'We're Trying to Change World History.'

Connect, don't compete. When Swing looked at international interfaith groups that existed, he discovered that they were inclusive of different religions but often exclusive of one another. "The attitude was right out of a big-business model that says you've got to corner your market," he says. "They were saying, We've got to corner the interfaith market." The URI is designed to be a network so that organizations can leverage one another's resources while pursuing their mutual or individual goals.

Build from the bottom. Groups that may seem similar to the URI have failed over the years, says Swing, because they've tried to organize themselves around religious leaders. He tried that too -- before he realized that authority belonged in the hands of the smallest unit of the organization, the URI's cooperation circles. The United Nations, which inspired Swing when he began his efforts, offers abstract representation. The URI, on the other hand, gives its members tangible power to self-organize and self-govern.