Faith-Based Antipoverty Programs

MOST RELIGIOUS GROUPS are motivated to improve the human condition and routinely engage in social action programs to lift others out of dire circumstances. Indeed, a central mission of many religious groups is to show charity to the less fortunate, and faith-based organizations (FBOs) have engaged in social service efforts long before modern governments became involved in antipoverty activities.

One interfaith group, Call to Renewal, has pledged a Covenant to Overcome Poverty based on the belief that all of humanity is responsible for caring for the vulnerable because all belong to God. It is estimated that millions of individuals across the world are served each year by religious organizations and groups. Moreover, there is strong evidence that faith-based organizations are effective in fighting poverty through the variety of services and activities they offer.

Although faith-based organizations have a long history of providing humanitarian services to the disenfranchised, the popular attention and recognition they have received for doing this type of work have increased only recently. In addition to the increased attention, it appears as though there was an upsurge in antipoverty efforts by these groups during the 1990s.

In a departure from previous administrations and public policy, the official role of FBOs in providing social services was actively promoted by President George W. Bush, who championed the philosophy that FBOs could be compensated for delivering social services. This recent interest in utilizing faith-based organizations to find solutions to problems of humanity, including poverty, is contrasted to previous years when the role of religious groups was dismissed or shunned because it was seen to violate the separation of state and church. It should be noted, however, that recent interest in the role of FBOs is not limited to members of the Republican Party. Other groups, such as Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, have actively investigated how FBOs can address social problems.

[Page 339]A single definition of what constitutes a faith-based organization does not exist, especially when considering the role of faith and religion from an international or global perspective. That said, an FBO is defined as an organization founded on or motivated by religious conviction and includes “local churches, synagogues, temples, and mosques” of varying sizes and scope, according to J.L. Saxon.

FBOs can have a global organization or faith following (for example, Catholic Charities, Lutheran Social Services, Salvation Army, Jewish Family Services, and Nation of Islam) or a rather small local following. Additionally, many faith-based coalitions or partnerships exist that center on antipoverty efforts of diverse denominations and belief systems. That is, faith groups from varied backgrounds are brought together by an organization dedicated to fighting poverty (such as Call to Renewal). Ram A. Cnaan and other authors organized FBOs that provide social services into six categories: local congregations, interfaith agencies and ecumenical coalitions, regionwide groups, national projects, paradenominational relief organizations, and international faith organizations.