Have you ever played the acronym game? My first time was over a decade ago with a colleague at a nonprofit association. It’s simple, really. During a training for nonprofit leaders on sector excellence, whenever the trainer used an acronym or technical jargon without providing an explanation, she had to give candy to the first person who called her out.
Spiritual Root Systems of Faith-Based Organizations
In any field, subject-matter expert language becomes second nature when communicating with peers. After 15 years working in religious freedom, public policy, and faith-based nonprofits, I’m acutely aware that I do this myself. Acronyms like RFRA (Religious Freedom Restoration Act), SOGI (sexual orientation/gender identity) laws, FBO (faith-based organization), NRPC (notice and request for public comment), and SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States) are just a few examples.
As many of us know, sectors often develop their own idioms that leave outsiders scratching their heads. One of my personal favorites in the faith-based nonprofit world is: “Make sure the fruits of your [organization’s] work connect to the roots.”
What does this mean? Despite its vagueness, this phrase resonates deeply with me. I’ve worked with communications experts who’ve helped me adapt language for wider audiences, but this concept remains at the heart of many faith-based organizations.
Psalm 1:3 tells us, “He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.” This image of a tree is central in the biblical imagination, symbolizing both individuals and communities. It’s not a stretch to see this verse as a metaphor for a God-centered organization, whose roots are nourished not just by clean water, but by sacred, life-giving waters, whose source is Love incarnate.
Connecting the fruits of faith-based organizations to their deeper, spiritual roots is essential to understanding what makes them distinct from secular pro-social organizations. It’s also important to note that while these organizations are spiritually grounded, they don’t all share the same understanding of the Sacred or God. Theological, ontological, and epistemological differences abound, even within faith-based organizations that share the same religion.
Root and Fruit
What’s worth emphasizing is that faith-based organizations advancing God’s vision for flourishing must not only care about their social impact but continually nourish their roots in these streams of living water. This spiritually sourced foundation produces fruits that go beyond material outcomes. Whether they’re addressing economic inequality, revitalizing civic life, promoting environmental conservation, or educating the next generation, organizations sustained by God, at their best, aim for the spiritual revitalization of individuals, communities, and even entire sectors.
In other words, while their material outcomes—more economic justice, engaged citizens, cleaner air, or children reading at grade level—are important, they aren’t the whole picture. The ultimate goal for God-centered organizations is fundamentally different. Their mission requires that the living waters from which they draw consistently produce both material and spiritual wholeness in individuals, societies, and the world.
Varied Spiritual and Religious Organizations for Thriving in a Pluralistic Society
What does this require? Religious freedom, in short. Not just for individuals to express private beliefs, but for individuals and organized communities with distinct structures and purposes. The spiritual and material wholeness we seek, along with shared flourishing, cannot be achieved by protecting individual rights alone. Despite the current cultural focus on individual rights, humans weren’t created to live in isolation. At our core, we are interdependent, communal beings who thrive in community. We need social structures and institutions of shared purpose to flourish—and I’m not talking about one-size-fits-all, government-mandated institutions.
Many of us want to give and receive services, work, trade, educate our children, access healthcare, and engage in causes that reflect our personal values, needs, and spiritual or cultural contexts. Achieving this requires advocating for a vibrant civil society, where people from diverse religious, spiritual, cultural, and ideological backgrounds can create, participate in, and receive services from institutions that reflect those values. When the religious freedom of organizations and communities is restricted, so too is the freedom of the individuals within them.
In today’s polarized climate, supporting the religious and spiritual freedom of groups and institutions—especially those with differing beliefs—may seem counterintuitive, even contrarian. Yet it is essential to protect their ability to contribute distinctly to their communities and public life, rooted in their spiritual foundations.
Beyond the Secular Pro-Social
This presents challenges for several reasons. Many secular leaders and institutions are happy to benefit from the work of religious organizations—whether through their organizational capacity, volunteer hours, donations, or overall positive impact. However, these benefits are simply the byproducts of the spiritual revitalization that begins at the roots, in those ‘streams of living water.’ While the measurable impacts are important, they are not the sole reason these organizations exist. Treating them solely as sources of material benefit is spiritually shortsighted at best, and at worst, exploitative.
