About Us
Unlocking the Power of People
We believe in a society free of economic oppression, racism and discrimination in which every person lives in a safe and healthy environment, is respected and included, and has agency over the decisions that shape their lives.
We believe organizing is the best way to address the spiritual and material crises facing our society. It is the best tool we have for standing up to the wealthy individuals and corporate interests profiting from racial and economic oppression and environmental destruction. To create a new society based on equity, sustainability, and love we need to build strong multi-racial people-led organizations that relentlessly press for social change.
Faith in Action has a unique role to play in building a larger movement for change. This contribution flows from our capacity to engage large numbers of people through trusted community institutions, speak prophetically about the moral dimensions of political choices, and bring people together across race, class, religion, urban/suburban/rural, and region to make progress on racial and economic justice.
Our Why?
We’re facing a moral crisis over whether we all matter and belong, what voice we have over the decisions that shape our lives and communities, and what obligations we have to one another and to our planet. This crisis is global, but it is especially fierce in the U.S. due to how anti-blackness, White Supremacy, and patriarchy have shaped our society (hurting both communities of color and White communities); our legacy of genocide against Native people; our cultural diversity; the influence of large corporations over our lives and economy; and the myths we’ve told ourselves about small government and self-reliance.
The struggle over the direction of the country is not just about economics or politics. It is a spiritual struggle over who we are and how we are connected. Many people, especially younger people, have lost faith in institutions and have distanced themselves from traditional religious congregations. But people are still searching for spiritual connection and purpose. Through our organizing work, we believe individuals will be able to say “as a result of my participation in Faith in Action, my life is better and I see the world and myself differently.”
What Is Faith-Based Community Organizing?
Faith-Based Community Organizing — also known as Congregation-Based Community Organizing — is a method of working with faith communities to address the problems and concerns of their communities, and in turn, vitalize and strengthen the life of congregations.
There are many paths to a more just world, and community organizing is one of them. Other paths include direct service, in which people respond to the immediate and often urgent physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of others. Another path is advocacy or activism, where people act and to speak on behalf of others who are suffering from great injustices and social ills.
Faith In Action’s path to building a more just world involves teaching people of faith how to build and exercise their own power to address the root causes of the problems they face. In Faith In Action, this struggle for justice is rooted in our faith.
At the center of Faith In Action’s model of faith-based community organizing is a belief in the potential for transformation — of people, institutions, and our larger culture. This belief stems directly from Faith In Action’s rootedness in faith communities, and radiates throughout the organization, influencing the way Faith In Action relates to public officials, to community members, and to one another.