MCC Headline News – November, Vol. II

 Washington D.C. – Rev. Dr. Robert Griffin, attended the Leadership Consultation for Faith, Health, and Development at Washington National Cathedral and the White House on November 22nd and 23rd. The event was attended by nearly 100 representatives of governments, United Nations agencies, faith-based development organizations, and other international institutions.

The two-day Leadership Consultation had several aims: (1) to launch the Global Initiative on Faith Health and Development, (2) to present a Strategic Framework for Action, carrying key recommendations to improve the engagement of faith communities to advance causes of health and development, (3) to discuss and prioritize the recommendations for advocacy and action, and (4) to consider how collective action among diverse faith-based institutions can increase support for the work of participating institutions, including Metropolitan Community Churches.

While faith-based institutions collectively constitute a vast and valuable resource for the care and wellbeing of their communities, they are underutilized and underfunded. The Task Force has been focusing on the question of how to increase the engagement and impact of the faith sector on health and development.

The Global Initiative, convened by the Center for Interfaith Action on Global Poverty (CIFA), is a multi-year process to promote the full engagement of the faith sector to combat poverty and disease.

On November 23rd, the Leadership Consultation attendees were hosted at the White House, where they met with high level representatives from the United States government, including USAID Administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah, National Security Council member Gayle Smith, and Director of the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, Rev. Joshua Dubois, among others, to hear the government’s perspective on engagement with faith-based organizations, and to present the Strategic Framework for Action and specific recommendations for action to the United States government.