Nothing Does What Faith Does the Way Faith Does It

The following brief remarks were presented at the final convening for the initial pilot of the Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement’s Faith In/And Democracy Initiative.

It has been an honor to be invited to come alongside PACE and this community for the Faith In/And Democracy program. What I have seen throughout this program, my takeaway, is this: Nothing can do what faith does in the way faith does it. This isn’t to instrumentalize faith, but to recognize its power. As funders, the choice is to see it, allow it to affect our thinking and to champion the value of faith organizations and people of faith, as they are, in society. To do so can advance our missional goals, and allow us to live up to the very ideals we set for ourselves.

When I say that nothing can do what faith does in the way faith does it, I think of Kim and Dora and the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy and the moral voices they bring to bear on the policy questions of our day in their work.

I think of Chris and Neighborly Faith, and the way they build understanding, relationship and solidarity between people who share distinct theologies and faith traditions, not by ignoring those differences, but in fact drawing from the resources of those differences to identify with integrity the motivations for love, care and partnership.