Our Mission is to contend for the credibility of Christian resources in public life, for the public good.
Our Vision:
A healthier politics and public life that benefit from positive Christian contributions.
HOW WE ADVANCE OUR MISSION
CHRISTIAN CIVIC FORMATION
We grow, resource, convene and represent the community of Christians who are convinced that spiritual formation is central to civic renewal. We do this work principally through an ecosystem of programs serving current and future civic leaders, including our Public Life Fellowship, our young professionals network, private retreats for senior civic leaders, and the Public Good Generation, our high school civics program.
PublicImagination
Christian CivicFormation CIVIC RENEWAL
PUBLIC IMAGINATION
We explain Christianity to the public and offer Christian resources for the good of the public. Through our think tank and public engagement, we produce new research and leverage existing research, and we convene scholars, civic leaders, and other stakeholders to drive ideas, shape national discourse and press coverage, and inform and influence decision-makers. We offer Christian contributions to civic leaders–and through them, the broader public–to advance civic renewal.
Dear Friends,
When we launched the Center for Christianity and Public Life, we did so with a conviction: Christians have essential resources to contribute toward civic renewal in America, but in order to tell a better story about Christianity in this country, we have to live it. Rather than apathy or antagonism, we believe Christians can show up in our politics and public life in a spirit of loving service. This conviction deepened in 2025 as we saw the power of our mission, and the power of this community, displayed in new ways during a year of political change and turmoil.
This past year was one of purposeful growth for CCPL. OUR roots are deep in the soil now. Because of the generosity of our financial partners, we saw our community expand, our voice reach new audiences, and our programs deepen in both ambition and influence. More civic leaders found their way into our work. More partners joined us in the pursuit of a healthier civic culture. More people encountered a vision of public life shaped not by what we oppose, but by the kind of people we are called to become.
This annual report is an expression of the accountability we feel to you, our partners and friends in this work. It is also an expression of our excitement about what God is doing in and through CCPL, and our desire to provide you with some of the hard data, milestones and stories of transformation that will give you a deeper understanding of how we advanced our mission in 2025.
Our 2025 summit, For the Good of the Public, was a landmark moment. We saw a nearly 80% increase in attendance, as over 325 civic leaders from across sectors and traditions came together to wrestle with the demands of citizenship, leadership, and renewal. In a fragmented time, there is real power in gathering civic leaders around shared responsibilities and shared hope. Our summit convenes our community of civic leaders, and tells a new story in our public life of a positive, generative Christian response to our nationʼs most pressing problems (page 13).
CCPLʼs influence also reached well beyond our own platforms throughout 2025. Our work and ideas were featured in national conversations through outlets and thought leaders who recognize the importance of moral and spiritual formation in public life. These expressions are significant on their own, and they also signal a growing hunger for deeper frameworks, better questions, and a more hopeful politics (page 7-8).
At a time of seemingly overwhelming noise and ever-present opportunities for distraction, we launched a National Call to the Christian Practices of Silence and Solitude. Through this effort, we are helping leaders resist the most harmful impulses of our age, and make themselves available to hear from, and be changed by, a God who deeply loves them and cares for their souls (page 21).
In 2025, we also hosted in-person events throughout the year. These compelling, sold-out events proved to us how hungry civic leaders are for real, deep conversations in hospitable settings that focus not just on issues, but on the deep questions, values and aspirations that affect us all as persons made in the image of God (page 5-6).
At this yearʼs Civic Renewal Awards, we honored Fr. Gregory Boyle and Rev. Dr. Otis Moss Jr.—two extraordinary Christians whose lives demonstrate what courageous love, moral leadership, and steadfast public faithfulness can look like. Our Civic Renewal Awards offer a powerful witness to a watching world that needs to be reminded of the tremendous, essential contributions Christians have made to the public good (page 15).
We take joy at CCPL in the tested commitment of lifelong servants, and also in witnessing and cultivating those who can follow in their footsteps. In these pages, you will meet Phoebe Luecke, a student from our 2025 Public Good Generation program, whose experience with us reflects the imagination and promise of the next generation. You will also read an interview with Lanre William-Ayedun, a 2025 Public Life Fellow.The intergenerational nature of our community provides a tremendous source of confidence for what lies ahead (pages 17-20).
This is truly our annual report. None of this happens on its own, and nothing here would be possible without you. It is all possible because of a growing community of supporters, partners, participants, and friends who believe a healthier politics that benefits from positive Christian contribution is possible—and worth investing in.
