Organizing Coalition leads path in creating a politics of #FaithNotFear
Rochester, MN – Faith in Minnesota released the following statement:
Today’s successful DFL endorsement of Rep. Erin Murphy for Governor was driven largely by the grassroots energy and action of the 176 DFL State Faith Delegates and Alternates organized by Faith in Minnesota. A year ago, thousands of people of faith started coming together to build a new politics grounded in our faith-values of love, abundance and hope. Today was an important milestone in a journey that began almost a year ago.
“This was not just about a candidate – this was about a co-creative relationship with the next Governor of Minnesota,” said Imam Asad Zaman of the Muslim American Society.
Hamdi Kosar, a Faith Delegate from Willmar, said, “I got involved because I know our fates are tied together. We believed in each other. In spite of all the cynicism and those telling us it wasn’t possible, politicians who scapegoat us and try to divide us. Minnesotans will see through it and come together to build a new future.”
The Rev. Javen Swanson, a Faith Delegate from Saint Paul said, “By being part of a collective of people of faith, we built an extraordinary amount of power – all through this process. Now we have a responsibility to steward this power. Grounded in our love, and our mission, we can steward and grow this power so that all people can live together in dignity, health and wholeness.”
“See what happens when we come together and lead with faith, not fear!” said Doran Schrantz, Executive Director of Faith in Minnesota. “What an amazing feeling of love, faith and solidarity we’ve built in Rochester today. That feeling has been separate from politics for too long. Now we have work to do, bringing that feeling to every corner of our state.”
Our Path of #ClaimingOurVoices
#ClaimingOurVoices is a joint initiative of Faith in Minnesota (FiMN) and our partner organization, ISAIAH to elect a governor in 2018 who will co-create a new people-centered politics of abundance and inclusion with us over the next four years and beyond. Our Claiming Our Voices House Meetings throughout the fall of 2017 were the first step in our formation of boldly proclaiming our faith and our vision for a just and fair Minnesota through the 2018 election year. Hundreds of FiMN and ISAIAH leaders came together to develop our 2018 Faith Agenda for a just and fair Minnesota that reflected the concerns and issues that emerged from our House Meeting conversations.
Through Claiming Our Voices, thousands of people of faith from all walks of life were trained across our state to participate in Minnesota’s 2018 precinct caucuses and district conventions. Approximately 3,000 of them attended their precinct caucuses in February, with 800 FiMN leaders attending DFL Party district conventions and more than 200 of them being elected Faith Delegates or Alternates to the DFL State Convention through FiMN.
FiMN Faith Delegates and Alternates undertook an intensive process with all three Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Gubernatorial candidates. We explored who we believed would have a co-creative relationship with us in creating a bold, new kind of politics for Minnesota in 2018 and beyond.
This process included many conversations with the candidates, both one-to-one with the Faith Delegates and Alternates and in forum settings, including the FiMN Latino Convention where 70 faith leaders – unable to participate in the political arena because of immigration status – were able to deliberate and make recommendations to the Faith Delegation about the candidates they believed best represented our values.
Our 136 Faith Delegates and 40 Alternates, (10% of total delegation) committed to moving as a bloc together on the DFL Convention Floor had an internal poll to rank the candidates on our values. Erin Murphy was the decisive top choice.
Faith in Minnesota
Faith in Minnesota is a political home for people of faith who are acting boldly and prophetically to create a new, people-centered politics in our state — one rooted in abundance, where everyone is in and no one is out. www.faithinmn.org
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