Texas Impact's Weekly Witness

The Texas Impact staff gathered this week in Austin for a planning retreat and we will have some exciting opportunities for you soon. It also created a perfect opportunity to gather four members of Texas Impact's Lobby team for this week's conversation. They spent the legislative session lobbying on behalf of Texas Impact priorities throughout the session, staffing our issue champion teams, and helping resource advocates throughout the state.  Joining us for the program this week are Bobby Watson, Rev. Dr. Becca Edwards, Rev. Kyle Riley and Grace Bonilla.  If you are excited to join one of Texas Impact's Issue Teams, go to: https://texasimpact.org/action-center/

If you hear shouts of joy and celebratory sounds coming from Austin, that is because the Texas Legislature has adjourned Sine Die and legislators are returning to their communities. Joining us for the conversation this week is Beaman Floyd Texas Impact's Outside Legislative Counsel Beaman Floyd to begin to help us process what happened during the 140 day legislative session and what comes next. Find ways you can get involved during the interim at texasimpact.org

Texas Impact's Executive Director Bee Moorhead joined the program again this week with only days remaining before the Texas Legislature adjourns Sine Die. Scott and Bee talk about the last week and offer some reflections on the legislative session in the waning hours as we start to look forward to the interim and what comes next.   Find out how you can get involved at texasimpact.org  

With 11 days remaining before the Texas Legislature adjourns Sine Die and the congressional passage of one of the worst bills in modern history, Texas Impact's Executive Director Bee Moorhead joins the program to talk about it all, with conversation about health care, reproductive health, religion in schools and public school funding.  Plus, we talk about steps listeners can take as we move toward the legislative interim. Find more ways to get involved at texasimpact.org and subcribe to our Substack for the latest news and updates

  The Texas Legislature is hitting key legislative deadlines with sixteen days remaining before they adjourn Sine Die. The action in the Capitol is hot on many issues important to Texans of faith, but maybe none more so than the debate over public school finance. Here to talk with us about all of it this week is Texas Impact's Executive Director, Bee Moorhead. 

This week, Weekly Witness highlights the voices of Texas faith leaders who spoke during the Texas Impact Leadership Council's press conference on the south steps of the Texas Capitol on May 8th as we call out religious extremism.   Joining us today are: Rev. Phil Dieke, Horizon Texas United Methodist Conference, Dallas Rev. Matt Gaventa, University Presbyterian Church, Austin Elyse Rosenberg & Bettie Forman, National Council of Jewish Women, Austin Darlene Alfred, United Women in Faith, Salado Joanna Redfield Vaughn, South Central Yearly Quaker Meeting, Austin Rev. Laura Walters, Grace Presbytery, Dallas Rev. Dr. Dan De Leon, South Central Conference United Church of Christ, College Station Find the full press conference online at: https://youtu.be/Fx5rLt7A8VA

As the Texas Legislative Session enters its final month things are hot-both in terms of public policy and feelings, and Texans of faith are working to be effective advocates through it all. Joining us for this week's program is the man who has seen it all in the Texas Capitol, Texas Impact's outside legislative counsel, Beaman Floyd. He is going to give us the lay of the land and talk us through how advocates can navigate the final few weeks of the session.  It's not too late to join an Issue Team in the Legislative Action Center on the Texas Impact website. 

The Texas Legislature is now entering the final third when bills make it to the floor for a vote or begin to die. Last week, Bee Moorhead joined the program to talk about the House passing the Voucher bill, and it seemed like immediately after, we began to see a TON of bad bills start to move... and a few good ones.    One of the issue areas that was particularly in focus this week has been the return of anti-trans legislation, so we are going to welcome to the program for the first time, Texas Impact's Policy Consultant, Rev. Keats Miles Wallace, an ELCA pastor and staff member for Texas Impact's LGBT Rights Issue Champion team to talk to us about both the policy issues in that space, but also about the importance of people of faith engaging on these bills.    Join an Issue Team on the Legislative Action Center page on our website.

