“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”  — Margaret Mead

This year’s inaugural National Faith and Blue weekend saw this particular quote put into action with MovementForward, Inc.’s small team helping execute a successful first-time initiative. With the generous sponsorship from three outstanding companies (AT&T with First Net, Motorola Solutions, and Wrap Technologies), along with the many national law enforcement partnerships and agencies supporting the cause. In addition to countless houses of worship across the United States also joining in, even in the face of COVID-19 and a tumultuous election year, the initiative produced outstanding results contributing to building community and police relations. Here are just a few of snapshots of the incredible work done:

o   Organized 1,000 events from across 50 states

o   Every 2 out of 3 were registered but believe there were more unregistered

o   Great geographical reach

o   20 largest PDs participated

o   A plethora of different faiths participated

o   Over 1 million mentions across social media

o   Media Markets broadcasted extensive coverage of events nationally

National Faith and Blue Weekend is the start of figuring out how to build pathways forward in solving problems at the community level and building relationships with law enforcement and their communities through houses of worship.

Here are a few positive quotes and events we captured from participants that weekend:

• “We had a BBQ for the citizens which included our Chaplin’s. It was very nice. We fed over 50 people and that was awesome considering the way things of the world are now. I am still getting phone calls of appreciation!  We also had a fallen angles motorcade along with church of the messiah with pastor Barry. We honored victims killed in senseless gun violence. It was an absolutely beautiful event.”
• “In an effort to bring more younger voices to the table, the Mesa Police Department held and essay contest for 11th & 12th grade high school students asking them, “What would you do to bridge the gap between the local community and law enforcement?” Our school resource officers shared the information with their high schools, and our faith & community leaders shared it with their communities. We received over 40 entries with thoughtful ideas and passionate opinions! we held a winner’s ceremony where each of the winners got to meet the Chief and were presented with their recognition certificate and prizes by our Assistant Chief.”
• “The Clayton County Police Department (in GA) partnered with four local churches and Hearts to Nourish Hope in order to pull together a Food Drive. We were able to feed approximately 2,400 families. With this opportunity we were able to build even stronger relationships within our community.”
• “The final day we had a virtual town hall meeting hosted by City Presbyterian Church.  The community was able to view and submit questions for the panel, via a live feed.  The panel – Chief Wade Gourley-OKCPD, Chief JD Younger- Edmond, OKPD, Pastor Serven and Pastor McDaniel.  There were over 5 thousand views and questions fielding in constantly!  This was a success in getting community Involvement to express concerns and voice support (via posts).”
• “The entire weekend was nothing short of amazing.”

Editorial Disclaimer: All blog posts are contributed by a member of the MovementForward, Inc. team in their personal capacity. The opinions expressed in the posts are the author’s own and do not reflect the views of MovementForward, Inc. or any other partnership associated with the organization.