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
Galatians 6:9
With gratitude and hope,
Michael Wear Founder, President & CEO Center for Christianity and Public
Life
Our National Presence Even� Highligh�s from 2025
WellSpring
Menlo Park, California
In a day-long engagement in partnership with WellSpring, a spiritual formation ministry serving pastors and leaders, Michael Wear shared from The Spirit of Our Politics at a private retreat for pastors, and an evening event open to local congregations and the general public.
Events
Through CCPLʼs own events, and through partnerships with dozens of churches, leadership conferences, community gatherings, and other civic organizations across the country, CCPL advanced our mission through directly equipping thousands of civic leaders with teaching, workshops and other resources. Through our events and in-person activations this year, we engaged with pastors and their congregants, academics, board members, college and high school students, business leaders, politicians, and more.
Programs
CCPL serves civic leaders all across the country. Our program participants in 2025, including faculty and mentors, came from 155 cities in 35 different states.
Tallgrass Festival
Des Moines, Iowa
CCPL was proud to partner with the Tallgrass Festival, hosted by the Lyceum Movement, which was founded by 2025 Public Life Fellow, Nathan Beacom. CCPLʼs President was a featured speaker alongside an Iowa State Legislator regarding public trust and religion.
The Veritas Forum
Baltimore, Maryland
Michael Wear joined prolific political scientist and Director of the SNF Agora Institute Dr. Hahrie Han at a Veritas Forum event on the role of hope in politics.
Lead the City Conference
Chicago, Illinois
Chris Butler participated in The Chicago Partnership's Lead the City conference as a speaker, panelist, and trainer, helping church and community leaders consider the connection between spiritual renewal and renewal in the public square. TCP is a multi-ethnic, multi-denominational network of Christian leaders, churches, and ministries that collaborate to plant, revitalize, and strengthen churches across Chicago.
Civic Exper�s & Leaders Recognize CCPL’S Dis�inc�ive Approach
In 2025, CCPLʼs distinctive approach was publicly recognized by a number of civic leaders and experts as influential, impactful and essential. As many Americans scan the horizon looking for answers to our most vexing social and political problems, CCPL offers Christian resources with open hands and firm footing. Increasingly, they are taking us up on our offer.
The New Yorker Michael Luo, Executive Editor
With faith and politics dominating the headlines, Michael Luo considered whether Christians might participate in politics as a “combatant in the culture wars” or if they will instead “feel called to a different approach.” Luo writes, “The overwhelming sensation at this moment in American politics is one of precarity.” In this precarious moment, what is a better way forward? Luo writes:
“Wear…describes himself as ‘skeptical of a self-interested, tribalistic, and antagonistic Christian influence in politics that calls itself Christian but looks, sounds, and acts nothing like Christ.ʼ In 2022, he founded the Center for Christianity and Public Life, in Washington, D.C., an organization that seeks a ‘healthier politics and public life,ʼ aided by ‘positive Christian contributions.ʼ...In his book, Wear imagines what would happen if Christiansʼ primary aim in politics shifted away from an all-consuming drive to win toward ‘a true desire to lovingly serve.ʼ”
Luo continues:
“The question confronting Wear and his organization is whether gentleness has any prospect of gaining traction in a moment in which the attention economy rewards outrage…In a phone conversation this week, Wear acknowledged the obstacles. ‘The kind of people who are typically motivated to write big checks are not doing so for reasons of comity,ʼ he told me. A friend of his once joked that “there is no ‘Civility PAC.ʼ ” Nevertheless, Wear suggested that the problem was largely one of imagination, and his hope is that once people glimpse ‘a different, better way, they will be moved to pursue it.ʼ The future of American democracy might depend on it.”
Art of Association | Daniel Stid, Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
Daniel Stid, one of the most respected voices in civic philanthropy, identified “An Untapped Opportunity for Impact: Funding Networks of Rising Leaders.” In his article for the American Enterprise Institute, Stid highlights that, paradoxically, in the name of “impact,” philanthropists too often shortchange their own impact by avoiding investments “in networks of emerging leaders and ideas that, while broadly aligned with their strategies, are not specifically dedicated means for achieving them.” Stid analyzes The Federalist Society as a case study for the efficacy of this kind of model, and then raises modern examples of comparable approaches that justify wise investments for civic impact, including CCPLʼs Public Life Fellowship program.
Stid identified the following distinctive qualities of programs like ours, including that itʼs “grounded in shared values and beliefs they have articulated about what is good and true and right,” that weʼre diligent to select “promising leaders who are determining their future directions,” we operate as a “formative institution” that shapes and informs the “perspectives, self-understandings and aspirations” of our fellows, and we “provide collective and networked experiences and solidarity.”
According to Stid, “far-sighted funders…are investing in rising networks of leaders” like our Public Life Fellows. At CCPL, we have been honored to steward, and have seen the power of, these kinds of investments and the partners who make them possible.
The Pillar | Rep. Dan Lipinski, Former U.S. Representative (IL-3)
Former Congressman Dan Lipinski, a mentor for our 2025 Public Life Fellowship retreat in Colorado Springs, wrote a powerful reflection on what he had to offer our fellows—and what they offered him:
“In this world where ‘winningʼ seems to be regarded as the ultimate end, I remember these words attributed to St. Teresa of Calcutta: ‘We are not called to be successful, but faithful.ʼ”
“Donʼt get me wrong, I am very competitive and I want to triumph in everything I do. But being faithful requires getting up every day and using Godʼs gifts to serve Him by serving others, even if I have doubts that my efforts will succeed. The only payoff that I can expect is peace in this life and hope for Godʼs mercy in the next. I desire more, but this is enough for me.”
“This was the message that I carried as I mentored the CCPL fellows in Colorado, whose faith has inspired them to dedicate their lives to building civic life and faith communities, aiding those in need, and otherwise following Godʼs call to serve. What I found is that those I sought to guide and inspire in turn helped to build my hope and peace.”
CURATED BOOK SALONS New CCPL Gatherings in 2025
In 2025, we launched a new kind of gathering, designed to cultivate depth, curiosity, and connection. These salons pair leading intellectuals and authors with an intimate, no-pretenses setting for candid, unhurried conversations about the questions shaping public life. Our salons confirmed something we had long suspected: there is a profound hunger among leaders in public life for spaces where deep questions about vocation, belonging, integrity, and the good life can be explored with honesty and care. These evenings reflect our commitment to curating spaces that are formation-forward and intellectually rich, intended to nourish both the souls of the civic leaders who attend, as well as our public life to which they contribute.
We hosted two sold-out salons in a downtown Washington, D.C. venue this year. These book salons have quickly become a meaningful way for us to convene our community in D.C., and they are a natural on-ramp for new leaders to encounter CCPL's mission.
Our fall book salon featured Strangers in the Land: Exclusion, Belonging, and the Epic Story of the Chinese in America, by Michael Luo, Executive Editor of The New Yorker. Luo's book has drawn wide attention, including recognition in The New York Times and a feature on The Daily Show. In conversation with CCPL Founder and President Michael Wear, Luo brought his decades of reporting on cities, politics, and faith in America to bear on questions our community cares deeply about: how we welcome the stranger, how we reckon honestly with history, and what it looks like to pursue belonging for all.
“These two longings within me—one for goodness, to orientate us toward the good, to live a morally courageous life, and one for comfort, status, and safety—are at war. And we need community, and we need rooms like this, to help us build the courage to lean this way [toward the good].”
Our spring book salon brought together Elizabeth Oldfield, author of Fully Alive and host of The Sacred podcast, and Christine Emba, Senior Fellow at AEI and former columnist at The Atlantic, for an evening of honest reflection on what it means to hold onto what matters when faithfulness feels costly. The gap between high ideals and hard realities can be bruising, especially for young professionals navigating questions of ambition, integrity, and community in an unforgiving environment. Oldfield and Embaʼs transparent and personal conversation provided a refreshing alternative in a city more accustomed to networking than to genuine human encounters.
Elizabeth Oldfield
CCPL President & CEO, Michael Wear November 8, 2025
FOR THE GOOD OF THE PUBLIC 2025
A Growing Movemen� for Civic Renewal
More than 325 civic leaders—pastors, scholars, journalists, nonprofit practitioners, philanthropists, students, and public servants—gathered in Washington, D.C. for CCPLʼs largest summit to date.
More leaders than ever before are looking for spaces that cultivate moral imagination, civic friendship, spiritual depth, and practical wisdom for public engagement. For the Good of the Public convenes a growing ecosystem of civic leaders committed to the renewal of our politics and public life. Throughout the summit, speakers challenged civic leaders in attendance to move beyond reaction and toward positive contribution for the public good.
