White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships

The White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships,^[1] formerly the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (OFBCI) is an office within the White House Office that is part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States.

"Faith based initiatives" redirects here. For other uses, see Faith Based Initiative (disambiguation).

They may not use direct government funds to support inherently religious activities such as prayer, worship, religious instruction, or .

proselytization

Any inherently religious activities that the organizations may offer must be offered separately in time or location from services that receive federal assistance.

FBOs cannot discriminate on the basis of religion when providing services (GAO 2006:13).

[3]

Under Donald Trump[edit]

Following the election of President Donald Trump, the office remained without a director; the website was no longer available.^[7]^[8] In May 2018, Trump started the Faith and Opportunity Initiative, a new White House office to help faith-based organizations get equal access to government funding.^[9]

Under Joe Biden[edit]

On February 14, 2021, President Joe Biden reestablished the Office with Melissa Rogers again serving as executive director.^[10]

The was noted as one of major issues with the Faith-Based Initiatives laws. Critics have claimed that millions in government grants have gone to ministries operated by political supporters of the Bush administration, or have been given to minority pastors who recently committed their support.^[11]^[12]^[13]^[14]^[15]

separation of church and state

In June 2006, U.S. District Judge Robert W. Pratt ruled that a faith based-program called InnerChange at a Newton, Iowa prison, operated by Charles Colson's Prison Fellowship Ministries, unconstitutionally used tax money for a religious program that gave special privileges to inmates who accepted its evangelical Christian teachings and terms. "For all practical purposes," Judge Pratt said, "the state has literally established an Evangelical Christian congregation within the walls of one of its penal institutions, giving the leaders of that congregation, i.e., InnerChange employees, authority to control the spiritual, emotional, and physical lives of hundreds of Iowa inmates." [See Americans United v. Prison Fellowship Ministries, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 36970, June 2, 2006]

[16]

On June 25, 2007, the ruled 5–4 in Hein v. Freedom From Religion Foundation that executive orders may not be challenged on Establishment Clause grounds by individuals whose sole claim to legal standing is that they are taxpayers. Both of President Bush's court appointees, John G. Roberts and Samuel Alito, sided with the majority.

U.S. Supreme Court

The second head of the department, , in a session of "Ask the Whitehouse" dated November 26, 2003, stated in regard to a question about pagan faith-based organizations:

Jim Towey

Owens, Michael Leo (2007). God and Government in the Ghetto: The Politics of Church-State Collaboration in Black America. . ISBN 978-0-226-64207-9.

University of Chicago Press

Daly, Lew (2006). . The MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-04236-3.

God and the Welfare State

(2006). Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political Seduction. Free Press. ISBN 0-7432-8712-6.

Kuo, David

Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships

Archive White House FBCI Office - Archived site from the George W. Bush Administration

(Commercial site, not affiliated with Federal Gov't)

National Association of Faith Based Initiatives

series about USAID and "Faith-based initiatives": *Part 1 *2 *3

Boston Globe

Faith Complex, On Faith, Washington Post, June 22, 2009 - Jacques Berlinerblau interviews Washington Post's Jacqui Salmon about the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships