I studied many religions while in college and later as an area of personal interest. There is one consistent pattern among all faiths; go forth and teach your faith to others. Therefore, I find it strange when certain religions/faiths/groups use a situation to restrict their ability to teach, educate and provide exposure of their faith to others. Catholic Charities stopped doing foster care and adoption in Massachusetts because of the Commonwealth’s requirement of no discrimination. Holy Cross allowed a Teen Pregnancy conference to rent its facilities and there was backlash due to two organizations attending with whom faith groups did not agree .

Instead of refusing to be associated with people or a group that does not agree with an organization, I would suggest that each disagreement is an opportunity to convey the message in other ways.

Religious/faith based organizations have the largest assets at their disposal to deal with the issues of our society. As nonprofits they should take every opportunity to maximize their value to the community. Housing, youth, children and families are the key areas where they can make the most impact.

Yes, there are rules that must be followed to receive government funds, but the impact on society is worth the steps that faith based organizations must address. Walking away when it gets hard is not what one’s faith says to do. 

Make a difference in someone’s life. If your organization is not doing something, then volunteer. If you are having trouble finding a group feel free to email me.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 19th, 2007 at 12:01 am and is filed under Volunteering, Corporate Giving, Fundraising, Business Plan, Consulting, Program Development, Public Policy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.