Former Ohio Governor John Kasich provided candid insights regarding faith, social capital, and the kind of leadership our nation needs.
Prize-winning biographer, Jonathan Eig, spoke about the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., courage, endurance, and the moral imagination required for the work of justice today.
Molly Kinder, Jimmy Lin, and Brandon Rickabough joined a forward-looking conversation exploring the potential and peril of artificial intelligence.
Rep. Paul Tonko, one of the leading congressional voices confronting online sports gambling, made his case for action.
325+
Civic leaders gathered for CCPLʼs largest summit yet 100%
Of attendees said the summit helped them believe they could make a positive difference in civic life through their actions
95%
Of attendees say the summit equips them in their work
“I left reminded that thoughtful, faithful, and constructive public engagement is still possible.”
“The summit gave me language for things Iʼve been sensing for years but havenʼt known how to articulate.”
“I came expecting good conversations. I left with new friendships, new collaborators, and renewed hope.”
“There are very few spaces where Christians across sectors and perspectives can gather with this kind of honesty, generosity, and seriousness.”
The Summi�’s Impac� Ex�ends Beyond Ideas.
Civic leaders leave with a renewed imagination for faithful civic engagement.
Attendees consistently highlighted the summitʼs rare tone: intellectually rigorous while spiritually grounded; relational while substantive; hopeful without avoiding hard realities.
The summit also demonstrates our ability to convene leaders across institutional, ideological, generational, and vocational lines. As CCPL continues to grow, the summit serves not only as an annual gathering, but as a visible expression of our mission. The summit provides a catalyst for service-oriented action, and inspiration for those looking for better, healthier, and more positive models for Christian public engagement.
2025 Summit attendees
Each year, CCPLʼs Civic Renewal Awards recognize Christian leaders whose lives bear witness to the possibility of a healthier public life—leaders whose lifetime of service reflects moral courage, civic responsibility, spiritual depth, and love of neighbor.
HONORING COURAGE, COMPASSION, & PUBLIC WITNESS CIVIC RENEWAL AWARDS 2025
Father Greg Boyle, Founder of Homeboy Industries and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom—the nationʼs highest civilian honor—was introduced to receive his award by Catholic Charities USA President and CEO, Kerry Alys Robinson. As a pastor and through Homeboy Industries, the worldʼs largest gang rehabilitation and re-entry program, Fr. Boyle has modeled the power of compassion, forgiveness, and mercy as public, civic goods.
Rev. Dr. Otis Moss, Jr. was honored by Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (pictured here) for a lifetime of leadership in the Black church, the Civil Rights Movement, and American public life. A close friend and colleague of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Moss has spent decades calling the Church and the nation toward justice, reconciliation, courage, and democratic responsibility.
At the 2025 Civic Renewal Awards, CCPL honored two extraordinary public witnesses: Father Greg Boyle and Rev. Dr. Otis Moss, Jr. Civic leaders in attendance at the awards ceremony reflected not only on the accomplishments of the honorees but also on the kind of moral imagination their lives represent.
The Civic Renewal Awards reminded me that public witness rooted in humility and love can still shape the moral imagination of our country.
A GROWING TRADITION
The Civic Renewal Awards have become an increasingly important expression of CCPLʼs broader mission: elevating leaders whose lives demonstrate that Christian public engagement is about service and can contribute to civic renewal.
Previous honorees include:
Rev. Tim Keller
Founder and longtime pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City
Sister Norma Pimentel
Executive Director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley
Rev. Dr. Barbara Williams-Skinner
Public policy strategist and voting rights advocate
Rev. Mack McCarter
Founder and coordinator of Community Renewal International
Together, these honorees represent the power and potential of Christian contribution in civic life, and we offer our Civic Renewal Awards as a way of honoring todayʼs leaders, and as a source of inspiration for the leadership that is needed for tomorrow.
PUBLIC GOOD GENERATION
Public Good Generation is a civic leadership experience designed exclusively for dynamic rising juniors, rising seniors, and graduating high school students interested in politics and public service. This summer program is designed to help students understand the connection between Christian formation and civic life through an immersive and educational experience in the nationʼs capital, Washington, D.C.
100% OF STUDENTS REPORTED:
Their conviction that Christianity has a positive future in America (up from only 39% before joining us).
They are better equipped to help a friend, family member, their church, or someone in their community navigate disagreement.
