Interfaith Service Festival 2025

Coming Sunday, September 21st
on the grounds of Saint John Vianney Church,
300 Captain Thomas Blvd, West Haven, CT

Save the date! Mark your calendars! and learn more here


Interfaith Service Festival 2024: "A Courageously Loving Day"

Courageous Love is the willingness to place oneself at risk for the benefit of another. I know I am painting a joyful picture of the day, yet the joy was filled with shock and sadness. We met the unhoused; we wept and heard their sorrow; we met and heard the cries of prisoners in despair, we wrestled with gun violence, we prayed and named the violence around the world and in the Holy Land, and we did not pretend that these problems had gone away. But we did catch a glimpse of the solutions, and we experienced the part we must play in the healing of the world. 

I pray this day inspires you toward loving and courageous acts of generosity and service, risking your time, your funds, your theological understandings, your world views, and even your hearts.  Please stay tuned for an interfaith service story of your courageous love.
......Read more here - Interfaith Service Day 2024. 

 The Interfaith Service Festival 2024 Service Projects

 Cleaned the beach at Long Wharf 
with Save the Sound
Prepared 600 Blessing Bags
with Beth-El Center &
Columbus House
Raised sunken cemetery markers
with Hebrew Burial and Free Loan Association New Haven
Installed flashing on affordable housing project
with Habitat for Humanity GNH

Prepared sandwiches & served guests
with Chapel on the Green

Learned about fighting food insecurity
with the Purple Pantry Box

Met the families & visited the center
with the Integrated Immigrant & Refugee Services IRIS
Painted a giant 48 foot "Courageous Love" mural 
with IWagePeace
Transformed gun barrels into jewelry
with Swords to Plowshares Northeast
A Teach In & visit to Rosette Village
with The Amistad Catholic Workers
Viewed a documentary & learned how CT's incarceration system needs change
with Stop Solitary CT
Toured the Crypt the burial ground beneath the meetinghouse
with Center Church on the Green

The 2024 Interfaith Service Festival Partners

  • Abdul Majid Karim Hasan Islamic Center Hamden
  • Congregation Beth El-Keser Israel New Haven
  • Congregation B'nai Jacob Woodbridge
  • Elm Community Insight New Haven
  • Evening Star Holiness Church Milford
  • First Presbyterian Church New Haven
  • First & Summerfield United Methodist New Haven
  • First United Church of Christ Milford
  • Jerusalem Peacebuilders
  • Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven
  • Mary Taylor Memorial United Methodist Church
  • Muhammad Islamic Center of Greater Hartford
  • New Haven Friends Meeting 
  • New Haven Zen Center
  • Regional Baha'i Council of the Northeastern States
  • Saint Andrew's Episcopal Church Madison
  • Saint John XXIII Catholic Community West Haven
  • Saint Peter's Episcopal Church Milford
  • Saint Matthew's Episcopal Church Wilton
  • Shalom United Church of Christ New Haven
  • Temple Beth David Cheshire
  • Temple Beth Sholom Hamden
  • Temple Emanuel of Greater New Haven
  • Trinity Episcopal Church Southport
  • Trinity on the Green New Haven
  • Unitarian Society of New Haven
  • United Church on the Green New Haven
  • United Congregational Church Bridgeport
  • Walk of Faith Church New Haven
  • Woodmont United Church of Christ Milford

Interfaith Service Day 2023

On a beautiful summer Sunday , over 400 volunteers of all ages and of different faith and spiritual traditions converged at the New Haven Green for Interfaith Service Day 2023. Participants joined together in multi-ethnic and interdenominational groups to volunteer their time in service to community organizations, for enlightening and productive conversation and listening, enjoyed tours of the Crypt beneath the Center Church Meetinghouse, enjoyed a communal noon hour feast accompanied by live music and much more!
Bruce A. Barrett IWagePeace

IWagePeace
Interfaith Service Day 2023:
"A Story of Interfaith Service"

