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A Multi-faith Conversation: How Faith-Based Nonprofits are Serving During COVID-19 (Part 1)

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A Multi-faith Conversation: How Faith-Based Nonprofits are Serving During COVID-19 (Part 1)

For many Americans, communities of faith are the stabilizing force for good in times of crisis. But in this unusual crisis, the familiar practice of coming together for support has been made nearly impossible. As such, faith-based organizations and congregations that are often closest to those in need – like under-resourced individuals and families, especially in communities of color – are themselves struggling to survive, let alone serve the community.

In a special event hosted by Independent Sector, a national membership organization that works to strengthen civil society, participants in CPJ’s Sacred Sector initiative shared urgent frontline stories from their work, representing a range of diverse faith-based institutions, and consider the connection between service and citizenship for advancing justice for their communities in the context of COVID-19.

Presenters included Sacred Sector Community participant Pastor Harold Dugger of First Baptist Church of Capitol Heights, Sacred Sector Fellow Dr. Denise Strothers of Healing Communities, Islam and Religious Freedom Action Team Director Ismail Royer with the Religious Freedom Institute, and Sacred Sector Director Chelsea Langston Bombino, who served as moderator for the conversation.

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Hispanic Congregations: Religious Freedom to Embody Familia in Worship and Service (Part 1)

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Hispanic Congregations: Religious Freedom to Embody Familia in Worship and Service (Part 1)

In this first article of a two-part series, Dr. Gus Reyes shares how Hispanic congregations and ministries have been impacted by COVID-19. Dr. Reyes explores the distinct spiritual strengths of these organizations and how their faith calls them to seek out innovative, creative solutions in the face of a global pandemic. Dr. Reyes unpacks the ways in which our current public health crisis has posed unique challenges and opportunities for Hispanic faith communities.  Hispanic congregations draw on their distinct Christian practices related to their conception of family to navigate how to flourish during COVID-19. Dr Reyes shares: “The motivation for this community-centered, service-oriented spirit in Hispanic congregations is our common understanding of family, or la familia. We know that Hispanic faith communities and leaders operate in a very familial and relational way."

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Black Ministries Are Essential Services, Now More Than Ever

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Black Ministries Are Essential Services, Now More Than Ever

(OPINION) Questions and conversations surrounding structural racism and how to address it have risen to national attention, particularly in the disparate impact of COVID-19 on communities of color and in recent incidents of violence against Black people. Chelsea Langston Bombino interviewed Pastor Cheryl Mitchell Gaines, founder and senior pastor of ReGeneration House of Praise, also known as the Church in the Field, in southeast Washington, D.C., to explore her vision for the role of community-based, Black congregations and faith-based nonprofits in advancing solutions relevant to structural racism.

SBA Offers Tool to Connect Nonprofits to Small Asset Lenders

SBA Offers Tool to Connect Nonprofits to Small Asset Lenders

On Friday, June 19th, the Small Business Administration (SBA) introduced a resource specifically created for small businesses and nonprofits to help them find lenders in the Payroll Protection Program (PPP). The SBA’s Lender Match tool was developed to address the ongoing needs of small businesses and nonprofits, which may have experienced barriers finding a lending institution. SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza stated: “The SBA is focused on assisting eligible borrowers in underserved and disadvantaged communities and connecting them with forgivable PPP loans, especially before the June 30, 2020, application deadline.”  This tool is available online and serves as a pairing agent between nonprofits, including faith-based and community-based organizations, and financial lending institutions that may be better positioned to serve them, including: Certified Development Companies (CDCs), Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs), microlenders, and other entities. The new Lender Match tool is a significant step forward in addressing a challenge Sacred Sector staff have heard about, anecdotally through many faith-based leaders, especially those serving in rural and urban communities, and those led by and serving people of color.

What are Faith-based Employers to do After the Bostock Decision?

What are Faith-based Employers to do After the Bostock Decision?

