Kehilat Shalom (Hebrew: Community of Peace) was formed in the spring of 1977 with six founder families to create a family-oriented, traditional conservative religious services utilizing the Silverman Conservative Sabbath and Festival prayer book and the Hertz Chumash. It rented rooms at Temple Beth Zion, Temple Beth Am and Temple Beth El over the course of its existence. Led by volunteer members, rather than a professional rabbi or cantor, Dr. Mitchell Parker, a core member, served as the religious coordinator. High holidays were observed at area synagogues, or clergy were hired for services. For Shabbat worship, members of the congregation ran the service, and a volunteer presented a D'var Torah or a commentary on the week's Torah portion each week. A weekly study session included discussion topics such as "Ethics of the Fathers (Pirke Avot)", Jewish Community Life Around the World, Torah reading and synagogue skills practice. A children's service was held after Shabbat services, led by congregants, although after several years, the congregation affiliated with the "Tikvah" (Hebrew for hope) Community School for religious education for children from kindergarten to eight grade. Once a month members attended congregational meetings to vote on policy and religious issues or to organize events Officers were elected every two years. Yom Kippur break-the-fast and Purim and Chanukah parties were observed annually with the religious cycle of the year, and were augmented by activities such as a spring picnic, family soccer games, tours and travel. As a "minyan" (quorum) was increasing difficult to convene, the congregation moved towards a more egalitarian model, including women, however, this was not enough to prevent the dissolution of the congregation on May 6, 2002.