Over the years, I’ve heard countless stories from religious leaders who were encouraged to accept grants, sign letters, or join coalitions for pro-social causes, only to face pressure to downplay or sever their connection to the spiritual root system that sustains them. This has happened to organizations across a spectrum of faith communities, from evangelicals to Islamic networks to spiritually centered Indigenous groups.
Additionally, there are increasingly prevalent worldviews on both sides of the political and ideological spectrum. Although simplified here, I believe we see extremes where the name of God or other sacred expressions are used in public life to reinforce the power and values of a minority at the expense of broader human flourishing. On the other hand, possibly in response to how God’s name has been misused to dehumanize others, there’s also a push to remove the sacred from public life entirely, even decoupling the pro-social impacts of religious organizations from their spiritual origins.
Despite these negative trends, there is hope that spiritual and religious freedom can flourish in public life, even across deep differences. A recent example occurred on Thursday, August 8th, when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit granted temporary access to essential state funding for an Oregon-based nonprofit that serves at-risk youth while its legal case against state officials proceeds. The organization had been excluded from state funding for requiring staff and volunteers to sign a statement of faith. After the case was filed in March and a lower court ruled unfavorably, the 9th Circuit’s ruling reversed that decision, reinstating the funding and allowing the ministry to recover eligible expenses.
In Youth 71Five Ministries v. Williams, the 9th Circuit declared, “The Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment mandates that the government must treat religious and secular organizations equally.” The court observed that Oregon had failed to apply its non-discrimination policy fairly, continuing to fund secular organizations that prioritize certain groups based on race and gender identity, despite relying on the same policy to deny funding to 71Five.
Between 2017 and 2023, Youth 71Five Ministries secured funding through Oregon’s Youth Community Investment Grants, a program that operates on a biennial basis. However, when the ministry reapplied for funding in the most recent cycle, they were initially approved, but later denied, due to a new state regulation requiring grant recipients to avoid “discriminating” based on religion in hiring practices.
“Youth 71Five has been delivering essential services to those in need, yet Oregon officials are targeting them for being a Christian ministry that asks its volunteers and staff to follow Christian beliefs,” said Jeremiah Galus, Senior Counsel at the Alliance Defending Freedom. The ministry’s mission is to “share God’s message of hope with youth by building trusting relationships in ways that are relevant.” It accomplishes this through employees and volunteers who are aligned with its mission and faith statement.
Galus continued, “Oregon’s refusal to fund the ministry put religious organizations in a position where they must either compromise their beliefs to access funds or be excluded. This ruling is an important step in defending the constitutional rights of the organization.”
Youth 71Five Ministries serves young people across Oregon from all backgrounds, including at-risk youth, those in correctional facilities, and parenting teens.
In 2021, 71Five submitted the highest-rated proposal for the Youth Violence and Gang Prevention grant. During the 2023-2025 grant cycle, the ministry applied for multiple grants and was initially set to receive over $400,000. However, three months later, a state official informed the ministry’s executive director that they had been disqualified due to the faith statement requirement for staff and volunteers.
The upholding of institutional religious freedom in this case is significant, particularly for those who may not share the organization’s theological beliefs. If religious freedom is only protected when it aligns with the beliefs of the majority or the government, then it becomes a hollow concept. In any society, and especially a pluralistic one, the freedom to not only hold but actively live out one’s sacred, guiding beliefs is essential for true human flourishing at every level.
In conclusion, organizations sustained by spiritual root systems hold a unique position in providing services that transcend material outcomes and enrich our spiritually diverse public commons. However, these God-centered organizations often face tensions with secular systems that emphasize one-size-fits all, conformist policies, which can clash with their religious practices. Faith-based nonprofits, rooted in their spiritual missions, sometimes face the dilemma of choosing between adhering to their spiritual root systems or accessing public funding. It is vital to safeguard religious freedom, not just for individuals but also for diverse religious organizations that rely on their spiritual foundations. In a polarized cultural climate, championing the distinct contributions of these groups is crucial for fostering both material and spiritual well-being.
Chelsea Langston Bombino is a believer in sacred communities, a wife, and a mother. She serves as a program officer with the Fetzer Institute and a fellow with the Center for Public Justice.