We jumped right in this week because most of the Texas Impact staff stayed up late Wednesday night to watch SB 2, the Texas Senate's school voucher bill, be brought before the House. There were some great and no-so-great conversations between legislators about the impact of a bill that appropriates a billion dollars that could go to public schools to privately run entities, and many amendments that aimed to fix issues with the bill be ultimately tabled with little to no debate.    We are tired, we are cranky, but we are glad to have Bee Moorhead, Texas Impact's Executive Director, with us to parse through what happened Wednesday night, how we got here and what conversations might look like in the aftermath of the passing of SB2—Spoiler Alert: they may be awkward, but nevertheless important.     Watch clips from the SB2 debate in the Texas House in Texas Impact's Lege TV playlist on Youtube    Sign up for an Issue Team on our Legislative Action Center Page  

Joining Weekly Witness this week is Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons, Vice President of Programs & Strategy at Interfaith Alliance, a network of people of diverse faiths and beliefs from across the country working together to build a resilient democracy and fulfill America's promise of religious freedom and civil rights for all.   Guthrie will talk with us about Senate Bill 10, the 10 Commandments Bill, and SB 11 calling for a period of prayer in school and why it is especially important for people of faith to speak out. Many in the Texas Legislature assume that those bills are supported by the faith community, so Guthrie encourages people of faith to speak out and share our values.   Learn more about Interfaith Alliance at www.interfaithalliance.org   Join an Issue Team and sign up to receive weekly Action Alerts in the Texas Impact Legislative Action Center on our website texasimpact.org/action-center

This week, we turn our eyes to DC for a fight that will impact this legislative session and sessions to come as Congress is considering hundreds of billions of dollars of cuts to Medicaid. These cuts would be devastating—not just to the Texans who rely on that coverage, but to our entire health care system. We welcome Peter Clark, Communications Director with Texans Care for Children, to talk to us about that and how you can get involved.  Visit the Action Center on the Texas Impact website at texasimpact.org to sign up for weekly action alerts. Find out more about the work of Texans Care for Children on their website txchildren.org  Read Bee's post on Medicaid cuts on our Substack texasimpact.substack.com/p/medicaid-cuts-let-us-stop-you-right  

This week we are recording from the Capitol on a day when many of Texas Impact's priority bills are being heard or voted on. So, we sat down with a few friends and colleagues who are testifying in the Senate Committee on Business and Commerce on SB 819, a regulatory bill that is anti-energy in a time where renewables are increasingly ensuring that Texas has enough energy to meet our growing demand. SB 819 would target the state's nation-leading renewable energy industry with some of the most far-reaching, cumbersome, anti-business regulations that the legislature has ever contemplated.  Joining us for the conversation are Adrian Shelley, Texas Director of Public Citizen, Cheyenne Rendon with the Society of Native Nations and Rev. Dr. Becca Edwards, Policy Advocate for Texas Impact. We are past the halfway mark of the 89th Texas Legislature! Make sure you stay up-to-date by signing up for the Action Alert and the Rapid Response notifications.

The Texas Impact team just worked with some incredible faith partners on the Family Matters: Faith Days at the Texas Capitol event. About 300 Texans of Faith gathered at the Texas Capitol and across the street at First United Methodist Church of Austin for three days of education, advocacy and activism. We had legislative visits to Capitol offices, singing in the rotunda, great panel discussions, a rally on the steps of the Capitol, and—the part that got the most attention in the media, a press conference dubbed "Texas Women of Faith Support the Life of the Mother Act Press Conference." At the press conference, Bee highlighted the postcard many of you… along with 6,000 other Texans of faith have signed calling for the Texas Legislature to “fix the abortion ban.” A room full of Texas women faith leaders spoke in favor of the bill, and the author of the House version of the bill, HB 44, the "Life of the Mother Bill" Rep. Charlie Geren spoke saying that in his 24 years, this is the most important bill he has ever carried.  You can watch that entire press conference on Texas Impact's LegeTV channel on YouTube.  So, this week we are going to talk about all of that with one of the Texas faith leaders who spoke at the press conference, Rev. Jessica Cain of Living Word Lutheran Church in Buda and Texas Impact Policy Advocate working on reproductive health issues, Rev. Kyle Riley. 

