Politics
Obama expands faith-based office to include neighborhood partnerships
By: By PHILIP ELLIOTT
The Associated Press
February 5, 2009
President Barack Obama on Thursday signed an order establishing a White House office of faith-based initiatives with a broader mission than the one overseen by his predecessor, Republican George W. Bush.
Obama said the office would reach out to organizations that provide help "no matter their religious or political beliefs."
Obama is calling his program the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
He said in this time of economic crisis, it was proper for the government to be providing help to Americans.
But no matter how much the government does, "the change that Americans are looking for will not come from government alone."
The president will also appoint Joshua DuBois, a 26-year-old Pentecostal minister who headed religious outreach for Obama's Senate office and later his campaign, to lead the partnership's office and name 25 religious and secular leaders to a new advisory board.
Before signing the measure, Obama told the annual National Prayer Breakfast the program would not show favoritism to any religious group, and would adhere to a strict separation of church and state.
The office is broader than one in the Bush administration that just dealt with faith-based initiatives.
Obama said the office would reach out to organizations that provide help "no matter their religious or political beliefs."
Obama is calling his program the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
He said in this time of economic crisis, it was proper for the government to be providing help to Americans.
But no matter how much the government does, "the change that Americans are looking for will not come from government alone."
The president will also appoint Joshua DuBois, a 26-year-old Pentecostal minister who headed religious outreach for Obama's Senate office and later his campaign, to lead the partnership's office and name 25 religious and secular leaders to a new advisory board.
Before signing the measure, Obama told the annual National Prayer Breakfast the program would not show favoritism to any religious group, and would adhere to a strict separation of church and state.
The office is broader than one in the Bush administration that just dealt with faith-based initiatives.
