As American democracy faces a new slate of challenges and imagines new solutions, an underused resource for many of those advocating for a strengthened democracy is faith communities.
They represent a robust social service sector of 350,000 congregations and 228,000 faith-inspired organizations that support America’s food banks, refugee resettlement and housing programs, 12,875 houses of worship that serve as polling places, and tens of thousands of Black Church leaders and interfaith clergy advocating for civil rights.
Yet, many of those in key positions to support democratic progress avoid the topic of religion or partnerships with faith organizations because religion can be a minefield of personal and collective hurts. This cannot be denied. The challenges of culture wars, church and state complications, and value conflicts simply seem too daunting to navigate.
Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement (or PACE), where I serve as communications director, recently completed a four year initiative, the Faith In/And Democracy Initiative (FIAD), which investigated the ways faith and faith communities support democracy and civic life. FIAD funneled more than $1 million dollars between 2019 and 2022 to more than 30 organizations and cultivated a learning community of practitioners, academics, funders, analysts and other leaders in the field.
Through FIAD, we discovered that the story of faith’s favorable impacts on democracy has been largely untold — and it is too powerful and too pervasive to ignore. This is especially true for vulnerable Americans and communities of color; immigrant, Black, Native, and rural Americans tend to be highly religious, and have more trust in and better relationships with faith-based organizations that are religiously and culturally competent to provide services.
Evidence collected during the FIAD initiative revealed that many faith communities contribute to our democracy by upholding democratic values. In 2018–19, approximately 25% of U.S. congregations across religions took non-partisan action to promote civic engagement, including such activities as hosting candidate forums, distributing voter guides, and registering voters.
In July 2017, the First United Methodist Church of Charlottesville sheltered more than 600 counter-demonstrators protesting the white supremacist, alt-right Unite the Right Rally. In the immediate and long-term response to the violence against the counter-demonstrators, the church, located near the epicenter of the protests, became a sanctuary for non-violence training, prayer, and music, illustrating the power of faith communities to promote unity and stand against hatred.
Furthermore, faith communities also contribute to our democracy by strengthening civic infrastructure. America’s civic infrastructure is undergirded by a network of local, faith-based institutions that serve their communities in a multitude of ways. Many religious groups organize their members in collective action to address basic needs in the community, whether by combating growing social isolation or building a healthy, thriving society.
For example, Jewish Community Action creates “housing teams” within the Minnesota Jewish community that build relationships with local stakeholders and decision-makers to protect and create affordable housing in their immediate neighborhoods.
Through these efforts, relationships are formed between people who live minutes from one another but had never met before, including tenants, developers and other community members. Particularly in small rural communities, where opportunities for connection can be significantly harder to access than in more densely populated regions, church buildings and events provide some of the only opportunities community members have to participate in large social gatherings and experience a sense of community and belonging.
Some might be deterred by the anti-democratic forces animating some of America’s faith communities. While the historic and ongoing harm caused by White Christian Nationalism and other forms of anti-democratic extremism demand our attention, it would be a mistake to overlook the mitigating role that faith communities and interfaith organizations play against anti-democracy extremism.
Others might be apprehensive to work alongside faith communities toward strengthening democracy because of perceived misalignment on values. To be sure, there are areas where it may feel compromising and untenable to lock arms with a faith community, even on mutually beneficial democracy work.
However, it may be worth trying to build relationships with faith leaders and organizations who do share some overlapping values as a way to strengthen social cohesion and expand impact. After all, the issues facing democracy are big. To address them holistically, the pro-democracy movement would benefit from diversifying and broadening the movement as much as possible.
Frankly, it’s difficult to imagine a pro-democracy movement scaling in America without significant investment toward partnering with America’s faith communities. Half of philanthropy and volunteering is done in religious contexts. Faith spaces are often where compassionate social/political movements begin.
Americans who are both religious and spiritual are 20% more likely than those who are neither to say that they have taken steps to understand and connect with people with opposing political views and that they believe that reducing divisiveness is important. Whether faith communities are focused on fostering an engaged and informed citizenry, protecting human and civil rights or calling on constituents to “love thy neighbor,” faith communities have demonstrated time and again how essential their efforts are to protecting liberal democracy in America.
I am reminded of President Barack Obama’s words at the National Prayer Breakfast in 2009: “The particular faith that motivates each of us can promote a greater good for all of us.
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