Y'all, it is getting wild over at the Texas Capitol, and Texans of faith are in the midst of all of it with thousands of phone calls going in every week, members of Texas Impact's issue teams staying up until all hours of the night giving testimony, and the Texas Impact staff busting their tails working on behalf of our membership.   If you have been paying attention to the Legislature at all—or have been on social media or paying attention to the news, you will know that the school voucher, or "Education Savings Account", bill has been front and center over the last few weeks.The Senate passed their ESA/Voucher Bill, SB 2, early on and this week, the House Public Education Committee had a hearing on their bill—HB 3. That hearing went 22 and a half hours with opposition from across the state and across the political and ideological spectrum. That committee is now deliberating to determine their next steps. Which means, it is important that Texans of faith mobilize our communities to talk to our legislators about why we support public schools, and why diverting public dollars to private schools would harm our communities.  And, we are going to talk more about that today with our two guests, Texas Impact's Executive Director Bee Moorhead and outside legislative counsel, Beaman Floyd.    If you missed it, Texas Impact's LegeTV has clips from the hearing. Be sure to subscribe to our Youtube channel to see more from the 89th Texas Legislature.

Among the many justice issues concerning people of faith in 2025, immigration is near the top of the list across the country and across faith traditions. This week we are bringing you three guests to lay a foundation for immigration advocacy—at the federal level and in Texas.  First up, we talk with Bobby Painter and Kristin Etter of the Texas Immigration Law Council, who bring us up to speed on current immigration realities here in Texas and throughout the country. Then, we welcome Texas Impact's Bobby Watson with the state of play at this point in the Texas legislative session.  Check out the Action Center on our website to consider how you can get involved. One timely option: consider joining Texas Impact's Immigration Team. Make sure you are signed up for Texas Impact's emails and our Rapid Response team so you can receive the weekly Action Alert and updates—because your voice is needed now more than ever.   Find out more about the work of the Texas Immigration Law Council at txilc.org

This week, we are joined by several of the speakers and participants in the Preventing Gun Violence Advocacy Day. First we talk with Jasir Rahman, a student at Rice University and Texas Youth Advocacy Coordinator with Team ENOUGH. Later in the episode we hear from Nicole Golden, Director of Texas Gun Sense, and Rev. Stephen Sanders from Oak Hill United Methodist Church shortly after the rally for gun violence prevention was held on the Texas Capitol steps on February 27th.   Gun violence is always such a hard topic. Because so many of the folks who show up have traumatic stories to explain what brought them to this work. We heard stories from Uvalde families. We heard from people who had family members take their lives or who had friends involved in accidental deaths. And, while we marched to the Capitol with about 1,000 other advocates from across the state to rally on the South steps, we passed by over 1,000 t-shirts with the names of Texans who needlessly lost their lives to gun violence as part of a giant Vidas Robadas display.   I want to give props to Texas Impact's Gun Violence Prevention team for their work on this event and to the Texas Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence for their work. If you want to learn more about Texas Impact's involvement or how you can get involved check out Action Center at texasimpact.org.    Find out more about the work of Team Enough and Texas Gun Sense: https://www.bradyunited.org/take-action/join-movement/team-enough https://txgunsense.org/

This week we are excited to bring you content from Texas Impact's Public School Defenders' Lobby Day. We are joined by State Representative Gina Hinojosa, House District 49, while walking back to the Capitol after she addressed the Public School defenders to discuss voucher plans and how Texans of faith can push back against SB 2 and other voucher bills.   Later in the program we are joined by Texas Impact's Public Education Policy Advocate, Grace Bonilla, to talk about the lobby day and the work of the PSDs.  You can learn more about the Public School Defenders and Texas Impact's other issue teams, and see our weekly action alert, in the Action Center at texasimpact.org. Watch a clip from Scott's interview with Representative Hinojosa on our Youtube Channel. https://youtu.be/-7b-1RC-o08

This week we have an exciting episode for you as we are recording live from the Capitol office of Senator Sarah Eckhardt. Last week, the Senate passed SB 2, a school voucher bill that would give a $10,000 voucher to students to attend private schools. What is not shocking is that the Senate passed SB 2 so quickly while legislators are usually still in the relationship-building part of the session. They did pass a version of a voucher bill four times in 2023. But, every time it failed in the House, which is where SB 2 now finds itself. So, we are talking today with Sen. Eckhardt about the bill and what Texans of faith can do to help stand up for public schools and oppose this bill—all of this just days after she voiced strong opposition to the bill on the Senate floor.  We might even give her a test on the bill, so listen closely and see how she does.  If you are interested in learning more, or joining other advocates who care about the issues you care about, check out texasimpact.org and click on the Action Center. We would love to see you in our weekly Public School Defender Zooms, in the Marching Orders Monday calls with the Rapid Response team or one of our other teams.

