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February 4, 2004

As the race for the White House—and for the national soul—grows ever more intense, PCG staff traveled last weekend to Columbia, South Carolina to hear presidential candidates answer questions from 3,000-plus poor people organized by the Center for Community Change, a Washington DC-based grassroots umbrella group. We wanted to learn how PCG members can help to put poverty and inequality at the center of the national agenda.

In a deft strategic move, the National Council of Churches—rejuvenated under the leadership of the Rev. Bob Edgar—brought nearly 50 faith-based groups together with community-based organizations to explore a “Faith Mobilization to Overcome Poverty.” Together we asked the question: “Why are we losing on issues of poverty?”

One of the presenters, the Rev. Joe Neal, who heads South Carolina’s Legislative Black Caucus, provided a commanding rationale for addressing the question. He said, first, people of faith should see the importance of being “involved with the world around us in a way that matters…there is no reason that we cannot be involved in matters of economics.” Charity, in other words, is important, but if we care about what happens the world, economic policy matters even more.

Second, Reverend and Representative Neal suggested that if the lives of people in need were real to us, we would not spend so much time asking whether faith is relevant to politics. In a brief sermon at the end of the day’s program, the Rev. Joseph Darby of Morris Brown AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina provided examples of such lives: “Men who are behind bars for self-medicating themselves because they couldn’t afford doctors who could prescribe medications…women who struggle to preserve their dignity and care for their children in spite of low paying and demeaning jobs…senior citizens who have to decide whether to buy medicine or keep their lights on…” Too often we simply “do not know” those individuals and their needs.

Finally, Rev. Neal spoke of the relation between faith and hope. Believing in the possibility of change is inspirational. It moves us to act. Too often we hang back or are indifferent because we think we have very little chance of success. But Jesus empowered all whom he touched. He instilled the conviction that faith-filled people could make a difference. He provided the faith that is the source of hope in our lives even today.

We are grateful to the National Council of Churches for convening this gathering. This is a first step in building a national core of faith-based groups that together can make a difference as we enter one of the most important times in our nation’s history. In the process, we have been helped to better understand how individuals in churches throughout Illinois and across the nation can be involved in the world in a way that matters.

--Alexander E. Sharp, Executive Director

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