A Reason to Hope After Last Night’s Debate
Dear Friends
If you don’t feel better about our politics after watching last night’s debate, I don’t blame you. But if you were watching the debate where I was, with the people I was with, I think you’d find reason for hope. I think you can find reason for hope today.
This week, we’re holding our second retreat with our 2024 Public Life Fellows, along with nearly a dozen incredible mentors. These are some of the most inspiring people I know, and they’re making a tremendous difference in their communities and in our country. They turn our conviction that “the kind of people we are has much to do with the kind of politics we will have” into a statement of aspiration, and they embody our belief that spiritual formation is central to civic renewal. Our politics is not what is should be, what it must be, right now. We are working to change it.
Next month, we’ll host the pilot year of Public Good Generation, a summer civic program for Christian high school students who already know they want to serve the public. They are the future generation of civic leaders.
Because we are investing in the formation of leaders, we have the credibility to take this message to the broader public. Earlier this month, Mark Sappenfield, the editor-in-chief of the Christian Science Monitor, referred his readers to a “must-read” interview with our President, Michael Wear. Inspired by the interview, which was published with the headline “How a spirit of gentleness can lead to public service–and a better politics,” Sappenfield wrote: “How to fix our politics is not a mystery, really. It’s a question of whether we want to commit to the continual self-renovation it requires.”
Also this month, the respected policy journal National Affairs, founded and edited by Yuval Levin, published a longform essay (featured on the cover of its Summer volume!) adapting the second chapter of The Spirit of Our Politics on moral knowledge and our civic life.
Our conviction—that spiritual formation is central to civic renewal—is gaining broad consideration and credibility. We have seen longstanding organizations emphasize formation that had rarely, if ever, mentioned it before. And we have seen major civic and religious leaders, including United States Senators and renowned journalists, advance this message inspired by our work.
With this momentum, we are eager to invite a Director of Christian Civic Formation to join our team. We believe the right person to serve as Director of Christian Civic Formation will have a demonstrated commitment to both spiritual formation and the public good, with respect and knowledge of the kinds of challenges that face those working in politics, advocacy, journalism, and our civic life more broadly. We are looking for a leader who is comfortable in a start-up environment and can serve as a strategic partner while executing the details. Finally, our Director of Christian Civic Formation will be excited about building and serving a broad, diverse community of leaders advancing the public good.
Please see and share the application with anyone you think would be a good fit for the role.
There are many ways you can engage with the work of CCPL right now and stand with us as we advance the importance of spiritual formation in public life. Subscribe to our new podcast to hear from civic leaders who are faithfully living in this intersection. And consider joining us in person this October 7-8 in Washington D.C. at our annual summit — early bird pricing ends July 15!
Thank you for your partnership in this vital work.
Phebe Meyer is the Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor of the Center for Christianity and Public Life.