 there have been several meetings referred to as a parliament of the world's religions, the first being the world's parliament of religions of 1893, which was an attempt to create a global dialogue of faiths. the event was celebrated by another conference on its centenary in 1993. this led to a new series of conferences under the official title (parliament of the world's religions). thumb|right|400px|chicago meeting, 1893 ==history== ===1893 parliament===  in 1893, the city of chicago hosted the world columbian exposition, an early world's fair. so many people were coming to chicago from all over the world that many smaller conferences, called congresses and parliaments, were scheduled to take advantage of this unprecedented gathering. a number of congresses were held in conjunction with the exposition, including those dealing with anthropology (one of the major themes of exposition exhibits), labor, medicine, temperance, commerce and finance, literature, history, art, philosophy, and science. one of these was the world's parliament of religions. the parliament of religions was by far the largest of the congresses held in conjunction with the exposition. john henry barrows, a clergyman, was appointed as the first chairman of the general committee of the 1893 parliament by charles carroll bonney.michaud, derek. an analysis of culture and religion people.bu.edu. 14 april 2012. the 1893 parliament, which ran from 11 to 27 september, marked the first formal gathering of representatives of eastern and western spiritual traditions. today it is recognized as the occasion of the birth of formal interreligious dialogue worldwide. absent from this event were native american religious figures, sikhs and other indigenous and earth centered religionists. (it would not be until the 1993 parliament that these religions and spiritual traditions would be represented.) the conference did include new religious movements of the time, such as spiritualism and christian science. the 
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