Liberal Christian group puts faith to work

The war in Iraq. American children living in poverty. Environmental challenges.

Saying it's time for people of faith to act on these issues, about 150 local religious leaders and laypeople held a news conference and marched to the Henry M. Jackson Federal Building in downtown Seattle on Wednesday to announce the launch of a Christian network, Kairos.

Kairos, from a Greek word meaning "a critical time," was started primarily by local Lutherans and other mainline liberal Protestants. They hope it will become a national grass-roots movement that will get people of faith to speak out and change U.S. policies they don't like.

"The Kairos community represents an alternative Christian voice that is widely heard in our churches" but not outside them, said the Rev. Mia Baumgartner, executive director of Immanuel Community Services in Seattle.

Kairos is one of several groups on the religious left that have formed locally to counter the voice of the religious right. Two others, Faith Forward and Faith Media Democracy, formed in the past two years.

David Domke, local author of the book "God Willing? Political Fundamentalism in the White House, the 'War on Terror,' and the Echoing Press," said that nationally, progressives believe they need to speak out more about how faith informs their practices. While the sentiment also has gained traction here, he said, "I don't think a unified message has emerged yet."

Domke, who is also an associate professor of communications at the University of Washington, will be a panelist at an event this month benefiting Faith Media Democracy.

Nationally, Domke said, people such as the Rev. Jim Wallis, author of "God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It," and Rabbi Michael Lerner, author of "The Left Hand of God: Taking Back Our Country from the Religious Right," are prodding the Democratic Party from the outside.

And Democrats, Domke believes, are responding with leaders such as Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama talking openly about their faith. "It's a sign that the progressive faith movement is getting heard by the people in the halls of power." Still, Seattle is a tough place for that kind of movement to gain momentum, Domke says, in part because of its culture of individualism.

In addition, the religious left has a harder time than the right setting a common agenda and translating beliefs into practical policy changes, Domke said.

Wanting to get the message out is what spurred Tamara Broadhead, a Seattle media consultant, to help form Faith Media Democracy, which conducts media training for churches and holds public forums.

In the late 1980s, "voices of religious progressives were loud in this city" on issues such as nuclear weapons, peace and poverty, she said. That voice has been quieter, in part because religious leaders "are so busy keeping their congregations together," Broadhead said.

Faith Forward, founded two years ago by leaders at Temple De Hirsch Sinai and St. Mark's Episcopal Church, last month sponsored a public discussion featuring Bill Gates Sr. and local religious leaders on why the estate tax is moral.

The Rev. Paul Benz, director of the Lutheran Public Policy Office of Washington State, said Kairos' goal is to first work within the faith communities. Then the group plans to take its message to the community, and to elected officials.

"There is realism: Is this going to move the [government] to withdraw from Iraq? Yeah, right," Benz said. "But nonetheless ... we must speak."

Janet I. Tu: 206-464-2272 or jtu@seattletimes.com