Charleston House on Allen Place. Photo credit: Trinity College

The Charleston House of Interfaith Cooperation, originally named the Interfaith House, opened in 1999 as a space for students, faculty, and staff of all religions and beliefs to gather in order to have discussions about interfaith cooperation. The house is located at 115 Allen Place and was previously used to house college Chaplains and their families during their tenure. The house itself is two stories and contains a kitchen, a lounge room, a dharma room, and a dining room that doubles as a meeting space.

In 2014, the Interfaith House was renamed the Charleston House of Interfaith Cooperation in honor of the Rt. Rev. Steven Charleston, who served as Trinity's chaplain from 1996 until 1999. During the ceremony held on January 14, 2014, members of the Trinity community remarked that Charleston's openness to differing faiths had been a hallmark of his career. As an Episcopal bishop, Charleston also served as a leader in Native American ministries of the Choctaw Nation.

The House holds weekly discussions and dinners throughout the academic year that usually center around a specific chosen question in order to have important conversations about religion, politics, culture, and social movements. These discussions are open to the whole campus, and often feature Trinity faculty as guest speakers. In 2013, the House hosted a dinner series called “Eat, Drink, and Be Holy” in order to introduce Trinity students to a local program working to collect nonperishable food items for Hartford school children. Charleston House continued to work in collaboration with Trinity's Community Service Office on the issue of food insecurity and had a room set aside where they stored food and backpacks to be distributed to Hartford children through Hands On Hartford, a local nonprofit.

Interfaith Cooperation at the Charleston House

The Trinity Reporter, Spring 2014.

The Trinity Tripod, 10/01/2013.

The Trinity Tripod, 09/02/1999.