They are confident that they have an important role to play in American democracy.
They are excited about becoming more civically engaged in their community.
[My daughter] told me that last week felt healing—that for the first time in a long time, she could see how Christianity might actually be good for the world.
We plan for this program to grow significantly in 2026 and beyond to serve more students and families.
Phoebeʼs Story
Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Phoebe Lueckeʼs school days have been plenty diverse: Students from all over the world, from varying religious backgrounds, go to her high school.
But the nationʼs capital votes overwhelmingly Democratic, and Phoebe didnʼt often talk with kids her age whoʼd argue against her political ideas. That changed last summer when she attended the Center for Christianity and Public Lifeʼs high school program, the Public Good Generation.
Kids from Georgia, Colorado, West Virginia, and Massachusetts, among other states, joined her for the program, which she still looks back on fondly almost a year later. In an interview one recent Saturday morning at a coffee shop on Capitol Hill, Phoebe said attending Public Good Generation was “formative” for her. During our conversation, she kept coming back to just how helpful it was to sit in the same room with people who might disagree at times, but who share the Christian faith in common.
“You can have really different political views, but you still hold the same religious views,” she recalled realizing after a speech writing exercise at the program. “And you can go on and still have differences, and still be in relationship.”
That speech writing exercise was a tough one: Students had just a day or so to come up with a speech about immigration policy, which they would present that night in a “town hall” format in a meeting room at American University, where they stayed for the program. Phoebe remembered being nervous, but she found the other students helpful in sorting through various arguments and lines of reasoning.
“We were in such a deep community,” she said. “It felt like a really safe space to be able to share what we were genuinely thinking.”
For her, it was valuable to work through how someone else might approach a topic through the lens of scripture. “It was comforting to see that a person who's thinking the opposite of me is not doing this because they hate God,” Phoebe said. “It feels easier to say, ‘They're saying this, so they don't believe in God.ʼ Or, ‘They're saying this, and that's not what God thinks.ʼ But itʼs just not that simple sometimes. And CCPL definitely helped me realize that.”
The Public Good Generation program had its lighthearted moments, also. One of the students had their birthday that week, and the kids all gathered for celebratory popsicles. They also went on a tour of the National Mall and played card games.
The program spans five days in July, and it is open to rising high school juniors, rising seniors, and graduating seniors. Students hear from policymakers, academics, government decision makers, journalists and, nonprofit leaders, about their careers and what it is like to work in civic life.
During their visit to Capitol Hill, at one point, Phoebe and her peers were able to meet with Delaware Sen. Chris Coons., who spoke to them with so much enthusiasm about faith and public life that he was late to a hearing that morning.
“We just chatted with him about his life and how he balances his family life with his political life and then also his religion,” she said. After multiple reminders from a staff member, the senator finally left them, begrudgingly, to appear at his hearing—and then he came back to talk some more. “Do you have any questions?” Phoebe remembered him asking. (They did.)
Phoebe also loved having a mentor, who would meet with a group of the students each day to talk through what theyʼd learned. Sheʼs still in touch with her mentor, a student at Yale divinity school.
The hardest part of the program, Phoebe said, was crafting a mock political advertisement. Not only is it difficult to make a campaign ad without descending to baser forms of rhetoric like attacking opponents or making exaggerated claims, but Phoebe also had to do this as a group project. It sounds nearly impossible.
“One of the guiding ideas was, ‘It is power for love, not love for power,ʼ” she said. The CCPL team gave each group a camera and set them loose on the American University campus to film. The students grappled with how to make that idea of holding authority for the sake of loving others, rather than for the sake of loving power itself, come across in their advertisement.
“It kind of came together on the last day that we were working on it, in the last couple hours,” she said. “But we got it done.”
Phoebe plans to attend the College of William & Mary in Virginia next autumn, where she will study history. Holding political office isnʼt her lifeʼs goal; she said she could see herself pursuing a career as being a teacher. But wherever her life takes her as a professional and as a citizen if she ever does find herself running for office, or working in politics, sheʼll bring a whole new set of tools and ideas rooted in Christian resources to the job—perhaps most importantly, how to stay in a relationship, even when in disagreement.
2025 PUBLIC LIFE FELLOW SPOTLIGHT:
LANRE WILLIAMS-AYEDUN
have a space where you can grapple with these things,ʼ” she said. The fellowship connected her with people from various disciplines—writers, philosophers, and even scientists. And the fellowshipʼs focus on a pursuit of holiness, she said, reminded her “of the fact that I needed to be thinking about my own formation and not to be power hungry, not to be wheeling and dealing… but to really try to have a kingdom perspective.”