In its recent Bostock v. Clayton County decision, the U. S. Supreme Court ruled that the federal civil rights law that prohibits sex discrimination in employment also prohibits discrimination on the bases of sexual orientation and gender identity. The decision concerns only secular employers, however. The Court stressed that the religious staffing decisions of faith-based employers have constitutional and statutory protections, but it did not detail how those protections will continue to operate.


In this article, IRFA Founder and Senior Director Stanley Carlson-Thies says that it is now even more important that faith-based employers, for legal as well as mission reasons, clearly show how their religious staffing decisions are rooted in their respective organizations' religious mission and doctrine. And he calls upon Congress to pass the Fairness for All Act, which would provide greater clarity about how LGBT employment rights and the religious freedom of faith-based employers are simultaneously to be protected.

Meet the 2020 Sacred Sector Fellows: Michael, Ruth and Gretchen

Meet the 2020 Sacred Sector Fellows: Michael, Ruth and Gretchen

This is the third in a four-part series featuring the 2020 cohort of Sacred Sector Fellowship, which equips current and recently graduated seminarians for service within the faith-based nonprofit sector. Meet Michael, Ruth, and Gretchen-- three seminarians who are pursuing their faith-based vocation with the Sacred Sector Fellowship this summer.

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52 Tips in 52 Weeks: Moving Ahead with Board Orientation

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52 Tips in 52 Weeks: Moving Ahead with Board Orientation

In this time when we are all struggling with so many issues related to the pandemic, some of the more “regular” issues (tasks that we typically address annually as part of the regular flow of business) also surface as unexpected challenges. We know that for many nonprofits, the spring is the time when important onboarding takes place for incoming board members. Can this occur in the midst of the pandemic with stay-at-home orders and no in-person meetings? It is an interesting question, to be sure.

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52 Tips in 52 Weeks: Honoring Donor Intent

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52 Tips in 52 Weeks: Honoring Donor Intent

In the midst of the current coronavirus pandemic, many nonprofits are faced with tough choices related to raising the necessary resources to meet their missions and support the great needs of the communities they serve. The Standards for Excellence: An Ethics and Accountability Code for the Nonprofit Sector provides guidance for how organizations should act when planning resource development and states, “An organization’s resource development program should be maintained on a foundation of truthfulness and responsible stewardship. Its resource development policies should be consistent with its mission, compatible with its organizational capacity, and respectful of the interests of donors, prospective donors, and others providing resources to the organization.”

Meet the 2020 Sacred Sector Fellows: Yasmine, Hunter and Chloe

Meet the 2020 Sacred Sector Fellows: Yasmine, Hunter and Chloe

This is the second in a four-part series featuring the 2020 cohort of Sacred Sector Fellowship, which equips current and recently graduated seminarians for service within the faith-based nonprofit sector. Meet Yasmine, Hunter and Chloe -- three seminarians who are pursuing their faith-based vocation with the Sacred Sector Fellowship this summer.

52 Tips in 52 Weeks: Crisis Communications

52 Tips in 52 Weeks: Crisis Communications

Implementing a crisis communications plan is an essential part of a nonprofit’s disaster preparedness efforts. In the event of a crisis, a nonprofit must be able to communicate with all stakeholders with confidence, speed, and accuracy. Protecting the positive public image of your organization and ensuring the public confidence are the main goals of your crisis communications plan.

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Meet the 2020 Sacred Sector Fellows: Adedayo, Sarai and Omar

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Meet the 2020 Sacred Sector Fellows: Adedayo, Sarai and Omar

This is the first in a four-part series featuring the 2020 cohort of Sacred Sector Fellowship, which equips current and recently graduated seminarians for service within the faith-based nonprofit sector. Meet Adedayo, Sarai and Omar -- three seminarians who are pursuing their faith-based vocation with the Sacred Sector Fellowship this summer.

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How Many Nuns Does It Take To Give Women Contraceptives? Precisely ‘None’!

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How Many Nuns Does It Take To Give Women Contraceptives? Precisely ‘None’!

The government can both provide robust protections for religious employers so as to not ask them to violate their sacred precepts and the government can, if it chooses, work to provide alternative means for women to access contraceptive services. This is especially relevant now because many institutions caring for the elderly most vulnerable to COVID-19 are faith-based.

