Religious Leaders Council of Greater Philadelphia will hold an interfaith prayer service in honor of Mayor-elect Michael Nutter. The service will be led by Cardinal Justin Rigali, Archbishop of Philadelphia, Imam Anwar Muhaimin, International Muslim Brotherhood, Inc., and Rabbi David Straus, immediate past President VAAD: Board of Rabbis.

The prayer service will include sacred scripture readings from the Jewish, Muslim and Christian religions. Mayor-elect Nutter will recite the pledge written by the Religious Leaders Council of Greater Philadelphia titled A Call from People of Faith to Stop Violence.

The Religious Leaders Council of Greater Philadelphia was formed in 2006 to unite religious leaders, to build relationships of mutual support, to offer a moral and spiritual voice, and to take action on issues of critical concern in our region. The council has identified the issue of violence as its first priority. It will be disseminating a non-violence pledge as part of the Interfaith Inaugural Service, and is wholly committed to joining hands with the Mayor and leaders of this region to walk the ways of peace.

10:00 a.m.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul
18th Street and Benjamin Franklin Parkway

For those unable to attend the Interfaith Inaugural Service in honor of Mayor-elect Nutter it will be streamed live on the Archdiocesan website www.archphila.org.

Editor's Note: An audio and video mult-box feed will be provided in the parking lot of the Cathedral. Please enter on 17th Street, between Race and Vine Streets. Crews will need a bnc connector and a recording deck or a live truck. Television cameras will not be permitted in the Cathedral. Reporters and still photographers will be permitted in the Cathedral.

The following is a list of participating religious communities:
African Methodist Episcopal Church; Al Aqsa Islamic Society; Archdiocese of Philadelphia; Archeparchy of Philadelphia; Black Clergy of Philadelphia & Vicinity; Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, The United Methodist Church; Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania; Greek Orthodox Metropolis of New Jersey; Hispanic Clergy of Philadelphia & Vicinity; International Muslim Brotherhood, Inc.; Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia; Majlis Ash-Shura of Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley; Metropolitan Christian Council of Philadelphia; Mosque of Shaikh M.R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen; PA Southeast Conference, United Church of Christ; Philadelphia Leadership Foundation; Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of Religious Society of Friends; Presbytery of Philadelphia, Presbyterian Church USA; Rabbinical Assembly, Philadelphia Region; Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association; Southeastern PA Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church of America; Union for Reform Judaism; Federation of Reform Synagogues of Greater Philadelphia; and VAAD: Board of Rabbis of Greater Philadelphia.

Contact
Meredith Wilson
Communications Specialist
215-587-3747