Having served from her perch at brookings as a key confidant and friend to both the first bush and the first obama f so calledaith czars and she has begun to develop exciting new faithbased partnerships and initiatives. God bless each of them and god bless resident george w. Bush and god bless president opera obama. Barack obama. I have been teaching at Ivy League Universities for more than 30 years. Having the key value of an Ivy League Professor which means i can speak for five minutes or two hours on any subject with no essential change in content. [laughter] before you hear from my betters on this religion, policy, and civic life. In the half dozen or so years that are seeded the establishment of the office, small but intellectually and ideologically and religiously diverse cadre of policy wonks and opinion leaders came together. What happened was that we trumpeted a fact, a fact that was hiding pretty much in plain view. Namely, the fact that americas urban churches come the synagogues, and mosques and and, houses of worship most of all, the small street level ministries concentrated in the nations poorest places. All of these functions as Sacred Places that serve civic purposes. Daycare, drug and alcohol prevention or treatment, homeless shelters, afterschool and summer education, Youth Violence reduction, welfare to work placement and job training, health care, prisoner reentry, and literally scores upon scores more. In many cities from coast to coast, these faithbased organizations were not just add ons but accounted for much or most of given types of social Service Delivery either on their own or in partnerships with other groups or with public agencies. The vast majority of these Sacred Places serve people of all faiths and no faith, most did not discriminate on religious grounds in mobilizing workers or volunteers and their primary beneficiaries, at least in most urban areas, were children, youth, and young adults who were not themselves members. More the larger professionalize and more secularized religious nonprofits were, for the most part, treated fairly in competition for government grants and contracts, smaller religious nonprofits including communities serving ministries in innercity neighborhoods were often discriminated against, sometimes for innocent reasons like byzantine bureaucratic protocol but also, in some not so innocent cases, out of outright hostility to religious people and places. President clinton and the first lady clinton were the first major fence, white house fans come of faith based, the First Federal faithbased center was established during the second clinton term out of the office out of the department of housing and urban development under secretary andy cuomo. , it was in the 2000 president ial election that faith based Went National to stay. Vice president doran governor bush had their respective favorite locutions on the subject. Their respective messages on faith based were much the same. I still think the best single sentence in this regard was the one that governor bush first delivered in his july, 1999 duty of hope speech, the speech that launched his president ial campaign. Government cannot be replaced by charities but it should welcome them as partners, not resent them as rivals. A new White House Office, while respecting all federal church, state doctrines and limits would build on the federal socalled charitable choice laws that had been and active in the late 1990s and would welcome religious leaders into the white house, into the public square, into the Public Discourse and debate and dialogue and it would promote faith based and Community Initiatives and partnerships to expand mentoring for the children of prisoners and achieve many, many other civic goals. Not everybody was thrilled with this approach. Orthodox secularists, mainly among Democratic Party elites, and orthodox sectarians, mainly among Republican Party e lee, did not like the bipartisan centrist level the Playing Field approach. Still, each candidate persisted and in articulating this vision. Thereafter, so did governors and mayors in each party. Although it has received relatively little attention, the has itsuse office younger siblings in dozens of state governments all around the country. Second, today, the imperial evidence on has its younger siblings in dozens of the existence of faithbased organizations and programs is both deeper and wider than it was back in 2001 when the office was established. For instance, a forthcoming study by my university of pennsylvania colleague is being conducted in concert with orders for sacred laces come of the nations leading national nonsectarian organization that tends to the Historic Preservation of older religious robberies involved in community it willes and the purposes, indicate that the civic replacement value of the average is whatban congregation it would cost tax ayers were these Sacred Places to top supplying social services and serving civic offices as they do. This replacement value is, if anything, several times what was estimated to be when the first generation of studies were completed. Faithbased organizations and programs have, what he called, i halo effect is respected Economic Development that goes even far beyond social Service Delivery. Stay tuned for those interesting academic findings. I know you cannot wait. [laughter] third, in the courts of Public Opinion and the courts of law, the core ideas and sentiments behind the White House Office that began in 2001 are at least as widely embraced today than before. For all the church state turnedersy that has this into a toxin, nearly 3 4 of all