Working together as an interfaith group was the top priority at the Religious Leaders’ Association’s first meeting last week.

The meeting last Wednesday, attended by about 25 people from different campus religious groups, was both the first of the year and the first for the group under its new name.

John Donaghy, chairman of RLA, said the organization was called the Campus Ministers’ Association in previous years.

“[The name was changed] partly that we might be more open to groups that do not specifically have ministers, such as Islam and Judaism, to be a little more explicitly interfaith, although we did have some interfaith representation in previous years,” said Donaghy, campus minister at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, 2210 Lincoln Way.

RLA wishes to reach out to students from different religious backgrounds, said Amy Bix, adviser of Hillel, the student Jewish organization.

“The group’s really trying to think of ways to be useful to the Iowa State community, and officially, the group is designated as an interfaith association, so that’s one of the things we’re really trying to concentrate on this year,” said Bix, associate professor of history.

Mark Heilman, treasurer of RLA, said the group will be continuing projects it has worked on in previous years.

“Some of the activities we’ve done are a joint worship service on Good Friday, sometimes we’ve had a memorial service for students who’ve died throughout the year and then we have an activity called ‘Faith Works,'” said Heilman, pastor at Memorial Lutheran Church, 2228 W. Lincoln Way.

Faith Works is “kind of like a job fair” for short- and long-term vocational work at area places of worship, he said.

Bix said there are several things she’d like to see the group do this year.

“Some things they have been doing in the past, and that we should look to do more of in the future, is getting speakers who have important things to say and can address issues that appeal to students and people of different faiths,” she said.

The group should try to form a basis from which to deal with issues that stretch beyond religious boundaries, she said.

“Something like the Turkish earthquake — people can certainly sympathize with what’s going on there,” she said.

Bix said group solidarity can be important during situations such as the recent assault on a Jewish daycare center in California.

“That’s the type of thing where you’d want to have an interfaith presence already organized, so if misunderstandings develop on campus, you can solve any misunderstandings that take place,” she said.