Who we are

In 2004, congregations and organizations throughout Galveston County started meeting together and became dues-paying members of Galveston County Interfaith. Member congregations came from diverse denominations including:

• African Methodist Episcopal
• Baptist
• Catholic
• Church of God in Christ
• Independent
• Islamic
• Jewish
• Presbyterian
• United Methodist
• Unitarian Universalist

How Galveston County Interfaith organized

• Develop core organizing teams within member institutions which engage in careful listening through individual and small group meetings in order to identify leaders and issues of common concern.
• Hold house meetings [small group meetings] to develop relationships, identify leaders and issues, and organize a constituency of people who are willing to take action to improve their community.
• Conduct research to develop the knowledge and expertise necessary to take effective action.
• Take action to bring public focus and pressure on those with the authority to make decisions to bring about the specific changes we support.
• Evaluate our action in order to learn from our experiences and to improve our organizational techniques.

What Gulf Coast Interfaith does

After Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Ike, Galveston County Interfaith evolved into Gulf Coast Interfaith with a focus on the upper Texas Gulf Coast. GCI’s evolution included changes in its structure and strategy to secure success. GCI continues to work across race and denomination lines to address the many serious economic, social and educational issues, which affect the health and well-being of families in this region.

GCI continues the patient process to:

• Identify issues of common concern to Gulf Coast residents;
• Identify leaders who care enough about those issues to participate in developing potential solutions; and
• Create the public will to transform those potential solutions into sustainable, broadly-supported programs to improve the quality of life in our communities.