americans including republicans and democrats believe in the civic value of Sacred Places and believe that most to a very good and Cost Effective job at supplying Vital Social Services and support a level Playing Field for all religious nonprofits when it comes to government grants. It is certainly true that in the past dozen years or so, we have witnessed a rise in the fraction of americans that claim no religious affiliation. The survey researchers have turned this none. ofn i heard that 15 americans were nuns, i got excited, look out. Even many of the socalled nones as religious or spiritual and consider religion important in their only daily lives. Moreover, churches are second only to the military in public trust and confidence, way at a Public Schools, newspapers, labor unions, big businesses and congress. So, the last dozen years or virtually all of the major constitutional and other legal haveenges to faithbased resulted in rulings that either favor faithbased efforts or that challenge those that would treat faith motivated citizens as secondclass citizens. Alas, our nations social and capital is in excitedly bound with its spiritual capital. That is a fact. It is a fact warmly embraced by most americans without regard to party, religion, demographic description, or social economic status. Said, the lives of future White House Office directors will be no less interesting or surrounded by political conflicts and crosscurrents that our respective tenures were. My final points the soon to be 14year old White House Office, in addition to all the actual substantive ongoing good works should serve now and in the future as a symbolic reminder that, deep is the divisions may go on churchstate issues, whether in General Capital is iy or in particular issues like religious hiring rights, what unites us is always more important than what divides us. As my jesuit friend liked to preach, and essential unity and nonessential diversity in all things charity. Who among us does not want to find ways for diverse faith based organizations to partner with each other, with secular nonprofits and with federal, state, or local agencies to improve and expand the health and Human Services that go to americas elderly shutins, to the evergrowing numbers of Senior Citizens that many regions and cities live alone or other elderly relatives or friends . Who does not want the same faithbased and neighborhood partnerships to improve and expand in relation to the u. S. Department of agricultures food and nutrition programs . To curb this bikes in child reducednger when the price meals the kids get during the school months are no longer a readily available. A bipartisan, centrist, problem solving, community anchored vision was behind the original case for faithbased. I do not mean to say that by vision,g back to that all of our disagreements will say away nor do i mean to that by rallying together to meet specific challenges like the two i just mentioned, we will have nothing about which to fuss, fight, or sue each other over. I do mean to say that the focus exclusively on the disagreements while forgetting the past, present, or potential Common Grounds, to dispute without resulting thet disputes might yield in the way of a common good is the road to civic tradition. Perdition. The white house has persisted in part because people of diverse faiths and no faith focused fatefully and together on the civic challenges that faith based and neighborhood partnerships could help to meet. Resulting the disputes might yield in the way doing so with genuine compassion, looking for compassion and truth in action, and caring especially about the least of the last and the loss of our society. Bostong to a group of innercity clergy in 2005, senator Hillary Rodham clinton put it this way who is more likely to go out on a street and save a poor at risk child and someone from the community, someone who believes in the divinity of every person, who sees god at work in the lives of even the most hopeless and left behind our children . That is why we need not to have a false division or debate about the role of faithbased institutions. We need to just do it and provide the support on an ongoing basis. In different ways, president s clinton bush, and obama embraced that vision and with different approaches, each of my friends and esteemed colleagues tonight should be credited withdoing soe compassion, looking for fighting the good fight and defending and translating that vision into action. What a blessing each has been and what an honor it is to be here this evening with them and with you all so thank you and god bless you. [applause] once again, im in the position of following john delulio, author, scholar, expert on all things faith based. Of the seventh taylor whoelizabeth said, on their wedding night, to his new bride, i think i know what to do but im not sure how to make it interesting. [laughter] taylor who saidas the longestserving fait based director, i will give it a try. Properly understood, the Faith Based Initiative is about changing lives. Its about finding and funding the most effective programs of with public and private resources, programs that help addicts recover, the youth turn to opportunity instead of yangs, the jobless find work, the homeless stable housing, anddren of prisoners, reentering prisoners jobs and housing so that they contribute to society instead of attacking it. These problems are pressing today as they were when the faithbased initiative was launched, perhaps even more so, in the last four years. Have seen an increase in the number of People Living in poverty according to the census