This week we are going back to back with United Methodist Bishops as we welcome Bishop Ruben Saenz from the Horizon Texas Annual Conference—formerly the North, Central and Northwest Texas Conferences.  We thought this was a timely conversation as Bishop Saenz and other United Methodist Bishops in the South Central Jurisdiction wrote a pastoral letter addressing how we treat our immigrant neighbors.  Immigration is an issue that is front and center in response to the opening days of the Trump Administration, but we also expect it to be a hot topic during the Texas legislative session.  It is important that faith leaders and Texans of faith clearly state our desire to live out our faith principles. If you are interested in working on immigration during the legislative session, Texas Impact has a team for you. Check out the Action Center at texasimpact.org and sign up for Texas Impact's Immigration team–or one of the other teams to work on issues important to you.  Read the letter signed by UMC Bishops here: www.txcumc.org/beyondbordersletter

This week we are bringing you content from the United Women in Faith Legislative Event. This is typically Texas Impact's biggest event of the year—and this year the UWF had record participation with 350 registrants from United Women in Faith and various other faith groups participating over the three day event with hundreds making Capitol visits to their Legislators. In this episode we share Bishop Cynthia Harvey's keynote address from Sunday evening–although Bishop Harvey notes that she doesn't do keynote addresses… she preaches. Bishop Harvey is the Bishop of both the Texas Annual Conference and the Rio Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, and previously served as the President of the United Methodist Council of Bishops.  Bishop Harvey joins a chorus of faith leaders calling Texans of faith to action… to care for our neighbors and engage in the work of justice And, Texas Impact has tools and resources for you to do that work. Check out texasimpact.org and click on the Action Center to find out how you can get involved. Join the Rapid Response team to get updates on actions you can take and join our weekly Zoom on Mondays to learn more.

This week, we are excited to welcome Texas Impact's Climate Action Fellow, Rev. Dr. Becca Edwards, to talk about the President's recent executive action, once again, removing the US from the Paris Climate Agreement.   There has been a lot happening in the last two weeks. The opening of the Texas legislative session, MLK Day, a presidential inauguration, a snow day or two and all of the news that comes from it—it has been a lot. And, the Texas Impact team will be covering it all. Learn more about how you can get involved on our website at texasimpact.org. Make sure to check the Action Center to sign up for a team and bookmark the Events Page to take advantage of opportunities to come see us in Austin.    

Since 1973, Texas Impact has hosted a service or celebration of public witness on the south steps of the Texas Capitol in conjunction with the opening of the Texas Legislature. This year, the Texas Legislature convened Tuesday, January 14, and so the Texas Impact crew, along with Texas faith leaders and elected representatives, gathered on the steps for a Celebration of Public Witness before the Legislature convened at noon.  The representatives were ready to get to work, and the faith leaders hopefully set a tone for a session that could celebrate justice, diversity and working together for the common good.    We decided to talk with some of the leaders from that service about their reflections and hopes and share that for our podcast today.   You can watch the full services, or highlights on Texas Impact's YouTube channel or head to txfaith.org/cpw2025 for more content from the Celebration of Public Witness 2025   Special thanks to: Representative Salman Bhojani, House District 92 Rev. Leslie Jackson, Sr. Pastor, St. Peter United Church of Christ, Houston Maha Iskandar, Baha'i Faith, Irving Rabbi Nancy Kasten, Faith Commons, Dallas Saranjeet Singh, Sikh Faith, Central Texas Abel Vega, Rio Texas Conference, United Methodist Church, San Antonio

We hope you all had a meaningful and relaxing holiday season and a great start to the new year; it is about to get busy and your advocacy will be critical in the next few months.  We know a lot of attention will be paid to what is happening in Washington with the new administration, but the Texas Legislature convenes next Tuesday, January 14 and will be meeting for 140 days. They have a lot on their plate that will impact you, people in your congregation and your community. So, now is the time to get organized and lock in to try to make some progress on issues we care about. Here with us to talk about all of that and more, to kick off the new year right, is Texas Impact's Executive Director, Bee Moorhead.  Join an Issue Team and get involved by heading to the Legislative Action Center on our website. 

