Good Faith Network is only about three years old. But a group of Johnson County religious leaders is already five years ahead of schedule.
When lawmakers began asking the Johnson County Commission to establish a crisis stabilization center by 2025, the county said it was unlikely anything would happen before 2029.
But Good Faith Network persevered and now the center is scheduled to open soon.
“This is a huge victory for us,” said Ali Haynes, co-director of the Good Faith Network and pastor of Indian Heights United Methodist Church. “The network really helped move that conversation forward and really pushed it forward and said this needs to happen.”
Every year in Kansas, elected officials take to the stage and pledge to implement a wide range of policy proposals in front of thousands of religious believers organized as part of the DART network.
DART stands for Direct Action and Research Training Center and has established 31 advocacy groups in 10 states. It primarily focuses on laying the groundwork for local groups to choose topics that are most appropriate for their community.
There are five DART organizations in Kansas. Lawrence. Topeka; Kansas City, Kansas; and Sedgwick County. Members come from a variety of faiths and denominations.
The group has wielded quiet power across the state, setting broad goals and often achieving them. The results include massive housing projects, education initiatives, public transportation upgrades, and more.
“We are providing a proven solution to public servants,” said Justice Matters organizer Emily Fetch of Lawrence. “And the reason we bring it to public officials is because they are the ones who can run things and raise money.”
From advocacy to action
Tim Suttle, pastor of Redemption Church in Overland Park, helped start the Johnson County DART group. One of the first challenges was finding a suitable name. The Johnson County Interfaith Justice Organization did not take it for granted.
The group kept coming back to one proposal: “Good Faith Network.”
“This means a lot,” Suttle said. “This is what integrity, the highest of our beliefs, as well as working honestly with one another, looks like, and what justice looks like.”
DART Network Groups operate on an annual cycle, starting with small meetings where leaders listen to participants’ concerns. We then form a research committee and spend months digging deep into the problem and liaising with experts.
“Each of our Sundays and Saturday nights look very different, but they are still grounded in the same values,” said Eileen Stalack, associate minister of operations at Unity Church in Overland Park.
In recent years, Good Faith Network has shifted much of its advocacy work to the same themes as many other DART groups in Kansas: homelessness and affordable housing. The number of homeless people is increasing recently. Beyond Kansas.
In Johnson County, city officials have set a goal of eliminating functional homelessness by 2029. That means the city provides services to prevent homelessness and ensure that homelessness is rare, short-term, and one-time in the community.
“We are the wealthiest county in the state,” Haines said. “So there’s no reason why you should go empty-handed.”
Lawrence has spent the past few years debating how to best support the growing homeless population. Lawrence’s DART network group, Justice Matters, is at the center of this issue.
The initial focus was on providing a warm place for people experiencing homelessness during the winter months, prompting funding for shelters. But members recognized the need to extend their work more widely. Justice Matters pressured city and county leaders to commit to virtually eliminating homelessness by 2028.
“We didn’t just want to manage homelessness,” said Anne Spangler, co-director of Justice Matters. “We wanted it to end.”
After the DART group completes its investigation, the cycle culminates in a gathering. At meetings, members present their findings and call on those in power to make changes. More than 1,500 people gathered for this year’s annual gathering in Johnson County.
Justice Together, Wichita’s DART network group, began two and a half years ago with a meeting of 20 congregational leaders. The group held its first meeting in May, with about 1,400 people attending. Rabbi Andrew Pepperstone, co-chairman of Justice Together, said growth has been rapid and has produced real results. kansas jump Ranking of access to mental health care.
As Justice Together grows in Wichita, Pepperstone hopes to see an even larger interfaith coalition emerge. By focusing on areas where there is consensus, DART network groups can avoid discussion of more controversial issues.
“Faith communities broadly can help with these issues,” he said. “We give each other a lot of grace and understanding.”
Pepperstone said the DART group is making it clear to elected officials what it is studying and preparing to advocate to avoid surprises at the annual meeting. Ta.
“We did not come to them to protest the issue,” he said. “We will go to them with research and effective solutions. … It will never devolve into booing and heckling. That’s good. It will be professional and persistent.”
Mike Kelley has served as Johnson County Commission Chairman since 2023 and has witnessed this tenacity firsthand.
