Looking Back: A reflection on the challenges and opportunities for faith to strengthen civic life
This post is a reflection from Michael Wear, an advisor for PACE’s Faith In/And Democracy Initiative’s Learning Community. Michael looks back at the learning community’s initial gathering in Charlottesville, Virginia in November 2019 and discusses his observations on the potential opportunities and challenges facing the faith and religious community in strengthening democracy and civic life.
Over the next several weeks, PACE will highlight each of the five Faith In/And Democracy Initiative grantees, sharing the goals, aspirations, and learnings thus far from each of the projects.
Last month, Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement convened the grantees of its new pilot program, the Faith In/And Democracy Initiative, in Charlottesville, Virginia for a time of learning from one another and local community leaders. The Learning Community explored how faith and religious institutions can resource bridge-building work and strengthen our social and civic life. As someone who has spent his career at the intersection of faith and civic life, PACE invited me to serve as an advisor to the learning community, and to help tell the story of what we are learning together and how our work might inform the broader sector.
The Faith In/And Democracy Initiative Learning Community is made up of the initial program grantees; each working at the nexus of faith and civic engagement, and finding meaningful, innovative ways for faith to motivate respect and cooperation in civic life. The Learning Community also included leadership and several board members of PACE, and several advisors, including myself.
Such work is possible, essential even, even in challenging and complex circumstances. This was made clear to us again during the first activity of the Learning Community’s gathering, which was to meet with local clergy and religious leaders who were on the frontlines of responding to the white supremacist activity in Charlottesville over the last several years.
The meeting was hosted by Rabbi Rachel Schmelkin, who serves at Congregation Beth Israel. The synagogue sits just a block away from Market Street Park, formerly known as Lee Park, which was the epicenter of the infamous white supremacist rallies that took place in 2017 and 2018. Despite Rabbi Schmelkin’s warm welcome, and humorous manner, there was an undeniable heaviness in the room as we heard from religious leaders who were on the ground in the most intense moments, and had done their best to prepare their communities for the conflict that they knew was coming, as well as promote healing and progress in the wake of the rally.
Rev. Phil Woodson’s first pastoral appointment was to serve as Associate Pastor of First United Methodist Church in Charlottesville. First United Methodist Church is just down the street from Congregation Beth Israel, and you can look out on to Market Street Park from the front steps of the church. Rev. Woodson described for us what it was like to know that your community was going to be visited by hate, and the burden he felt to contribute to efforts to maintain peace, provide sanctuary, and help facilitate a positive response to the rallies. Referring to the coalition of religious leaders that collaborated, he said, “we have real disagreements, but we love one another.” During the Unite the Right demonstrations on August 11–12, 2017, First United Methodist Church served as a “sanctuary space” for counter-protesters and those who needed a safe place. Rev. Woodson told us that for as much preparation as the faith leaders did, they nevertheless needed to “lean fully into grace because no one really knew what the hell was going to happen.”
It was at this point that another panelist jumped into the conversation: “This was not a cheap grace,” the pastor insisted, referring to Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s phrase. “Everyone had something on the line.” She reminded the group of how integral houses of worship and religious communities are to communities at large. These religious communities are often close to the people, and they do not just provide avenues for government to reach people, but should also be viewed as sources of knowledge for political and other leaders, the pastor suggested. Civic leaders often turn to religious leaders in the wake of tragedy or flashpoints of discord, but too often fail to identify and utilize religious leaders and communities as resources to prevent or mitigate challenges, or to take advantage of opportunities that would otherwise go unacknowledged. There was broad agreement among the religious leaders present on this point.
Rabbi Schmelkin spoke about her concerns as she tried to look after those in her congregation in the midst of these events. Due to relationships she had built with other religious leaders who had been anticipating the Unite the Right demonstrations, including a strong relationship with Rev. Woodson, she was in regular communication with others in the community who cared about her and her congregation. In one moment that felt particularly unsafe, she let some fellow clergy know of her concern. Word went out, and soon enough, there were over twenty people of faith, Jewish and Christian activists and clergy, who surrounded Congregation Beth Israel to protect the sanctuary and the people in it. There was grace in that moment, even in the presence of such great antagonism.
We also heard from a local evangelical pastor who spoke on the panel. In a discussion regarding the difficulties of partnering across the theological and political spectrum within Christianity, the pastor explained that he felt comfortable partnering with the coalition that had formed because he felt it was clear that “I can be me in the room you’re inviting me to here.” This idea resonated with everyone in the room. Coalition-building, on one hand, is about getting people on one accord so they are able to act together. However, on the other hand, coalition-building isn’t really coalition-building if everyone has to think the same way, talk the same way and act the same way as everybody else. In politics and in philanthropy, we often want the appearance of diversity, without actually being inclusive. This can be true when it comes to working with faith-based organizations. Often, faith-based organizations and religious leaders are going to be speaking and acting in a way that reflects their specific faith tradition. We lose something in our work as funders, conveners and advocates if we make it so that they need to neuter or flatten their perspectives in order to gain access to opportunities we provide.
The meeting at Congregation Beth Israel set the tone for the next twenty-four hours, as the Learning Community met to discuss their takeaways from what they heard and share more about how it intersects with their work. Among the topics discussed were bridging the urban/rural divide, and ensuring rural communities are not excluded from coalition-building work; combatting a politics of fear and hatred; and scaling local organizing to affect statewide and national dynamics. Rabbi Michael Holzman of the Northern Virginia Hebrew Congregation led the group through an exercise, informed by Jewish liturgy, concerning how to talk through difficult issues and concepts. Andrew Hanauer, Director of the One America Movement, shared some research on the science of political polarization.
A through-line in all of these conversations was the importance of considering the perspectives of others, and acknowledging and accepting that not everyone will share your motives, values and priorities. When we choose to work with other communities, we are choosing to consider and value their perspective and outlook. Bridge-building work can’t just be about bringing “them” to “our” side, but figuring out how far we can go to “their” side — how much of their perspective we can speak to and take on as our own — while staying true to our values and commitments.
Throughout our time together, the conversation kept returning to the topic of grace. Quan Williams, Civic Engagement Coordinator for the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy, spoke of the “exponential grace” that is required when working to address injustice. The need for breaks you don’t necessarily deserve, favors you didn’t know to ask for, kindness you wouldn’t dare expect. Grantees recounted some of the graces they’ve received in the course of their work that have allowed them to continue to serve and try to make things better.
The topic of grace resonated with me as well, though as I sat in the room I was thinking not of grace received, but grace given. Though we spoke often of the grace that is needed to do this work, and that is appropriate, I thought of all of the ways the work of these grantees have been received as grace by those they serve. The grantees involved in this project are all doing work to form unexpected relationships, and advocate for those who have no expectation anyone will help them. In a political environment that is so often defined by self-interest and tribalism, there is grace in their offering an alternative with their lives and vocations.
We concluded our time together by sharing dinner with many members of PACE’s board of advisors, as they were able to learn more about the Learning Community. We had a discussion about polarization, and the positive role that faith can play in addressing and mitigating toxic polarization. We will need grace for that work in the days and months ahead.
Part of the value of the Learning Community is the ability to develop ideas and conclusions about what the group is learning over a period of time. As we are at the outset of our time together, I have several observations and questions that I look forward to exploring over the course of the next year.
First, as faith-based organizations, the grantees are all grounded in values that go beyond immediate, short-term policy goals or the mere achievement of some set of metrics. And yet, the non-profit and political environment, the immediate needs of those they serve, and a range of typical impulses such as competitiveness, envy and insecurity, all seem to conspire to help us lose sight of those deeper commitments at times. How can faith-based organizations ensure their work is continually refreshed by their deepest values, their foundation? How can they prevent mission drift, or the mere instrumentalization of religious rhetoric or loosely-rooted religious values, as opposed to aligning their projects and their daily work with their core mission? How might these practices or structures apply to other organizations or even individual leaders?
Second, religious communities are not immune to the same forces of tribalism and toxic polarization as other communities. How can our grantees be successful without catering to these impulses? How can our grantees push back against these forces as opposed to becoming subsumed by them?
Third, what are the unique contributions faith-based civic organizations have to offer our country and its communities in this political moment?
Finally, how can we translate these contributions in ways that can be appreciated by, and useful to, others, including the non-profit sector, philanthropy and political leadership?
The Learning Community will be meeting in-person once more this year, while also continuing to receive support and guidance from PACE and the advisors PACE has brought together for this project. We look forward to providing you updates and stories as that work progresses.
Michael Wear is a community advisor and analyst for the PACE Faith In/And Democracy Initiative’s Learning Community. He is the founder of Public Square Strategies, LLC, a sought-after firm that helps religious organizations, political organizations, businesses and others effectively navigate the rapidly changing American religious and political landscape.
Michael also serves as Chief Strategist and a member of the executive team for The And Campaign. He is a leading expert, speaker and strategist at the intersection of faith, politics and American public life.
As one of President Obama’s “ambassadors to America’s believers” (Buzzfeed), Michael directed faith outreach for President Obama’s historic 2012 re-election campaign. Michael was also one of the youngest White House staffers in modern American history: he served in the White House faith-based initiative during President Obama’s first term, where he led evangelical outreach and helped manage The White House’s engagement on religious and values issues, including adoption and anti-human trafficking efforts.
Michael is the author of Reclaiming Hope: Lessons Learned in the Obama White House About the Future of Faith in America. He also writes for The Atlantic, Christianity Today, USA Today, Relevant Magazine and other publications on faith, politics and culture. Michael is a Senior Fellow at The Trinity Forum, and he holds an honorary position at the University of Birmingham’s Cadbury Center for the Public Understanding of Religion. Michael and his wife, Melissa, are both proud natives of Buffalo, New York. They now reside in Northern Virginia, where they are raising their beloved daughter, Saoirse.
