Rev. Bud Heckman is the founder and convener of the Interfaith Funders Group and serves as the lead contact.
Our team of consultants is comprised of Christians, Jews, and Muslims who have worked or are working in nonprofits and for foundations. We bring more than eight decades of combined experience.
Rev. Bud Heckman
Bud Heckman works to help people better love their neighbors and overcome the habit of “othering.” His work has been with foundations and nonprofits to help foster empathy in the face of human differences in order to reduce prejudice, discrimination, hatred, and violence. In particular, he has worked to help advance interfaith cooperation as a field, movement, and social norm in leading non-profits, academic and government settings, and throughout the field of philanthropy. His work has included program foci on the environment and climate change, anti-Islamophobia/anti-Semitism, refugees and immigration, racism, women’s equality, and poverty.
Bud has had the pleasure to work in senior leadership positions for the most prominent national and international interfaith organizations and even six of the foundations that support them. He served on the Interreligious Cooperation Task Force of the (Obama) White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
Bud has worked the majority of his career for Religions for Peace USA and Religions for Peace International. He has also served the Tri-Faith Initiative, the Religion News Foundation, International Shinto Foundation, Worldwide Support for Development, El-Hibri Foundation, Hartford Seminary, the General Board of Global Ministries of The United Methodist Church, the 20th World Congress of Philosophy, Boston University, the University of Chicago, and the First United Methodist of Chicago/Chicago Temple. He has provided short term consulting services for several other foundations and nonprofits, both nationally and internationally.
Books
“The Future of Interfaith: Reimagining Interfaith Cooperation,” a book in development for release in fall of 2021.
InterActive Faith: The Essential Interreligious Community-Building Handbook. Woodstock, VT: Longhill Partners, 2008. See http://www.skylightpaths.com/page/product/978-1-59473-237-9.
Articles/Statements/Guides
“Offering Refuge: A Discussion Guide for Faithful Americans on Policies and Practices” at Religions for Peace USA, October 18, 2020. See: http://www.rfpusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Offering-Refuge-A-Discussion-Guide-for-Faithful-Americans-on-Immigration-Policies-and-Practices-Religions-for-Peace-USA-2.pdf.
“A Joint Statement from U.S. Religious Leaders and Communities Regarding U.S. Immigration and Refugee Policies and Practices” at Religions for Peace USA, October 18, 2020. See: https://rfpusa.org/a-joint-statement-from-u-s-religious-leaders-and-communities-regarding-u-s-immigration-and-refugee-policies-and-practices.
“This Perilous Moment: A Statement from Religious Leaders and Communities on the Crisis of Racial Injustice and Inequity and the Current Protests” at Religions for Peace USA, Religions for Peace International, The Parliament of the World’s Religions, and United Religions Initiative, June 3, 2020. See: https://www.rfp.org/this-perilous-moment-a-statement-from-religious-leaders-and-communities-on-the-crisis-of-racial-injustice-and-inequity-and-the-current-protests.
“Responding to Religiously Motivated Hate Crimes” in The Interfaith Observer, November 15, 2018. See: http://www.theinterfaithobserver.org/journal-articles/2018/11/14/responding-to-religiously-motivated-hate-crimes.
“Reimagining Religion: New Stories, New Communities” in The Interfaith Observer, March 15, 2018. See: http://www.theinterfaithobserver.org/journal-articles/2018/3/11/reimagining-religion-new-stories-new-communities (with video links content for a conference that Bud designed and lead).
“A Bold, Flagship Experiment in Living Well Together” in The Interfaith Observer, December 14, 2017. See: http://www.theinterfaithobserver.org/journal-articles/2017/12/12/a-bold-flagship-experiment-in-living-well-togetherand-a-query.
“On Discovering and Re-Imagining Interfaith” in The Interfaith Observer, July 15, 2017. See http://www.theinterfaithobserver.org/journal-articles/2017/7/12/on-discovering-and-re-imagining-interfaith.
“Christian Vitality in an Interfaith Culture” in The Interfaith Observer, June 15, 2017. See http://www.theinterfaithobserver.org/journal-articles/2017/6/14/christian-vitality-in-an-interfaith-culture.
“Interfaith is Political. Interfaith is Personal.” in The Interfaith Observer, May 15, 2017. See http://www.theinterfaithobserver.org/journal-articles/2017/5/12/interfaith-is-political-interfaith-is-personal.
“Religious Leaders Agree to ‘Out of Many, One’ Campaign” in The Interfaith Observer, April 15, 2017. See http://www.theinterfaithobserver.org/journal-articles/2017/3/14/religious-leaders-agree-to-resistance-agenda.
“The Art of Cooperation and the Science of Data” in The Interfaith Observer, April 15, 2017. See http://www.theinterfaithobserver.org/journal-articles/2017/4/13/the-art-of-interfaith-cooperation-and-the-science-of-data.
“Why We Create and ‘Us’ and ‘Them’ and How We Might Stop” in The Interfaith Observer, November 15, 2016. See http://www.theinterfaithobserver.org/journal-articles/2016/11/14/why-we-create-an-us-and-them-and-how-we-might-stop.
“On Interfaith and Changing Attitudes” a podcast with the National Council of Churches, October 3, 2016. See http://nationalcouncilofchurches.us/bud-heckman-on-interfaith-and-changing-attitudes.
“Hacking a Better Future for Interfaith Cooperation” in The Interfaith Observer, May 12, 2016. See http://theinterfaithobserver.org/journal-articles/2016/5/12/hacking-a-better-future-for-interfaith-cooperation.html.
“Obama’s Interfaith Vision and the Restlessness of Our Wretched Refuse” in The Interfaith Observer, January 27, 2016. See http://theinterfaithobserver.org/journal-articles/2016/1/27/obamas-interfaith-vision-and-the-restlessness-of-our-wretche.html.
“Five Reasons that ‘Interfaith’ is Not a Movement (Yet)” in The Interfaith Observer, November 17, 2015. See http://theinterfaithobserver.org/journal-articles/2015/11/12/five-reasons-that-interfaith-is-not-a-movement-yet.html.
“A Discussion with the Rev. Bud Heckman on Advancing Interreligious Cooperation” on website of The Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs at Georgetown University, January 29, 2015. See http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/interviews/a-discussion-with-reverend-bud-heckman-director-of-outreach-and-the-mosaic-initiative-el-hibri-foundation.
“An Interview with Bud Heckman: On Building Interfaith Relationships” with David Crumm on the website of Read the Spirit. August 14, 2014. See https://readthespirit.com/explore/the-bud-heckman-interview-on-building-interfaith-relationships.
“Why the ‘Interfaith Movement’ Must Rebrand” in HuffPost, March 11, 2013. See http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-donald-heckman/why-the-interfaith-movement-must-rebrand_b_2849432.html.
“What Happens When Governments Foster Interfaith Action” in HuffPost. November 29, 2012. See http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-donald-heckman/what-happens-when-governments-foster-interreligious-action_b_2207239.html.
“The Open Spiral: The Ongoing Moral Commitments of Faith Leaders” with Rev. Dr. Karen Hamilton, General Secretary of the Canadian Council of Churches in G8: The Camp David Summit, May 2012. See p. 220-221 of http://www.who.int/pmnch/media/news/2012/20120518_G8_newsdesk_frenk.pdf.
“What They Are Not Talking About at Camp David’s G8 Summit” with Aaron Stauffer on Reuters.com. May 17, 2012. See http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2012/05/17/guestview-what-they-are-not-talking-about-at-camp-david%E2%80%99s-g8-meeting.
“2012 Religious Leaders’ Statement for the G8 and G20 Summits” with Aaron Stauffer. See: https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/events/joint-religious-leadership-coordination-for-the-g8-and-g20-summits and http://www.g7.utoronto.ca/interfaith/2012-interfaith-leaders.pdf.
“Are We There Yet? The Progress of the Interfaith Movement” on the Council for the Parliament of the World’s Religions Blog. October, 2011. See http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-donald-heckman/the-progress-of-the-interfaith-movement_b_1007198.html.
“The UN and Religious Bodies in Common Search for Peace” with Stein Villumstad in New Routes. January, 2011. Volume 16. Uppsala, Sweden. See pp. 24-27 of http://www.overcomingviolence.org/fileadmin/dov/files/iepc/bits_peaces/New%2520Routes%2520IEPC.pdf.
“Inter-Religious Cooperation” in President’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships’ A New Era of Partnership Report of Recommendations to the President. Served as a lead drafter/editor. White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. March, 2010. See http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/03/11/a-new-era-partnerships-advisory-council-faith-based-and-neighborhood-partnerships-pr.
“Interfaith Dialogue Resources and Protocols” in Prayer in America: A Community Resource Guide (companion for PBS series). The Duncan Group, Iowa Public Television, and Outreach Extensions. May, 2007. See http://www.iptv.org/pressroom/detail.cfm?id=25#media and http://outreachextensions.com/docs/Prayer_In_America_Comm_Resource_Guide.pdf.
Return to the Earth: A Study Guide on Native American Repatriation and Reconciliation. Return to the Earth Consortium. New York, NY: Religions for Peace-USA, 2005.
“Notes From the Field” in Interreligious Insight. October, 2004. Lake Forest, IL. See http://www.interreligiousinsight.org/October2004/October04.html.
Presentations
The Joy of Improv: An After-Hours “Playshop,” presented at the Religion Communicators Council in Chicago, April 2017.
A Conversation with Communications Specialists: Means of Telling Our Stories, presented at President’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge Gathering in Washington, D.C., September, 2016.
Oh, Go Fund Yourself: Raising Resources for Your Work, presented at the Religion Communicators Council in New York, April, 2016.
The State and Future of Interfaith Relations and Cooperation, presented at the International Higher Education Interfaith Leadership Summit, September, 2015.
Using Collective Impact to Address Islamophobia, presented at the Global Donors Forum in Washington, DC. April, 2014.
Practical Strategies for Handling the Tsunami of Religious Diversity Change, presented to the Interfaith Association of Central Ohio in Columbus, OH. April, 2014.
Grants 101: Finding Them, Getting Them, and Keeping Them Coming, presented with Rev. Eric Shafer at the Religion Communicators Council in Indianapolis, IN. April, 2013.
InterActive Faith: Top 10 Trends and 50 Tips for Doing Interfaith, presented at the Wild Goose Festival in rural North Carolina. June, 2012.
Interfaith Networks and Structures, presented at a gathering of Canadian interfaith leaders at the University of Montreal. February, 2012.
Interfaith Academies for Religious Leaders, presented at Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, MO. June, 2007.
Utilizing Ecumenical and Interreligious Structures for Local Networks, presented at the National Workshops on Christian Unity in Alexandria, VA. January, 2007.
Doing Interfaith Work: Religious Diversity and the American Landscape, presented at the Earl Lectures at Pacific School of Religion in Berkley, CA. January, 2007.
Development for Ecumenical and Interfaith Purposes, presented at the World Conference of Religions for Peace in Kyoto and Aomori, Japan. August, 2006.
Interfaith Cooperation for Peace, presented at the Unitarian Universalist Annual Meeting in Fort Worth, TX. June, 2005.
The Contemporary U.S. as a Multi-Religious Society and Culture: The Landscape, offered as a keynote address for the Conference of the Major Superiors of Men in Scottsdale, AZ. August, 2005.