Initiative on Religion, Pluralism, and American Public Life (iRPA)

The 2026 Symposium

“Reimagining Solidarity, Strengthening Democracy: New Visions of the Common Good”

September 17, 2026 | Wait Chapel

On September 17, Wake Forest University School of Divinity hosts “Reimagining Solidarity, Strengthening Democracy: New Visions of the Common Good,” the 2026 Initiative on Religion, Pluralism, and American Public Life (iRPA) Symposium, in Wait Chapel. Dr. Walter Earl Fluker, longtime editor of the Howard Thurman Papers Project, opens the day. A 1:00 p.m. panel, “Strengthening Solidarity Across the Nation,” brings together leaders from United Way Worldwide, interfaith communities, evangelical ministry, LGBTQ+ legal advocacy, and Jewish public affairs. Rabbi David Saperstein, former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, delivers the closing keynote. The symposium is free and open to the public.

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Speakers & Agenda

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“Sacred, Secular, Solidarity: New Visions of the Common Good”

Building on the previous year’s conversations, the Initiative deepens its examination of how religious and secular traditions cultivate democratic life, civic responsibility, and shared flourishing in a pluralistic society. As the nation marks its 250th anniversary, the program reflects on America’s democratic experiment, its aspirations, and its unfinished work. Particular emphasis falls on the relationship between constitutional ideals and twenty-first-century pluralism, bringing together voices across disciplines to illuminate civic imagination and collective action.

About the Initiative

Wake Forest University School of Divinity’s Initiative on Religion, Pluralism, and American Public Life is a scholarly hub for critically examining how religion influences American public life and democracy. The initiative builds on the school’s ecumenical and interfaith commitments and, most recently, on the 2023 Elizabeth and Robert Strickland Symposium, “Religion, Pluralism, and the Fate of Democracy.” Through lectures, seminars, and public discussions by Wake Forest faculty and other leading scholars, the initiative aims to create unique intellectual spaces to engage some of the most challenging issues facing society and humanity.

Read the Media Release

How the themes have evolved

At the installation service of Corey D. B. Walker as Dean of the Wake Forest University School of Divinity, the Wake Forest University’s 14th President Susan R. Wente announced she has committed funding to support the initiative on “Religion, Pluralism, and American Public Life” that will be based at the School of Divinity.

“In a moment when our nation is embroiled in an intense struggle over the very substance of democracy in America, an understanding of how religion fuels our highest aspirations and animates our deepest fears is needed now more than ever.”

Corey D. B. Walker, Dean and Wake Forest Professor of the Humanities

Revisit Past Events

Since its founding in 2024, building on the School’s 2023 Elizabeth and Robert Strickland Symposium, Religion, Pluralism, and the Fate of Democracy, iRPA has convened scholars, faith leaders, and public officials to examine religion’s role in American civic life. Each recording preserves the full conversation, offering the same depth and rigor audiences can expect.