Among confirmation hearings, stimulus package negotiations, and other demands of his first weeks in office, President Barack Obama took the first steps to implement his vision for government partnerships with faith-based organizations. The president embraced a prominent role for partnerships between government and religious and other non-governmental entities to meet social needs. Unfortunately, he also postponed resolving some important problems of the previous administration in this delicate area of policy-making.

The president’s high regard for the work of faith-based and neighborhood groups is no surprise. During his campaign, he affirmed the vital role such groups play in serving those in need and expressed his interest in government cooperation with them, including the continuation of the offices established by his predecessor. He also promised reform, citing a firm commitment to the separation of church and state and explicitly stating that the initiative should not be used to proselytize, discriminate, or promote religious service providers over secular ones. The BJC lauded these comments and urged necessary policy changes in support of them during meetings with the president’s transition team.

In his first official act to make a mark on those offices, President Obama appears to be taking an incremental approach. He amended Executive Order #13199, which originally established the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives in January 2001. As revised, the order recognizes the vital role of faith-based and neighborhood organizations in meeting needs of low-income and other under-served communities. It states the purpose of the office as strengthening the ability of such organizations to deliver services effectively “while preserving our fundamental constitutional commitments.” That constitutional commitment and ensuring accountability for taxpayers’ dollars are noted as principal functions of the office, but no operative policy language yet describes how these goals will be performed.

Instead, one source of pragmatic policy development under the re-named “Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships” is a newly created 25 member advisory council of experts in fields related to the work of faith-based and neighborhood organizations. The council is charged with identifying best practices, evaluating needs for improvement on implementation of policies and making recommendations. Composed of individuals representing diverse religious and policy perspectives, the members will serve for a one-year term and report to the president through Joshua DuBois, the executive director of the office.

In the meantime, the administration seems content to ensure that its programs and practices are “consistent with law.” While the order cannot impair other authority granted to the agencies, it states: “the Executive Director, acting through the Counsel to the President, may seek the opinion of the Attorney General on any constitutional and statutory questions involving existing or prospective programs and practices.” When it comes to promoting partnerships between religious entities and the government that involve taxpayer dollars while protecting religious freedom and civil rights, perhaps getting it “legal” is more ambitious than it sounds. Although an important start, true reform will require more guidance.

The BJC, along with its allies, will continue to push, as it has in prior administrations, for greater protections against funding religion, more transparency and accountability, and a reversal of policies that allow religious entities to deny jobs based upon religion in government-funded positions. While the employment issue has been in sharp focus in the media and policy discussions about possible reforms, it was notably absent from the new order, which for now leaves a major source of controversy to plague the office. While the new administration moves forward under the order to strengthen partnerships while preserving fundamental constitutional commitments, receiving advice from its advisory council and legal counsel, we expect its policy will be more fully developed.

During his time in the White House, President Bush issued a half dozen orders related to the faith-based initiatives, opened faith-based offices throughout the executive branch, established review processes for grant applications for faith-based groups, supported legislative changes, printed reports to defend his policy and claim progress, conducted conferences to promote its work, and issued creative legal interpretations of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act that would override civil rights laws, and promoted an aggressive publicity campaign that turned the term “discrimination” on its head. The legal, practical and political issues that challenge faith-based initiatives did not develop in a day. We welcome a fresh opportunity to seek reforms that create and maintain meaningful boundaries that protect church and state.