Faith in the City. The conference is a first for Toronto.

The Toronto Area Interfaith Council, the Scarboro Missions and the Metropolitan Community Church have been working with Toronto Councillor Joe Mihevc to bring together the broadest possible range of religious leaders.

“The question is, how can we as faith communities come together to directly affect change,” said Scarboro Missions interfaith director Paul McKenna.

Faith communities are already engaged in city building in Toronto. The conference is an attempt to better co-ordinate and focus existing efforts, said Mihevc.

“Many a church, synagogue, temple and mosque does everything from feed the poor to run a day care to after-school programs to work on immigration and refugee resettlement issues,” Mihevc said.

“That work needs to be celebrated and built on.”

The title of the conference refers to more than the fact there are lots of churches, temples and synagogues in Toronto.

“You can take that at least a couple of ways,” Mihevc said. “Faith communities are saying we have faith in our city. We believe in our city. We believe we can build a city that can be a light to the world.”

At the very least Mihevc hopes the conference leads to an exchange of ideas and experience between faith communities across the dividing lines of creed. A parish that wants to start a day care or to do more work with refugees can learn from those that already have programs up and running, he said.

“This is not about Israel and Palestine. This is not about the questions around choice and abortion. This is about child care. This is about using the gym for an after-school program,” said Mihevc.

Registration for the 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. free event is at www.faithinthecity.ca.

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