by John McCarthy
Last year I was fortunate enough to attend the Young Democrats of America’s Faith and Values Initiative’s first ever “Faith and Values Summit.” Organized by a group of incredibly talented people, under the leadership of Josh Dickson (one of the best organizers the faithful-left has) they were able to pull together some of the most prominent minds in faith-based organizing. Campaign staffers, Religious pollsters, non-profit leaders and messaging consultants all came together to help train the next generation of progressive faith leaders.
In June 2012, Joseph Gidjunis and Laura Kleiner were named co-directors of the initiative and have led the organization to host events in two swing states while providing messaging resources to local organizers around the country. With the campaign successfully behind the group, they have been busily planning their 2013 conference—and I wanted to share some of the details with you.
This year will be hosted at Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York starting Friday evening, March 15 through Sunday afternoon, March 17. Friday will begin with a welcome reception, followed on Saturday by speakers, group work, prayer and service to train and expand the reach of the Democratic faith and value agenda. On Saturday night, they will host a group dinner for everyone attending. Sunday will proceed with additional training and networking opportunities.
I cannot stress the value of this summit and the powerful impact it left on me. You can learn more about the summit, and the Faith and Values initiative by visiting their website here. For those of us who understand that faithful-democrats are not an oxymoron, keep your eye on this group as they will continue to make powerful and important changes to the way Democrats organize.