Senior Vice President of International Programs, World Relief
During meetings at the State Department, for example, that looked like asking: “How do I invite the Holy Spirit into this conversation and trust that God is up to something that I get to be a part of, rather than manipulating or maneuvering to get something?”
It was also simply encouraging for her to be connected with the other fellows, who could build her up during a demanding year.
“To have these hard conversations with people that I so admire, I came away with just a sense of, ‘Oh wow, we truly are co-laborers, and I get to know these people on an intimate level beyond the work that they do. I get to know them as people. I get to know them as believers. I get to understand a bit of their story and watch them grapple with the things that we talk about in the fellowship together.ʼ”
The 2025 class of fellows has stayed in touch since completing the program last fall, and Williams-Ayedunʼs work has sometimes intersected with the work of other fellows. She provided insight for Clarissa Moll, a journalist, about Christians facing persecution in Nigeria. She invited Krista Kartson, who works with refugees, to be a panelist during an event about creating welcoming communities at the United Nations General Assembly. Philosopher Brandon Rickabaugh, too, spoke at World Relief about artificial intelligence, faith, and flourishing.
“The fellowship activates Christians in all spheres of public life, and the impact is not only felt in our work life, but it's felt everywhere,” Williams-Ayedun said. “I am a different person having gone through this fellowship than I was before… The impact of one fellowship multiplies over lots of different people who come into contact with these folks. And when you've got folks that are prolific writers and thinkers, there's just a lot of dissemination that comes out of the work that is birthed in the fellowship. That's really powerful for culture change, for societal change writ large.”
Her work life a year later is still busy, dealing with crises around the globe as well as reckoning with the fallout from suspended aid programs. She said that while writing her essay for CCPLʼs annual Journal of Ideas, she came to appreciate even more the value of Christian practices like lament and silence. After writing about these storied Christian traditions for the CCPL fellowship, she started to bring them “into our rhythms at work,” she said, as well as incorporating them into public speaking engagements. “There is collective lament that is happening because of what has happened with foreign assistance and with immigration reform.”
“We're in the middle of continuing to fundraise to try to get services back online,” she said of her ongoing work. “We're really laser-focused on those fragile-context countries where there's not much of a safety net, and trying to make sure that life-saving services and services that help to get families back on a path towards resilience can either be sustained or renewed.”
And while she does it, she has a network of friends and encouragers she can count on, people who are seeking the good of the public.
SPOTLIGHT
A National Call to the Christian Practices of Silence & Solitude
People have shared their stories about what the practices have meant to them.
“If Christians are to offer anything worthwhile to our public life, we must attend to our inner life–to the kind of people we are and the kind of people we are becoming. We cannot offer what we do not have ourselves… In silence and solitude, we intentionally separate ourselves from the pursuit of social approval as our motivation for being. We temporarily abstain from the cues of others, and take our "audience of One" seriously. The call to silence and solitude is not a call to withdrawal; instead, it is a call to recognize that we will have little meaningful to say to our neighbors if we do not take time to be quiet, to be alone, to listen.”
"I started practicing a time of silence and solitude a few weeks ago after reading (the Call) sent to me by a friend at church. What has happened is nothing short of amazing. I am finding that my mind is quieter, my emotions more at peace, and most of all, I am learning what the voice of the Spirit sounds like! This is reprioritizing my thoughts throughout the day, and therefore my actions. Granted, Iʼm just at the beginning of this season, but in my 67 years of being a practicing believer, I am more at peace with God and myself than ever before. Most of all, though, is the joy and peace I have as I look forward to my time alone in the presence of God Almighty."
— Signer from Long Beach, California
Civic leaders from across the country responded to the call with their own commitments.
As we consider what our politics and public life require of us, we understand that it will be from the overflow of our hearts that we speak, and it will be according to the orientation of our hearts that we will act. We encourage you to read the full call, and if you are compelled, to sign and share it!
Read and sign.
Original Signers:
and Public Life
Eugene Cho President & CEO Bread for the World
Chris Crawford Catholic Activist & Founding Board Member of the Center for Christianity and Public Life
Jennifer Daniels Founder Faithful Citizenship Institute
Justin E. Giboney, Esq. President AND Campaign, Inc.
