America’s 250th presents a unique opportunity to faith leaders
Photograph by Hannah Busing via Unsplash
Richard Harwood
I yearn for people of faith to help us heal our country.
No doubt, our politics are broken. But as America approaches its 250th anniversary, it’s clear we suffer from a deeper, more profound challenge: a crisis of belief — in our leaders, institutions, systems, even one another. The issue we face is how we can restore our belief that we can get things done together — not as Republicans, Democrats, or Independents, but as Americans, as human beings.
I recently spoke to a gathering of nationwide faith leaders convened by a new initiative called faith250. I addressed the special role that faith leaders can play in addressing this crisis. As a nation, we need the moral clarity and practical capacities of faith leaders to ground us in our shared values, prompt action on issues that matter in our local communities and restore our belief.
During the faith250 discussion, the host asked how often I see faith leaders coming together across congregational lines to take shared action in the community. My response? Not often enough.
Instead, I see too many faith leaders using differences in doctrine to stoke divisions and political enmity to “win” for their “side” at any cost.
I also routinely encounter interfaith dialogues, episodic service events, and individual congregations that support charitable activities like food pantries or school supply drives. While these are worthy endeavors, something is still missing.
If we want to address this crisis of belief, and we believe people of faith have a vital role to play, then faith leaders must lead with civic purpose.
Consider what happened in Alamance County, NC, one of the fastest-growing communities in the country and home to over 300 churches. It is one of the most divided places I’ve worked in nearly four decades across all 50 states. Like in many places, churches in Alamance are the backbone of the community. But as I learned early on in working there, they were also fragmented and focused on their own survival. Faith leaders rarely worked together with a civic purpose; neither did their congregations.
Enter a group of faith leaders who joined together across congregational lines to figure out how they might work with a civic purpose. As you might imagine, turning these conversations into action proved difficult. I recall one pastor telling me, “I’ll lose my standing with my ministers circle if I start talking about doing this kind of work with other churches.” Others worried what their own congregations would say to them and how they might push back.
As America approaches its 250th anniversary, it’s clear we suffer from a deeper, more profound challenge: a crisis of belief — in our leaders, institutions, systems, even one another. If we want to address this crisis of belief, and we believe people of faith have a vital role to play, then faith leaders must lead with civic purpose.
I hear these concerns time and again. But this group stayed in the game. Rather than turning inward even more to their own congregations, they made the intentional choice of turning outward to the community, focusing on what they could agree on, and seeking at every turn to build together rather than just talk.
A breakthrough came when one brave faith leader proposed framing their work around “faith with a civic purpose.”
That simple reorientation around a “civic purpose” helped different faith leaders hold onto their individual beliefs and transcend them. Under the banner of civic purpose, taking action on behalf of the community was an expression of shared values — care, service, devotion — rather than a departure from their own faith’s particular beliefs. Gone was the need to negotiate or fully align on doctrine.
Equipped with a stronger sense of shared purpose, opportunities for practical ways to take action on longstanding issues quickly emerged. This group ultimately unleashed a whole chain reaction of actions that involved organizing new types of service days where people from different congregations mixed together to forge new community relationships and norms; supporting multiple local schools to create more belonging for youth, regardless of their faith backgrounds; reinvigorating a stagnant coalition of faith leaders to address housing challenges; and developing a new network of food pantries that required churches to work together rather than in isolation.
One leader named the underlying value of their efforts by saying, “Churches previously working in silos are now working together as a network. Churches are not just looking at serving their own congregations; they’re looking to serve the entire community.”
Rather than diminish the role of faith leaders in the community, these efforts only made faith leaders more relevant, trusted, and valued. Their work benefited the community and their individual congregations.
That’s because working with a civic purpose asks faith leaders to transcend individual perspectives to work for the good of the community. It doesn’t ask faith leaders to give up their beliefs or set aside their spirituality.
America’s 250th is calling faith leaders to step forward in a new way. If not now, then when? If not faith leaders, then who?
Richard C. Harwood is president and founder of The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization located in Bethesda, Maryland. He is the author of the bestselling book, “Stepping Forward: A Positive, Practical Path to Transform Our Communities and Our Lives.”
The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of American Baptist Home Mission Societies.
Get early access to the newest stories from Christian Citizen writers, receive contextual stories which support Christian Citizen content from the world’s top publications and join a community sharing the latest in justice, mercy and faith.