Faith in Public Life

Bio

In order to maximize the faith community's unique ability to shape public debates, Faith in Public Life identifies and creates moments of opportunity, builds and supports broad coalitions, and designs and implements innovative campaigns, bold initiatives and capacity-building tools. Faith in Public Life's approach emphasizes results, rapid response, cutting-edge skills and media savvy. History Following the 2004 election, in which faith was often deployed in service of a narrow and partisan agenda, a diverse group of 40 religious leaders came together to advance a positive alternative: an inclusive and unifying faith movement advancing the common good in the public square. This group, including leaders such as Jim Wallis, Rabbi David Saperstein, Melissa Rogers, Rev. Jim Forbes, Ricken Patel and Sr. Catherine Pinkerton, envisioned a more robust and effective faith movement with the savvy, flexibility and nimbleness to thrive in a new political and media environment. Faith in Public Life (FPL) was founded to fuel this burgeoning faith movement with cutting edge strategies and capacity-building resources. The founders gave FPL a movement-focused mission, rather than organizational or issue-focused one, and the specific mandate to lift up religious voices speaking for justice and the common good, build bridges and facilitate strategic alliances, and find new ways forward on historically divisive issues. Since its official launch in 2006, Faith in Public Life has fulfilled this mission by building the movement's media presence and capacity, providing strategic assistance to faith-based coalitions, brokering new partnerships, developing online communities, sponsoring opinion research, and amplifying the voices of emerging religious leaders. FPL has built an innovative, collaborative, strategic, results-oriented body of work in service of the faith community's movement for the common good.