Last week, Diana Forester and her colleague Alec Mendoza joined us to talk about health policy in Texas. It is such a big topic, and so much of it is driven by federal policy, that we are joined again this week by Diana to continue the conversation about how actions by Congress could impact health in Texas–and how you can help protect Texans' access to healthcare in the coming weeks. This will be our last episode before the new year, so on behalf of the entire Texas Impact team, we hope you have a meaningful holiday season and that you are able to connect with family and loved ones and find some joy and peace. When we come back, Congress will have convened, and the Texas Legislature will be preparing to come to town, so I hope everyone comes back from the holiday ready to get to work! Find out more about Texans Care for Children and their work at txchildren.org Be a part of our fall Membership Drive by donating or, better yet, becoming a member at texasimpact.org/donate  

We know the holidays are just around the corner and on behalf of the entire Texas Impact team, we hope you have a meaningful holiday season and that you are able to connect with family and loved ones and find some joy and peace. But the Texas Legislature comes to town January 14, so we hope you spend some time over the next few weeks mentally preparing for what's to come. So, soak up all of the joy and peace you can now and hopefully those good vibes continue into the next year as we work together for justice and equity in Texas.  So, to help us prepare for the Legislature coming back to town, we are joined today by Diana Forester, Director of Health Policy for Texans Care for Children and her colleague, Senior Policy Associate, Alec Mendoza. They are going to talk to us about health policy in Texas and the opportunities to make substantive progress to make life better for Texans. This is an issue that isn't getting a ton of attention in the press, but will definitely have an impact on people in our families and, for sure, our congregations and communities.   Find out more about Texans Care for Children and their work at txchildren.org   Be a part of our fall Membership Drive by donating or, better yet, becoming a member at texasimpact.org/donate  

This week we turn our attention to the other side of the globe as we welcome Texas Impact's Climate Action Fellow, Rev. Dr. Becca Edwards to the program. Becca recently returned from the 29th UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP), the global climate negotiations held this year in Baku, Azerbaijan. She will talk to us about the priorities being discussed on the world climate stage and what people of faith in our own communities can do. We will also discuss concerns over the federal climate response over the next few years. But, climate is like many other issues, where we can make substantive progress, even when positive federal policy outcomes seem less likely. We have steps we can take at the state level, local level, and in our own congregations and communities. Keep an eye on our website at texasimpact.org for content from COP29 Baku and ways you can get involved, or to join our Climate Action Team to connect with advocates from throughout the state who care about these issues. 

Well... we had an election… and we know folks have lots of feelings, and we are going to talk about feelings today. But, in addition to that, we are going to talk about how the election impacts Texas, and we are going to talk about what Texans of faith can do. All of that with Texas Impact's Executive Director Bee Moorhead. This isn't a time to hide, because our communities, our neighbors, our democracy needs us. What's clear in this divided political sphere is that we all need to be more willing to engage in conversations. To listen. To learn. And then yes, to advocate. Hopefully after finding and developing some common ground in our own communities.  As always, Texas Impact has tools and teams for all of this and more on our website at texasimpact.org

Election day is almost upon us! You have heard us talk for years about Texas' low voter turnout and how that impacts public policy. If you are listening to this before election day, you have a chance to do something about that. Many of us are consuming lots of news running up to the election, and many are feeling anxious about what will happen. We need to emotionally and spiritually prepare ourselves for what happens when we wake up on Wednesday, November 6th. And, this week we are joined by someone who can help us prepare for that as we have long-time friend of Texas Impact, Rev. Ann Helmke, who serves as the Faith Liaison with the City of San Antonio, on the show. As always, Texas Impact has tools to help you engage with Texans this election season and with fellow advocates throughout the state. Learn more about all of it at texasimpact.org.     

