Hundreds of people of various faiths from around the world are slated to gather online for the 10th annual Interfaith Awareness Week, Aug. 9-15, organized by the World Interfaith Network based in Poway.

The event offers a weeklong lineup of “music, inspiration and dialogue” led by faith leaders, representing various religions, including Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Baha’i, Tao and New Thought.

There will be 40 presentations led by more than 75 speakers on topics ranging from deepening interfaith connections to building bridges through curiosity, compassion and conversation.

This year’s theme is peace and the idea is to encourage dialogue and foster mutual respect and friendship among people of different faiths.

Interfaith Awareness Week began in 2017 as the five-day North American Interfaith Network ‘Connect’ conference, drawing several hundred people from 20 faith traditions to the University of California San Diego campus. The event was spearheaded by a local pastor, the Rev. Stephen Albert, co-founder of the Poway Interfaith Team and founder of the World Interfaith Network, which connects interfaith groups across the world.

The Poway Interfaith Team was formed in 2006 by group of area faith leaders to bring together people with various faith backgrounds for open discussion. The group’s first program was called Interfaith Summer Nights. For seven weeks, speakers from different faith communities united to talk about their faith’s history and beliefs at a church in Poway. Interest spread throughout San Diego as the Poway Interfaith Team expanded.

“At the end of the first Interfaith Summer Night’s event, a stranger from the community walked up to my wife in the back of the room and said, ‘You have to keep this going,’” Albert said. Albert’s wife the Rev. Abigail Albert, co-founded the Poway Interfaith team with him and helps run the Interfaith Awareness Week program.

“It was so successful, drawing over 100 people a night from the community each week, that we had to double up the program in 2007 and have two faiths represented each night for eight weeks,” Albert said. “It was that enthusiasm which inspired the Interfaith Awareness Week program to grow.”

Since then Interfaith Awareness Week has grown into an annual international gathering drawing hundreds of participants from throughout the world.

In March 2018, the California State Assembly and the governor approved celebrating Interfaith Awareness Week each year in the second week of August.

Albert created the California Interfaith Network 10 years ago which morphed into the World Interfaith Network a few years later. The network first connected dozens of Interfaith organizations throughout California and then expanded internationally. The network has more than 300 members and is recognized in 107 countries, according to Albert.

This year’s Interfaith Awareness Week includes about half a dozen free, 90-minute presentations each day and the event typically starts at about 8 a.m. and ends in the evening, except the first day, when the event kicks off with a welcoming address by Albert at noon.

The lineup of topics includes titles such as “The Architecture of Peace: From Inner Equilibrium to Global Harmony,” “Nagasaki, Nuclear Prayer Day and Interfaith Action,” “The Spirit of UBUNTU,” “Vegan is the New Kosher,” “Greening Taraba: Interfaith Climate Action for a Sustainable Future,” “Peace Thru Forgiveness,” “The Wisdom of Belonging: Embodied Spirituality as Pathways of Connection” and “Making Peace a Reality.”

For a list of presentations and access to the free event, visit world-interfaith.com/interfaith-awareness-week.