During his term, he met with leaders of the Good Faith Network more than a dozen times. He said the goals of the commission and Good Faith Network often overlap during his term, and he praises their support and policy solutions as the county works to serve vulnerable residents. He said he did.
Kelly, a litigator by trade, said he doesn’t mind the direct approach but knows it has a negative impact on some commissioners. He encouraged the Good Faith Network to focus on the two groups’ shared goals and continue to support the county’s efforts.
“These problems are not easy to solve,” Kelly said. “As we come together, I think it’s important to recognize the work and passion on both sides of this issue.”
Topeka JUMP is Kansas’ first DART network group, founded 12 years ago. Co-chair Melodyn Byrd said the roots of judicial activism are in the family. She is the youngest of 12 children and watched her father fight for justice in the 1950s and 1960s.
Topeka JUMP has been around the longest and has worked on the most campaigns. The group advances multiple mental health initiatives, building housing for people battling addiction, expanding access to public transportation, and providing access to mental health care for thousands of students. I’ve been doing it.
“I know my work is not in vain,” Bird said. “I believe in the common unity of everyone in our community, so I help others live better lives.”
Build bridges, not divides
When Suttle and other early leaders of the Good Faith Network chose their name, they focused not just on what the group would do, but what it would stand against.
in spite of Most Americans strongly support separation of church and stateaccording to data from the Public Religion Research Institute. one third of the country support christian nationalismwhich includes approximately 40% of the people of Kansas.
Christian nationalism, the belief that the United States is inherently tied to Christianity, has been the subject of news reports, books, and documentaries that track the rise of political movements and networks that exploit Christianity for political gain. are.
Suttle said that while the Good Faith Network focuses on local issues, it offers a different vision of how religious groups can engage with politics.
“The malice is really, really distracting,” Suttle said. “I mean, look around you. Malice is wreaking havoc on our world. And we don’t want to leave our world to malicious actors. About really boring committee work. This kind of thing never happens. But it does happen. It’s not flashy.”
The Mainstream Coalition is a nonpartisan political organization founded in the 1990s to protect against growing extremism and maintain the separation of church and state.
Laurel Burchfield, advocacy director for the Mainstream Coalition, said she has seen the work of the Good Faith Network in defining a Christian perspective that opposes Christian nationalism.
“These are people who are deeply involved in their faith communities and are looking inward to see how organized religion impacts and can impact our communities,” she said. spoke. “And they are using that power for good, to oppose the way religion is distorted to attack people.”
Both the Mainstream Coalition and the DART Network are faith-based organizations that encompass multiple belief systems. Burchfield said this allows the group to bring more perspectives to important conversations.
The combination of faith and justice has shaped some of our nation’s most important histories. But history also highlights tensions that still exist today. In other words, justice means different things to different people.
“Jesus was political,” said Spangler, co-chair of Justice Matters. “I think he opposed the system and held people accountable, and that made people uncomfortable. That’s the Jesus I follow, so we’re not partisan, but we’re not political. is.”
Christopher Koliba, a professor at the University of Kansas, has researched civil society, the separation of church and state, and political responsibility. He said the history of religious organizations and justice movements in the United States has deep roots, going back to the Founding Fathers who established a clear separation between church and state.
Religious groups in the 19th century justified slavery and were integral to the abolitionist movement. Religious groups have recently taken vastly different positions on issues such as abortion and LGBTQ+ rights. Koliba said climate change could become an issue that causes this tension in the future.
Koliba said Christian nationalism is adding a new element to the integration of politics and religion by directly promoting candidates that many religious groups have long avoided. DART Network Group does not endorse candidates.
“This is a controversy within New Testament interpretation as to what Jesus’ intent was in preaching,” Koliba said. “So at the root of this is a deeper understanding and soul of Christianity.”
Suttle said that as he looks out over the polarized political landscape, he is comforted by the hope he feels in the Good Faith Network.
For the past several years, they have held their annual meeting in the 3,500-seat sanctuary of Resurrection Church, but leaders say they want to see the Good Faith Network grow beyond that venue.
After all, strength comes in numbers.
“This is a time-consuming process, and we don’t always see progress,” Suttle said. “That’s why we need a network of people who join arms and say, ‘Don’t give up.'” We’re walking. We will continue in this direction. Let’s move forward slowly. ” ”