A photo essay narrated by
Bruce A. Barrett
Founder and President

READ  
The New Haven Independent

"Service and Sacred Conversation Fill the Green"

by Allan Appel
New Haven Independent
8/7/23

READ  
IWagePeace

Crossroads Magazine
"Bringing Good News to Life"
Interfaith Service Day

Hosted by Fr. John Gatzak
8/13/23

WATCH  
IWagePeace

About Interfaith Service Day
Interview with Bruce A. Barrett

by Scott Harris
WPKN Between the Lines
7/31/23

LISTEN  

2023 Service Day Projects and More 

Cleaning our beaches
with Save the Sound
Sacred cemetery restoration
with Hebrew Burial and Free Loan Association New Haven
Preparing blessing bags 
with Beth-El Center and Columbus House
Transforming guns into garden tools
with Swords to Plowshares Northeast
Advocating for a humane prison culture
with Stop Solitary CT
Painting a giant 50 ft long billboard peace mural with a message
with IWagePeace
Palestinian Israeli Experience (PIE)
with Jerusalem Peacebuilders
Affordable Home Construction
with Habitat for Humanity
Feeding the Hungry
with the Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen

Sacred Conversations
with Jerusalem Peacebuilders
*
Meeting House and Crypt Tours
with Center Church on the Green 
A Billboard Peace Mural Museum
with IWagePeace

2023 Interfaith Service Day Partners

  • Abdul-Majid Karim Hasan Islamic Center Hamden
  • Center Church on the Green New Haven
  • Congregation Beth El-Keser Israel New Haven
  • Congregation B'nai Jacob Woodbridge
  • Congregation Mishkan Israel Hamden
  • Dixwell Ave Congregational UCC New Haven
  • First Congregational Church of Wallingford
  • First Presbyterian Church of New Haven
  • First United Church of Christ Milford
  • Islamic Association of Greater Hartford (Berlin Mosque)
  • Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven
  • Mary Taylor United Methodist Church Milford
  • Muhammad Islamic Center of Greater Hartford
  • Muslim Coalition of Connecticut
  • New Haven Friends Meeting (Quakers)
  • Regional Baha'i Council of the Northeastern States
  • Saint Andrew's Episcopal Church Madison
  • Saint John XXIII Catholic Parish West Haven
  • Saint Matthew's Episcopal Church Wilton
  • Saint Peter's Episcopal Church Milford
  • Shalom United Church of Christ New Haven
  • Spring Glen United Church of Christ Hamden
  • Temple Beth Sholom Hamden
  • Temple Emanuel Orange
  • Trinity on the Green New Haven
  • United Church on the Green New Haven
  • Woodmont United Church of Christ Milford

Interfaith Service Day is made possible through the generosity of
The Episcopal Church in Connecticut,  Center Church on the Green New Haven,
Barrett Outdoor Communications, Jerusalem Peacebuilders, and IWagePeace Inc.

Interfaith Service Day 2022

On Sunday August 7th 2022 in New Haven CT, Interfaith Service Day brought a diversity of faith and community groups together in fellowship and goodwill. Through this event we collectively sent the message that we are one people, that we have nothing to fear from our differences, and that in fact, our differences make us a strong, vibrant, and dynamic community. We can disagree on doctrine and theology while respecting, learning, and enjoying one another. To each and every one who joined together for this day of community service and celebration of our like-mindedness, thank you! Amen!     

Watch Interfaith Service Day 2022 in action: 
with "A New Wave Rolling" original music composed and performed by Bruce A. Barrett, IWagePeace Founder/President

2022 Service Day Projects and More
Hebrew Free Loan and Burial Association
At the Jewish Cemetery, a team of a dozen volunteers raised 32 stone markers and cleaned another 10. Among the deceased they reflect as they bring hope and life.  Thank you, Cemetery Restoration Crew! Thank you Paul Terman of the Hebrew Burial and Free Loan Association and thank you Rabbi Joshua!
Save the Sound
The “beach” bus was standing room only. A park along the harbor was cleaned of debris that pollutes the sound. This gallant group of forty removes 200 pounds of trash, a hub cap, a crumbling picnic table, over 2,000 bottle caps, and stopped over 2,000 cigarette butts from leaching harmful chemicals into our waterways.  Three cheers for the forty volunteers on the Save The Sound team, led by Kristen Schick. Great Job!
Community Soup Kitchen
A jolly interfaith crew of twelve or more laughed and chatted away in the Christ Church dining room. It is hot, the mood happy and determined, fully engaged, lighthearted, spreading mustard on bread with turkey, cheese and making PB&Js.  Great job Sandwich Team, and thank you Father Steven Holton and Christ Church for hosting.


