Rediscovering the Soul of Democracy at the Faith + Democracy Summit

From 2019–2023, PACE led a funding and learning initiative focused on the work happening at the intersection of faith and democracy. Faith In/And Democracy–or FIAD–pooled resources from 7 funders and distributed over $1M to over 30 faith-inspired leaders and organizations.

The whole journey started with two funders who hypothesized that there are faith-inspired leaders and organizations that promote bridge-building, pluralism, and a political landscape that eases the divisions that plague our political processes — all critical assets to a healthy democracy. The challenge was that they couldn’t find many examples of philanthropic support for this work and they didn’t know how broad or deep the practitioner field might be. So they approached PACE about potentially starting an initiative with the goal of increasing interest and investment at the intersection of faith and democracy. It was the right request to PACE at the right time.

FIAD was supposed to be a one-year project for PACE, but the energy that one year of work drummed up meant we continued to learn and experiment at this intersection for three additional years. This work led us to ask questions like: Can you imagine a social service sector in America without the 350,000 congregations and 228,000 faith-inspired organizations that support food banks, refugee resettlement and housing programs? How might voting access diminish without the 12,875 houses of worship that serve as polling places? Can you imagine civil rights advocacy — historically and today — without the leadership of the Black Church and interfaith coalitions?

Over the last few years, the relationship between faith and democracy has been of growing interest to funders. Headlines have spotlighted the ways they are influencing each other–both positively and negatively–and we hear a frequent call from the funding community: How do I make sense of it all?

On November 28, 2023, over 60 people gathered at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona to attend the Faith + Democracy Summit, which aimed to:

• create a moment for discussion around faith and democracy–especially one year out from the critical 2024 Presidential Election.
• mobilize funders to engage faith and democracy by providing a series of “how to” sessions on some of the most important and challenging aspects of working at this intersection
• strengthen and expand relationships around this topic for stronger collaborations, interest, and investment moving forward.

The room was about half funder and half non-funders. That mattered to PACE because as a membership organization of funders, our work to do is about funders and their learning and experimentation on topics related to democracy and civic engagement. But how could we have a Faith + Democracy Summit without the people on the front-lines of that work? We’re grateful to have been able to hear from all perspectives to enrich our space.

Sessions provided a basis for learning and connection among the group, including discussion on topics such as:

• How faith leaders, communities, and organizations can play a role in making democracy larger than politics for Americans
• How to support power-building within and among faith communities
• How to understand and explore pluralism through the prism of the events in Israel and Gaza
• How to fund at the intersection of faith and democracy, which featured a conversation about the Funding Guide for Faith + Democracy
• How to work with faith communities in an election season
• How to open yourself up to the transforming experience of working at the intersection of faith and democracy, which featured a conversation with Nicholas Ma, producer of Won’t You Be My Neighbor and Leap of Faith (in production)
• How to navigate when your personal and organizational values seem misaligned with potential grantees
• The research initiatives at the intersection of faith and democracy that the group should have on their radar, as well as the communities and efforts that are carrying the conversation forward.

We ended the Faith + Democracy Summit with a reception at the courtyard of the Flinn Foundation to celebrate the Summit and the contributions of the FIAD initiative.

So, how do we sum it all up for someone who wasn’t there? For that, we turn to two friends of the FIAD initiative who have a knack for listening, synthesizing, and sharing back more beautifully than we could do ourselves.

• Adrian H. Molina (Molina Speaks) joined us for the Summit to infuse art and poetry into our day and learning. He took in the various conversations and shared back poems he wrote live–inspired by what he heard. His poetry gives us a way in to a deeper understanding of the work happening at the intersection of faith and democracy. You can read his poetry from the Summit here.

• One of the best investments we made in this initiative was in a Storyteller/Analyst, who walked alongside us from day one and reflected back to us what he observed from our journey. Michael Wear was with us for the Summit–and the entire FIAD journey–and he shares his poignant reflections in It All Comes Down to Faith, Hope, and Love.

What comes next? Well, as we shared earlier, PACE wrapped up our Faith In/And Democracy initiative at the end of 2023. So while PACE’s initiative is reaching its planned conclusion, our belief in the importance of the intersection is stronger than ever, and the work will be carried on through the strong and powerful (and growing) community. We know what sparked within FIAD will burn brightly for countless years ahead. After all, this work was never really ours to lead– it has always been about supporting those already working at the faith/democracy intersection, and amplifying them to be seen more clearly by more people.

While PACE moves into new active areas of learning and experimenting in 2024, we will always see ourselves as a student, contributor, and champion at the intersection of faith and democracy. We will always make ourselves available to talk to any funder interested in learning about faith and democracy; to speak, write, or contribute to convenings about this topic; or to make connections and introductions to our contacts in the field. Please do not hesitate to lean on us– Faith@PACEfunders.org will always be a place for you to land.

The Faith + Democracy Summit is the culminating event of the Faith In/And Democracy initiative. We are thankful to these partners who made that initiative possible: