Kaufman Interfaith Institute promotes pluralism where everyone is invited to get involved, as well as creating event-oriented opportunities for engagement by focusing on understanding and relationships. Interfaith initiatives are essentially a public square, a place where people from diverse backgrounds can come together safely to learn about each other. In that learning, people can consider what they might do and build together. The development of the Institute has been a maturation of personal experiences becoming institutionalized. While people, relationships, events, and community efforts come and go, the Kaufman Institute’s “public square” became a framework that encourages and sustains the interfaith movement in West Michigan. Interfaith understanding, service, friendship, and healing are ongoing characteristics that are reinforced with relationships formed through every new project.

The spirit of the Kaufman Institute is represented by the cooperative programs hosted throughout the community to inspire, inform, and promote belonging. These events bring together diverse voices and worldview traditions to elevate individual experiences and stories, with the goal of promoting interfaith cooperation and pluralism.