Naperville voters next month will have a chance to hear Illinois' Senate candidates talk about their stances on religious issues.

The Naperville Faith Collaboration, a coalition of more than 15 religious organizations, is sponsoring separate non-partisan forums for Democrat Barack Obama and Republican Alan Keyes. The Obama forum is Oct. 5; Keyes will appear Oct. 14.

Both candidates primarily will be addressing issues of faith and public policy. They will give opening statements, then answer questions from a panel of community leaders.

That panel includes Judith Brodhead, president of the Naperville League of Women Voters; Howard Mueller, professor of religious studies at North Central College, and H. Scott Matheney, chaplain at Elmhurst College.

Local seminarian Cyndi Gavin organized the Naperville Faith Collaboration specifically so it could sponsor a political forum, said the Rev. Tim Rhodes, pastor at Hope Church in Naperville and a member of the collaboration.

The churches that joined did so because they felt their voices needed to be heard, Rhodes said.

"Often, the faith perspective is not recognized in a larger community," he said. "If other groups are sponsoring political forums, those issues don't get addressed.

"I think the candidates are eager for an opportunity to address a diverse audience in DuPage County."

The forum will be at First Congregational Church in downtown Naperville.

Organizers chose that church, Rhodes said, because it has been around since 1833 and has so much history behind it.

"It has seen issues throughout its history, including slavery and the Industrial Revolution, as well as suffrage and civil rights," Rhodes said. "That church has had an impact on all of those issues."

The Naperville Faith Collaboration expects between 600 and 1,000 people will attend each forum.

First Congregational Church's sanctuary seats only 300, but extra people will be able to watch the forum through a video feed in two other rooms, Rhodes said.