Information about this center is no longer updated. This data was last updated on 2 August 2018.
Phone: 508-587-9550Email: Brockton.Interfaith@gmail.com
Website: http://www.mcan-pico.org/affiliates/bic
History, Meetings, and Membership "The Brockton Interfaith Community (BIC) was founded in 1991 as a group of faith communities that made a covenant to work together to identify and solve problems in the Brockton community. Faith communities representing Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Jewish congregations, are members of BIC, while Greek Orthodox and Muslim faith communities often participate in BIC projects. BIC is multi-faith, mult-racial, multi-lingual, and strictly non-partisan. The driving force behind BIC's community action is the members' commitment to their faith traditions and to the community of Brockton. All meetings begin with an interfaith worship service. In all of its activities, BIC strives to deepen the religious commitment within its member faith communities and to strengthen the ethical and moral character of the Brockton community. BIC is affiliated with the Organizing and Leadership Training Center, along with sister organizations in Boston, Lynn, Fall River/New Bedford, Worcester, and Springfield." Community Involvement "The heart of BIC is community organizing through congregations and parishes. BIC organizes around issues such as youth, education, housing and development, healthcare, employment, and congregational development. Lay people and clergy from the different faith traditions meet together, identify local problems and needs in their own neighborhoods, and devise strategies for solving them. For example, BIC members were concerned about the safety of neighborhood playgrounds, so they negotiated with local officials to paint the crosswalks nearby, while members cleaned them up. BIC also assisted the local police by identifying crack houses in their neighborhoods. Other successful efforts include securing grants to keep city pools open in the summer and requesting the implementation of a drug education program in the local schools. In its most dramatic victory, BIC members researched the lending practices in the Brockton area of one of the largest banks in Massachusetts and discovered that the bank discriminated against low-income individuals in its lending practices. After all the member congregations threatened to withdraw their funds from the bank, the bank reevaluated and changed its lending practices. Local politicians and officials are regularly invited to attend BIC meetings and asked to defend their policies and actions." Source This information was submitted by the Brockton Interfaith Community (BIC).