2008 Woodie Awards
Messiah to host presidential candidate dialogue on faith and politics
Timothy Mackie
Issue date: 4/2/08 Section: News
Messiah College has been chosen to host the Compassion Forum, an unprecedented bipartisan discussion panel of all three presidential candidates. The Forum will focus on issues of moral significance such as torture, poverty, global AIDS, and the crisis in Darfur as well as America's role as a superpower in addressing these issues. It will occur on Sunday April 13 at 8 p.m. in Brubaker Auditorium and will be broadcast nationwide.
The Forum is a project of Faith in Public Life (FPL), an influential Washington D.C. 501C3 organization dedicated to the interface of faith and public policy. In addition to the presidential candidates, it will be attended by influential American Christian, Jewish and Muslim religious leaders. The discussion will be moderated by Newsweek Editor John Meacham, a generally well-respected Christian and leading commentator on the role of faith in American society. Since all three candidates have raised issues of faith in their campaigns, the Forum falls at a very opportune time in American politics.
Perhaps the most instrumental person in bringing the Compassion Forum to Messiah College is D. Kelly Phipps, the husband of college president Kim Phipps. As an attorney with decades of experience in dealing with politics, Phipps lobbied strongly with some friends and associates at FPL to bring Compassion Forum to Messiah.
The placement could not have been more ideal with the massive media event occurring on the wings of the hotly contested and high-stakes Pennsylvania Democratic primary on April 22. According to Phipps, holding the Forum on a Christian college campus makes the event even more attractive to candidates hoping to court the influential and vocal evangelical voting bloc, which seems to be loosening many of its strong ties to the Republican Party.
As of Monday, March 31, only Senator Clinton has confirmed her attendance, although Phipps said that Senator Obama has offered a "tentative 'yes.'" Phipps stated that Senator McCain has been the hardest candidate to land, but hopes that he will acquiesce if Obama attends. Both of Pennsylvania's senators, Republican Arlen Specter and Democrat Bob Casey Jr. (who recently endorsed Obama), as well as former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee have worked closely with FPL in convincing the three remaining candidates to attend the Forum.
The Forum is a project of Faith in Public Life (FPL), an influential Washington D.C. 501C3 organization dedicated to the interface of faith and public policy. In addition to the presidential candidates, it will be attended by influential American Christian, Jewish and Muslim religious leaders. The discussion will be moderated by Newsweek Editor John Meacham, a generally well-respected Christian and leading commentator on the role of faith in American society. Since all three candidates have raised issues of faith in their campaigns, the Forum falls at a very opportune time in American politics.
Perhaps the most instrumental person in bringing the Compassion Forum to Messiah College is D. Kelly Phipps, the husband of college president Kim Phipps. As an attorney with decades of experience in dealing with politics, Phipps lobbied strongly with some friends and associates at FPL to bring Compassion Forum to Messiah.
The placement could not have been more ideal with the massive media event occurring on the wings of the hotly contested and high-stakes Pennsylvania Democratic primary on April 22. According to Phipps, holding the Forum on a Christian college campus makes the event even more attractive to candidates hoping to court the influential and vocal evangelical voting bloc, which seems to be loosening many of its strong ties to the Republican Party.
As of Monday, March 31, only Senator Clinton has confirmed her attendance, although Phipps said that Senator Obama has offered a "tentative 'yes.'" Phipps stated that Senator McCain has been the hardest candidate to land, but hopes that he will acquiesce if Obama attends. Both of Pennsylvania's senators, Republican Arlen Specter and Democrat Bob Casey Jr. (who recently endorsed Obama), as well as former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee have worked closely with FPL in convincing the three remaining candidates to attend the Forum.
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