At only 26 years-old, Joshua DuBois is Executive Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. The young Pentecostal minister (and Boston University and Princeton graduate), has worked with President Barack Obama on faith outreach since his days in the Senate and throughout the campaign.
Since being selected in February for the new office, Pastor DuBois has focused on connecting with faith-based and community groups around four main objectives: economic recovery, responsible fatherhood, reducing the need for abortion, and inter-religious cooperation. The walls of his office are bare, with the exception of a photograph of Reverend Joseph Lowery giving the benediction at President Obama’s inauguration.
It is his job of finding common ground with groups like the Catholic bishops who boycotted the president’s commencement speech at Notre Dame because of his positions on abortion and embryonic stem cell research. Joshua DuBois states that with regard to tough issues like abortion, the president believes in a woman’s right to choose. He believes that in a area such as abortion where there are very strongly held beliefs on both sides, there are areas in the middle that everyone can come around to support (i.e., reduce the need for abortion, reduce unintended pregnancies and teenage pregnancies). This can be done through things like more education, supporting adoption through adoption tax credits, and making sure that pregnant women have the health care they need. The outreach entails, "I don't care if you're a conservative, evangelical Catholic who's never voted for a Democrat before; we're going to call you, we're going to sit down with you and try to find areas to work together. And even if you don't vote for us, we still want to work with you so that there's not some ‘us vs. them' mentality."
Reverend DuBois says that on a personal level, President Obama is a committed Christian. He would be the first to say it's a very important force in his life, and in the life of the First Family. It's an inspiration for him, and it helps him set his moral path. In terms of the Obama White House, we recognize that faith-based groups, which are serving people day in and day out, are central to any prospects we have to serving people in need. In communities across the country where there may not be an office of state, local or federal government, there's probably going to be a church or a synagogue or a mosque or a community-based organization. It just makes sense that, if we're going to serve the American people and get things done, we have to connect with people where they are.
Some think he is too young. Don't be fooled by the boyish face. Supporters say the young pastor has an uncanny ability for building relationships with religious leaders of various stripes. Spirituality has no age limit. God is no respector of person and He uses anyone who is willing to be used. Young people put Barack Obama in the White House, and the President hasn't been shy about bringing them with him. So it wasn't a surprise that President Obama — who entrusted 27-year-old speechwriter with crafting the soaring oratory that became his campaign's hallmark — would tap a relative novice to lead the new White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Pastor DuBois leads a council of 25 influential religious and nonprofit leaders in helping both faith-based and secular groups galvanize their communities by providing everything from social services to job training.
Born in Bar Harbor, Maine and raised in Nashville, Tennessee and Xenia, Ohio. Reverend DuBois' stepfather is a minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church; his grandmother took part in the 1960 Nashville sit-ins. As a 17-year-old freshman at Boston University, DuBois — armed with a placard inscribed with the words "NO MORE" — stood before a Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial in Boston for 41 hours as a way to commemorate the 41 bullets New York City policemen used to kill unarmed Guinean immigrant Amadou Diallo. He became an associate pastor at a Massachusetts church while still an undergraduate. When he received a form letter rejecting his application to join Obama's U.S. Senate campaign he drove to Obama's office to pursue and interview, and was hired as a Senatorial aide working on faith-based outreach.
No comments:
Post a Comment