The Inter-Religious Council (IRC) at UNC Charlotte began as The United Religious Ministry (URM) in 1965 and was initiated by the University’s founder, Dr. Bonnie Cone, shortly after Charlotte College became the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. The URM was established as an incorporated service organization and its members were comprised of appointed representatives of various religious groups – at that time, primarily Christian and Jewish - that sought membership through their own initiative. One of their first endeavors was working on a Habitat for Humanity house.

The United Religious Ministries was housed within the Office of Religious Affairs (ORA), now named Religious & Spiritual Life, which was manned by a volunteer director and a part time assistant. The director met regularly with the URM membership and relayed its activities to the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs. Vidal Dickerson, Director of the Multicultural Resource Center is the Director of Religious & Spiritual Life as of July 2007. Sherry Bruce is the assistant for the office since December 2000.

There were active plans and intentions of constructing a United Religious Ministry building during the early years. But, with the retirement of Chancellor Colvard, the vision had not been a priority for the next administrations. In the spring of 2003,when Dr. Cone passed away, there was renewed interest in the building of what is now being called The Meditation Center.The site originally designated for the building is located in the Van Landingham Gardens behind Fretwell and at the corner of Mary Alexander and Van Landingham Glen. Architectural drawings completed in 2000 are available in King 116 if you would like to see them. For information about what is needed for this project to become a reality, please contact the Office of University Development, 230 Cato Hall, 9201 University City Blvd., Charlotte, NC 28223-0001, Phone: (704) 687-2271, Fax: (704) 687-3362, devadmin@email.uncc.edu.

URM’s constitution was developed in 1975. It was revised in 1981, in 1997, and in 2004. The name was changed to the Inter-Religious Council in 1997 and the constitution was now called by-laws. The major change from then to now is regarding the membership: It has become an association of individuals, not groups. Whereas campus ministers representing their registered groups primarily comprised the panel from the University’s inception until 1997, now any interested individual in the University community could participate in the Inter-Religious Council. Funding originally came from the campus minister’s sending organizations. With the constitution change in 1997, that practice effectively stopped and now the IRC has no source of funding.

IRC’s purpose and goal has been to develop and maintain a cooperative and non-threatening environment of understanding, mutual respect, and meaningful interaction between all faith groups on campus. IRC does not desire to promote or demote any one faith over another. It seeks equal representation from any and all faiths so as to make it most effective for its designed purposes. IRC encourages communication and common goal projects between and among members of different faith groups.

One successful endeavor for the past few years, IRC held monthly lunch discussions on faith-related topics that were open to all interested individuals on campus. In addition, the IRC had at least one activity or event each semester that promoted camaraderie among IRC members and that benefited the university or the larger community.

The future of the Inter-Religious Council is dependent upon the priority given to it by the individuals who comprise it during any given year. Because the IRC is comprised of individual volunteers now, it is more flexibly organized -- which has both positive and negative aspects.

As of January 2009, the Inter-Religious Council has disbanded. It is hoped that students with an interest in interfaith interaction will pursue an interfaith student organization for our campus that will continue the efforts, both the original intent that Dr. Cone had in mind as well as new endeavors.

Meanwhile, Religious and Spiritual Life has gained significance in that it has been awarded programming dollars and can provide many of the same opportunities for religious and spiritual education that the IRC strove to do with volunteers and dwindling funds. And Religious and Spiritual Life's inclusion within the Multicultural Resource Center enhances the campus's appreciation of the diversity of the faith organizations. Good stuff.

Your comments are welcome. Call us at 704-687-5471 or email us at spiritual@uncc.edu.