We are about a week away from election day, and joining us for today's conversation is Rev. Richie Butler, Senior Pastor at the historic St. Luke Community United Methodist Church in Dallas, Texas. We are going to talk about their civic engagement work and the importance of voting, but also about their work in bringing people together for conversations that focus on the importance of coming together as a community after the election-and the important role faith leaders will play in that.    Find out more about Project Unity at projectunity.net

By the time you hear this, early voting will either have already started or will be kicking off soon. It is getting real. So, it seems like the perfect week to hear some stories from some congregations who have been doing some incredible civic engagement work this election season. Last week you heard from Texas Impact's Houston Faith Votes Project Manager, Rebecca McIlwain, and this week we will hear from three leaders from her cohort of congregations doing civic engagement work as we welcome Mattie Thomas, a member of Missouri City Church of Christ working with Bridges 2 Empowerment, Cathy Reinhold, Area Missioner of the Galveston Convocation of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas working with St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church, and Juanita Jackson of Trinity East UMC. Find more about Houston Faith Votes and ways you can still get engaged on our Texas Faith Votes page on our website.

We are less than two weeks away from early voting kicking off in Texas, so what better time to welcome back to the program Rebecca McIlwain, Texas Impact's Houston Faith Votes Project Manager. The Houston Faith Votes team and their cohort of congregations in the Houston area are engaging their congregations and communities in civic engagement work, so I am excited to talk to Rebecca about their work and how ALL of us can engage our neighbors this election season and begin preparing for what comes next.  Texas Impact has the tool for you to do just that. Check out the website at texasimpact.org and spend some time on the Texas Faith Votes page. There are resources to check who will be on your ballot, door hanger templates, prayer resources and more. And, there are teams to connect you with people who care about issues you care about, so check it out and get plugged in today. 

This week we are excited to introduce Robert Rivera, who wears many hats. Among them, he is Vice President of the Synod Council of the Gulf Coast Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He is also part of the Houston Faith Votes leadership team, and part of the Houston Faith Votes cohort of congregations working on civic engagement as part of his lifetime of service to the church and justice ministries-specifically ministries related to immigrant communities.   This conversation is an important reminder of the stakes of civic engagement. From the local community to the highest office in the land, we are electing people who will impact immigrant communities. As people of faith, we owe it to our communities and our neighbors to make sure we are participating.   Find out more about the ELCA's upcoming Immigration Forum: Understanding Immigration Law on October 17th.  

This week we are excited to introduce Texas Impact's legislative agenda with our Executive Director, Bee Moorhead. Listeners will remember a few weeks ago we had three board members join the program at the conclusion of the three day board retreat to talk about their experience with the process creating the agenda. In the weeks that followed, all of the wordsmithing and voting took place to ensure there was consensus on the final product, and today, Bee joins us to talk about where the board landed, and what our listeners can do with it.  We are not going to go through the entire document bullet by bullet, so I hope you will check out the full document on the website.

This week we are talking weather and climate from an interesting perspective as we welcome two former colleagues of our very own Dr. Becca Edwards. With us are Dr. Ian Giammanco who serves as Director of Standards and Data Analytics and Lead Research Meteorologist at the Institute for Building and Home Safety and Dr. Tanya  Brown-Giammanco who serves as Director of Disaster and Failure Studies at the National Institute of Standards and Testing.   We will discuss resilience and how changes in climate impact our homes and buildings, and what we can do about it from both a consumer and advocacy perspective.   It is also a good reminder that Texas Impact has tools for you to learn more and get engaged on this and all of our other issue areas. Join one of our issue champion teams like our Climate Action Team to connect folks interested in this issue–or find a team connected to another issue you care about.   Find out more about the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes here.   If you live in an area that experiences wildfires, find out how you can get prepared.

