#  On All Things Religious, Obama Turns to DuBois 

 





July 08, 2009

 

 

Author: Adelle M. Banks

Source: Religion News Service

[http://www.religionnews.com/index.php?/rnstext/on\_all\_things\_religious\_obama\_turns\_to\_dubois1/](http://www.religionnews.com/index.php?/rnstext/on_all_things_religious_obama_turns_to_dubois1/)

From a sparsely adorned office building a stone’s throw from the White House, Joshua DuBois carefully navigates the delicate line between church and state.  
  
Each morning, he sends a devotional message to President Obama’s BlackBerry. He appears before religious and community groups to explain his role as director of the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships and, in turn, relays their concerns to administration officials. In the course of any given day, he’ll receive as many as 750 e-mails from religious leaders, reporters and government officials.  
  
But in the midst of all the political juggling, the 26-year-old preacher’s kid remains a person of faith who quotes from favorite hymns—“Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing” is one. The Bible, too, serves as inspiration.  
  
“I’m often inspired by the grass-roots nature of Acts and the early church,” he said in a recent interview, “and what they were able to build from virtually nothing.”  
  
To some extent, DuBois is doing just that with the faith-based office, which Obama inherited from former President George W. Bush, but revamped in a bid to expand its focus, depoliticize the grant-making process and tamp down church-state concerns.





 

 

 



 

 See also:- [ Advocacy/Government ](/news-stories/advocacygovernment)
- [ White House Faith Based Advisory Council ](/news-stories/white-house-faith-based-advisory-council)
- [ Christianity ](/religions/christianity)
- [ Interfaith ](/religions/interfaith)
- [ Civic ](/tags/civic)
 
 

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