The Rt. Rev. William E. Swing

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Strategic Advisory Council Co-Chair; Founder and President Emeritus of URI; Former Episcopal Bishop of California

[email protected]

San Mateo, CA USA

Faith Community: Christian; Episcopalian 

Bishop William E. Swing is the Founder and President Emeritus of URI. As the 7th Episcopal Bishop of California (1980‑2006), he led significant engagement in homeless and immigrant ministries, HIV/AIDS response, and inter‑religious outreach in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 1993, at the invitation of the United Nations, he convened an inter‑faith service to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the UN Charter—an event that catalyzed the formation of URI.

In his role on the SAC, Bishop Swing offers a visionary anchor for URI’s values of inclusive spirituality, inter‑faith dialogue and peacebuilding. His global network, deep experience in faith‑community leadership and institutional founding provide wise counsel for scaling daily inter‑religious collaboration, ending religion‑related violence and strengthening cultures of justice, healing and ecological stewardship.

URI Stories of Impact

In Memorium

North America

Remarks about Richard Goldman by the Right Reverend William E. Swing, delivered December 3, 2010.

Making Sense of Copenhagen

North America
Environment

The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, in December 2009, has come and gone. How to interpret its impact is the question?  Pessimistic voices declare that its goal of a binding agreement among nations failed miserably and that the venue of small and large nations together was far too unwieldy to arrive at a meaningful conclusion.  Optimistic voices are cheered that it happened at all.  That leading polluting nations arrived at a common intent to change and that Copenhagen represented only one stop on a long road, whose next steps are Mexico (2010) and beyond until a binding agreement is achieved.

A Climate Change Call to Action

North America
Environment

The Global Council of the United Religions Initiative (URI) concurs with some 500 leaders of major faith communities of the world who, when gathered at the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Melbourne, Australia, in December 2009, issued a statement that “recognized that climate change is the single most important issue presently confronting us and all on Earth.”