Habitat for Humanity
At the Habitat for Humanity Warehouse,  our service team worked hard in the heat with brutal scrappy yard work and a helmet cleaning team in the basement. They held themselves well, with good spirits despite the humidity. So cheers loudly for this noble crew and thank you Habitat for Humanity for hosting and helping us provide housing for those in need.
Christian Community Action
Twenty of our team boarded a bus to visit  the New Hope transitional housing program. After a tour, many of our volunteers remained  to paint and clean and help them ready the building. Those returning to the Green were excited and hopeful. Blessings and thank you Charmain Yun for leading the tour and guiding the work flow.
IWagePeace.Org
The billboard mural was hand painted by clusters of friends and strangers: painting a wheelchair, a person praying, someone leaping, the colors and the message "Serve, Pray, Heal" jumping off the canvas. 

Swords to Plowshares Northeast

In the heat of the day on the Green, a line forms at the anvil where volunteers test their strength at the hammer. They pound glowing red steel, turning guns into garden tools, they pound. The hammer strikes and rings over the Green, “ping, ping, ping....” turning war into peace.

Afterwards , service project teams walked or boarded buses back to the New Haven Green to enjoy a pizza and salad lunch, hear reports from our volunteer team members, listen to interfaith reflections, and enjoy a live music performance.

“Gather around the pizza truck,” I called, (click on the photo  to see!) and shouted and sang until those not fasting feasted long and hard, each marking this day in their own way by their traditions; for this is Tisha B'Av and for some a day of fasting.

Half of you, bless you all, tired from the hot work, returned home after lunch. Half of you stayed for reflections from the Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and Baha’i traditions. Each separate voice connected to the whole. Thank you Rabbi Joshua Pernick from the Jewish Federation, Reverend Luke DeVolder from Trinity Episcopal Church on the Green, Imam Bilal Ansari, and Rachael Gonzales Ryan and your team.

A wind, wild and hot, grew and blew down the music stands, but the syncopations of the Afro-Semitic Experience kept on keeping on, bass plucking, saxophone humming, trumpet popping, the groove lifting our hearts as we painted the last corners of the billboard grateful for this time of joy as we served, prayed, and healed each other.

Watch: WTNH News 8 Coverage

"Interfaith Service Day returns to New Haven  8/7/22"

Serve, Pray, Heal Billboard Mural

Interfaith Service Day came in partnership with Jerusalem Peacebuilders and was made possible by a generous donation from the Episcopal Church in Connecticut and with the participation of 17 faith community partners:

- Trinity Church on the Green New Haven
- The Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven
- Muslim Coalition of Connecticut
- Christ Church New Haven
- Regional Baha’i Council of the Northeastern States
- St. Andrew's Episcopal Church Madison
- Woodmont UCC Milford
- Congregation Mishkan Israel Hamden
- St. Peter's Episcopal Church Milford
- Congregation Beth-El Keser Israel New Haven
- St. Matthew's Episcopal Church Wilton
- Dixwell Avenue Congregational UCC New Haven
- Episcopal Church at Yale
- First Presbyterian Church of New Haven
- First United Church of Christ Milford
- OASIS Multi Church Youth Ministry
- St. Mark’s Episcopal Church New Canaan


Interfaith Service Day 2019

IWagePeace Interfiath Service Day 2019

The 1st Interfaith Service Day on August 8th in New Haven was a wonderful success. Twenty-two Israeli and Palestinian youth plus 125 local volunteers of all ages brought our size to over 150 in attendance.  We completed seven community work projects. We enjoyed Fire Engine Pizza Truck! Mayor Toni Harp inspired us with her gratitude for our work. Thank you WPKN Radio Something, Channel 8, Channel 12 news, and the New Haven Independent. Thank you everyone who volunteered and supported our efforts. Truly, “We Are All In This Together.”

2019 Interfaith Service Day Program
Program Interfaith Service Day 2019
Interfaith Service Day Program Bruce A. Barrett

2019 Volunteer Service Projects and More

IWagePeace is a Connecticut 501(c)(3) not for profit that inspires and educates Americans about peacemaking through creative interfaith gatherings, community service projects, public displays of art, and more.  Our work is made possible by your spiritual and physical presence.  We hope you'll join us.

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