History

Interfaith Arkansas was started in the late 1950’s as the Arkansas Council of Churches. It grew out of the school crisis at Little Rock Central. In Little Rock at the time, white and black pastors were not allowed to meet together. So they met at Camp Aldersgate (which belonged to the United Methodist Women). In the early 1980’s, Temple B’nai Israel (Reformed Judaism) joined and the names changed to the Arkansas Conference of Churches and Synagogues. In the early 1990’s, the Islamic Center for Human Excellence on Wright Avenue joined and the name was changed to Arkansas Interfaith Conference. In November 2013, the name was changed to Interfaith Arkansas to reflect the current nature of interfaith and ecumenical work.