Cherie Harder President The Trinity Forum
Myal Greene President & CEO World Relief
Ted Harro President Renovaré Association of Evangelicals
Nicole Martin Founding Board Member Center for Christianity and Public Life
Katie Prejean McGrady SiriusXM Catholic Channel host
Steve L. Porter Senior Research Fellow & Executive Director Martin Institute for Christianity and Culture, Westmont College
Michael Sacasas Executive Director Christian Study Center of Gainesville
Kaitlyn Schiess Author & Co-Host of the Holy Post Podcast
Christy Vines Executive Director Center for Peacebuilding and Conflict Transformation at Fuller Seminary
Tish Harrison Warren Author & Anglican priest
Michael Wear Founder, President & CEO Center for Christianity and Public Life
Chris Crawford
Founding Board Member
Senior Director of Civic Strategies | Interfaith America
Why did you want to serve on CCPLʼs board?
I have worked at the intersection of religion and democracy for most of my career, including at a foundation where I had a bird's eye view of the field. When Michael first told me his idea for CCPL, it felt like the answer to my prayers — and philanthropic programmatic longings! CCPL is providing a one-of-a-kind service to our country in the way that it is developing leaders and helping them discern their calling in the public square.
What is most meaningful about serving on the board?
I love meeting new people through my interactions with CCPL. This organization has a unique ability to reach people across the country and at all levels of leadership who might otherwise be overlooked. To hear people talk about the way that CCPL has helped them serve their communities is really inspiring.
Are there any memories or moments during your time as a board member that stand out?
The For the Good of the Public Summit is always one of the biggest highlights for me. Presenting Sister Norma Pimentel with the inaugural Civic Renewal Award was a highlight of my entire life! The beauty of the Summit is that it features high-profile leaders such as Sister Norma, Tim Keller, and Rev. Otis Moss, while also featuring stories of up-and-coming leaders and fellows who are making an impact on our public life.
What excites you about the next five years for CCPL?
One of the exciting things about fellowship-based organizations such as CCPL is that you get to see leaders develop over the long term, and a community take shape over time. I am excited to see this community continue to take shape, and to watch CCPL fellows grow into new leadership roles and transform our civic life.
As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of America's founding this year, and prepare for this year's annual summit, how do you see CCPL contributing to civic renewal for America's next 250?
Christianity has been weaponized in harmful ways throughout our history—and it has been the driver of movements to expand civil rights and ensure that we move closer to the idea that "all men are created equal". At this moment, CCPL can help us dig deeply into our faith's wisdom, traditions, and history to help us discern how we can continue to expand the notion of who is included in the promise of the Declaration of Independence, and how we can achieve a "more perfect union" together. CCPL reminds us that we are beings beyond space and time. To Jesus, 250 years is nothing!
FINANCIALS
Because of our community of financial supporters, 2025 was a year of continued growth and greater impact. Your partnership is essential to furthering CCPLʼs vision for a healthier politics and public life. Thank you! We are deeply grateful for your investment.
Total 2025 Expenditures: $1,586,241
Programs: $1,159,175
General & Administrative: $146,109
Fundraising: $280,957
Total 2025 Income: $1,796,077
Grants: $1,311,000
Individual Contributions: $410,321
Program Revenue: $61,260
Other: $13,496
Under What We Do, you can find out more about our programs, including Public Good Generation and our Public Life Fellowship.
Join us in Washington DC for our annual summit!
In October 2026, weʼll gather to recognize Americaʼs 250th anniversary and consider what positive Christian contribution looks like for the next 250 years.
You can reach our team via email at partner@ccpubliclife.org with any questions.
TEAM:
Michael Wear
Founder, President and CEO
Phebe Meyer
Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor
Alex Arnold Director of Research
Chris Butler Director of Christian Civic Formation
Chelsea Goodson Hospitality Lead
Christine Shin Executive Assistant and Office Coordinator
Haley Byrd Wilt Content and Community Advisor
David Bisgrove Pastoral Civic Leadership Advisor
BOARD:
James Catford Board Chair
Sarah Feinberg Board Treasurer
Christopher Crawford Board Member
Brian Hunsaker Board Member
Nicole Martin Board Member
Michael Wear Founder, President and CEO
Our mailing address is 5730 Cottonworth Avenue, #10417, Baltimore, MD 21209-9998.
The Center for Christianity and Public Life is a tax-deductible organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.