With the understanding that spiritual values are central to the human experience, the Institute for World Religions exists to promote mutual understanding among the world’s spiritual traditions. The Institute for World Religions facilitates shared inquiry into the founding visions of the world’s faiths so that all might learn from the others’ strengths while preserving the integrity of their own.

The Institute for World Religions is also committed to providing an open forum where clergy, theologians, philosophers, scientists, educators and individuals from a wide variety of disciplines can examine the role of religion in a modern world. All of the institute’s activities take place in an atmosphere of mutual respect and promote the universal human capacity for goodness and wisdom.