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For Religious Leaders in Training

The Emerging Religious Leaders Intensive

The Emerging Religious Leaders Intensive (ERLI) is a week-long residential immersion experience in interreligious learning and dialogue for Christian, Jewish, and Muslim students training for leadership roles.

ERLI fills a key gap in seminary education as few institutions offer such in-depth interreligious experiences. The program schedule ​​is filled with full days of discussion and study, interreligious experiences (e.g., prayer or worship services), and informal conversations over meals and recreation. The interreligious ERLI faculty includes ICJS scholars, as well as representatives from partner institutions.

ERLI 2024 will be held June 2–6 at the Pearlstone Retreat Center in Reisterstown, Md. For more information or to register, contact your school’s ERLI coordinator or email info@icjs.org.

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ICJS is an Associate Member of The Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS), but not an Accredited Member with the ATS Commission on Accrediting.

What is ERLI?

Testimonials from ERLI participants and leaders

It’s not always easy to come to places where you’re not sure if you’re going to be targeted. There was a great deal of effort in this organization to really create safe spaces for everyone.

Hafsa Abdul-Hakeem

Rabata

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I’m someone who believes in God, so being able to talk about God with other people feels easy, actually. It feels like a way in. And then when we start to unpack the differences in our different faith backgrounds and our different approaches to our faith practices, it feels like it’s in relationship, so it’s easier to talk about the difficult pieces.

Noah Dor Lind

Reconstructionist Rabbinical College

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There’s a beauty to sitting with people who are different from you, that you don’t know, who come from a different faith tradition.

David Palmieri

Catholic University of America

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When we are open to people’s own interpretations and experiences, we’re better able to serve God and serve humanity.

Rashad AbdulAzeem

Baltimore International College

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Attending [an Episcopalian] service and seeing in English the exact words that I say in my daily prayer was deeply moving.

Karolyn Benger

Yeshivat Maharat

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 I think something like this could not be done in a classroom setting. An interfaith group like this is priceless.

Maximilian Muenke

The Catholic University of America

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