bureau, an increase of six point 7 million people. President bush believed in americas armies of compassion and the transformative change of their programs. He also knew that two Office Government programs at the national, state, and local level discriminated against them. Government often commit a kid that if tapebased rich wanted to partner with them, they would have to change their identity and secularized. At the time of president bushs election, the federal government somegularly forcing groups to change their Mission Statements and diversify the board of directors of they were not all of one faith and take at the door orh the crossed her by and even change their name if they wanted to play ball with the federal government. Asked the metropolitan council of jewish poverty in new york it was denied access to the grant because jewish was in their name or the Orange County register mission in los angeles. Have seen an increase inask oln who was denied a grant. Ask the Seattle Hebrew Academy after their earthquake when they grant tod a fema help rebuild their school. Ask the Salvation Army in janesville, wisconsin. All had been manhandled by government and the high priest of secular orthodoxy who were hostile to all things faith based. Ofs, of course, this effort these secularists begins with protestants and other americans separation of church and state, an organization now known as americans united for the separation of church and state, an organization steeped in catholic bigotry. Religion and president ial politics have been entwined from our founding. From George Washingtons inauguration when he added to his oath, the words so help me god and bent over to kiss the bible to the present day. Even thomas jefferson, the wall off the separation of church and state two days later, in a government building attending sunday church separation of church and state, an organization now known services. Government employees and a marine band playing church hymns. Frank and roosevelt in a time of war spoke of the mercy that flows from the cross. You can go down throughout president ial history and find other analogues. His president bush, during term in office, talked of faith and the power of faithbased organizations to change lives, he was squarely in line with residential residents. Why the uproar over faithbased initiatives . Why the cries that the Wall Separating Church and state was under attack . That he was ushering in a theocracy and paying back his friends on the religious right . By the end of his term, all of these charges proved to be countless. First, the initiative was constitutional and succeeded in every single Court Challenge including the Supreme Court of the United States case freedom of Religion Foundation versus dewey. It was decided on Standing Grounds but the record shows the what we hadthat conducted were not in no way religious exercises. The university of notre dames ace or a grant which was sued by the owner can congress won a unanimous reversal by the u. S. Circuit court and the real winners were the schoolkids being taught by these notre dame grads. Treatmentent eagle executive order in december, 2002 went unchallenged because it was fair and forthright. It leveled the Playing Field. Analyzed d byly dr. Elulio. Charge there was the that a theocracy was coming to power and the government was being christianized. This also proved bogus. The only evidence of divine intervention in the bush when that took place poor lawyer was hunting and survived being shot at point blank range by Vice President cheney. [laughter] third, the charge of the initiative with would pay back the religious right that kays withered when the Associated Press was given, by me, a list of all the discretionary grants by federal agencies that had been awarded the audience of dollars in grants. The reporter could not find any evidence of grants being funneled to the religious right. It was no story. Attacks that adhere to the faithbased initiative from the outset despite john delulios most fervent efforts stigmatized the effort and polarize supporters and critics and, in the process, the poor who couldve benefited from access to more effective programs and they were punished by their so called friends. This is what history will show, i think, about the bush faithbased initiative it was indeed a president ial priority and second that it succeeded against all odds. It was at the heart of president bushs compassionate, conservatism and was a priority of his presidency. The faithbased initiative was mentioned in each of his first five state of the Union Speeches with new pilot programs announced each year. Then later, funded by congress in a bipartisan fashion. He attempted to get other legislation passed in congress and he succeeded after great effort with some. He devoted his schedule, president ial events each yearth, i think, about the to this initiative and spoke at several white house faithbased conferences throughout america. These are conferences he had started to help groups learn how to access government programs. There is no disputing president bushs commitment. He measured the seriousness of a president by these factors. And two wars change the trajectory of his presidency, he never wavered in his support of the faithbased initiative. I was with him at his home yesterday and we talked about the faithbased initiative and he believes in it as much now as he did when he was running for office. I think it was one of the proudest contributions he made as u. S. President and his Library Features it at the entrance. To the accomplishedmonths of the faithbased initiative i will cite five th