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A Meditation for Mother’s Day: Supporting Mothers During COVID-19

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A Meditation for Mother’s Day: Supporting Mothers During COVID-19

This Mother's Day, the sacred role of mothering is taking on different shapes and forms under the strain of COVID-19. The social architecture that once supported the vocation of motherhood - from pregnancy care, to mental health providers, to houses of worship - now looks fundamentally different. For many mothers, COVID-19 has resulted in a type of liminal existence and loss in motherhood – the  loss of the normal rhythms and practices of institutions and communities that are vital to our capacity to thrive as mothers and as families. During COVID-19, a public justice framework requires varied institutions, including government, as well as faith-based and community-based organizations, to work together to address the multifaceted challenges this pandemic presents. COVID-19 is certainly influencing how we carry out our God-given vocations, including motherhood.

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Congregations and Christian Citizens Essential to Ending Human Trafficking

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Congregations and Christian Citizens Essential to Ending Human Trafficking

This article, drawing on the research Sacred Sector Fellow Denise Strothers completed for her dissertation, addresses the overwhelming task of how a congregational communities and faith-based organizations can take steps to assist victims and perpetrators of human trafficking. This article equips Christian men as citizens, as well as faith-based organizations and their leaders, to address the complex social challenge of human trafficking holistically, integrating congregational best practices on how to work with exploited people, an understanding of how to influence public policy and advocate for justice in human trafficking, and an awareness of how their faith calls them to shape culture through public positioning. Denise states: “My research reflects a holistic public justice approach because it encourages both individuals and their faith communities to live out their right roles and responsibilities, based on their intrinsically held sacred values.”

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Beyond the Public Gatherings Debate: Religious Freedom for Faith-based Organizations During COVID-19

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Beyond the Public Gatherings Debate: Religious Freedom for Faith-based Organizations During COVID-19

The national conversation regarding religious freedom right now is largely focused on the question of public, in person gatherings for worship services. This public conversation and its nuances have been relatively well covered. And yet, it is important to recognize that this is not the only element of the institutional religious freedom discussion that needs to be had at the moment. In the weeks to come, this column will take up in detail emerging public policies that impact the freedom of faith-based organizations. This column will focus on making visible the right now largely invisible, untold and often surprising elements and stories of how institutional religious freedom advances human flourishing during COVID-19 and beyond.

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Press Release: Hispanic Ministries in Texas and California Join Sacred Sector Learning Community

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Sacred Sector, an initiative of the Center for Public Justice, is a learning community for faith-based organizations and emerging leaders within the faith-based nonprofit sector to integrate and fully embody their sacred missions in every area of organizational life. In late February, Sacred Sector partnered with the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference (NHCLC), an association representing over 40,000 Hispanic ministries nationwide, to launch a Sacred Sector Community in California. Sacred Sector also partnered with the Baptist General Convention of Texas (Texas Baptists), representing over 1,000 Hispanic ministries in Texas, as well as the San Antonio Baptist Association, representing over 500 ministries, to launch a Sacred Sector Community in Texas. Sacred Sector Community specifically empowers congregations and ministries to proactively address the challenging legal and cultural environments in which they have a sacred calling to serve.

Sacred Sector Resource: Public Policy Principles for Faith-Based Organizational Advocacy

Sacred Sector Resource: Public Policy Principles for Faith-Based Organizational Advocacy

In this current COVID-19 crisis, local, state and federal governments are taking a wide range actions, some of them unprecedented, that affect the ability of faith-based nonprofits to sustain their basic operations and to provide services. Governments are also adopting new policies that directly influence the quality of life of the employees of faith-based organizations and the well-being of people in the communities those organizations serve. Are these aid programs, expenditures, and prohibitions, positive or do they need refinement? Advocacy and lobbying are activities, protected by law, that faith leaders and faith-based organizations can speak to government and the public about the justice and effectiveness of these and other policies. Advocacy helps the government know what works, and helps organizations affected by government policy seek changes important for their own religious freedom and effectiveness and for the good of the people they serve.