This week we are recording from Trinity Church of Austin following a three day Texas Impact Board Retreat. The Texas Impact Board of Directors represent a wide range of judicatories and faith traditions from across Texas. Every two years they come together to create a consensus set of legislative priorities to guide the organizations' work throughout the biennium.  Scott talks to three of our board members about the process as they reflect on where we are as a state and how this work intersects with their faith. We are joined by Rev. Jessica Cain Pastor of Living Word Lutheran in Buda, Rev. Dan DeLeon Sr. Pastor at Friends Congregational Church in College Station and Rev. Leslie Jackson, Sr. Pastor at St. Peter UCC in Houston.  Find resources and ways to get involved this election season on our Texas Faith Votes page.  

This week we are having a timely conversation on voting and voting systems with Daniel Griffith, Senior Director of Policy with Secure Democracy USA. As the name implies, Secure Democracy USA works to protect voting rights and oppose efforts to suppress votes.  It's important work, but the most important work right now is to reassure voters that their vote matters and that your vote will count. There is a lot of noise surrounding the election to discourage voters, and Texans of faith and Texas faith leaders can play a key role in cutting through the noise and encouraging our communities to take our civic responsibility seriously. Find out more about the work of Secure Democracy USA and the Secure Democracy Foundation and their resources at www.securedemocracyusa.org and securedemocracyfoundation.org - - - Texas Impact equips people of faith and conscience with information, opportunities, and outreach tools to educate their communities and engage with lawmakers on pressing public policy issues. Find out more at texasimpact.org

We are especially excited for this week's episode as we welcome John Hill to the program. John is days away from completing his service as the Interim General Secretary of the United Methodist General Board of Church and Society, an agency charged with leading the denomination's social witness around the world.  It is a perfect time for this conversation as we move into a critical election season where the social witness of the church will be of the utmost importance–and faith leaders will be called to lead. But, also, because the United Methodist Church recently concluded an historic General Conference where they approved a complete revision of their Social Principles–their positions on community and policy issues and, after decades of strife, took historic votes to remove harmful LGBT policies from their Book of Discipline. Find out more about the work of the UMC General Board of Church and Society.

Last weekend the Texas Impact team had a chance to hang out with a hundred Texans of faith representing congregations from across North Texas, and y'all the vibes were real. People were excited to hear from faith leaders talking about what they are doing to engage people this election season. They heard from non-profits and voting officials giving tips, tools and resources to help engage their community. This week, we are bringing you the Faith Leader Panel from the North Texas Faith Votes event. Joining Scott on stage was Robyn Carafoil with Temple Shalom, a Past President of the Temple's Sisterhood, and a current member of the Board of Trustees. Rev. Danielle Ayers, Pastor of Justice at Friendship West Baptist Church, a 12,000 member church in Dallas. Danielle is  a devoted author, preacher, and teacher, and a Texas Impact Board Member. Finally, Rev. Cathy Sweeney, Associate Pastor of Adult Discipleship at Arapaho United Methodist Church. Cathy, a former real estate developer, now dedicates her life to non profit work supporting people experiencing homelessness and poverty and promoting racial reconciliation. Watch the panel and presentations from Dallas County Elections, ACLU and Ride2VoteAware on Texas Impact's Youtube channel.

This week we are joined by Amanda Tyler, Executive Director of the BJC, the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, leading the organization as it upholds the historic Baptist principle of religious liberty: defending the free exercise of religion and protecting against its establishment by government. We are excited to talk about Amanda's work with Christians Against Christian Nationalism and the proposed curriculum for Texas public schools. Find more about the BJC and Christians Against Christian Nationalism here: bjconline.org christiansagainstchristiannationalism.org Listen to Respecting Religion presented by the BJC: hbjconline.org/respectingreligion Read Amanda's book How to End Christian Nationalism here: www.broadleafbooks.com/store/product/9781506498287/How-to-End-Christian-Nationalism

This week we are excited to launch our fourth season of Weekly Witness and who better to kick things off than Texas Impact's esteemed Executive Director, Bee Moorhead. We thought this would be a timely conversation as we move out of the usually slower summer months and into a consequential fall election season which will lead into the 89th Texas Legislative session in January.  Texans of faith are leading, and it is so inspiring to see. If you want to find out how you can get involved, check out texasimpact.org and for sure check out the Texas Faith Votes page for tools and resources.  

This week we are once again joined by Texas Impact Policy Advocate, Heather Malkawi, who was recently invited to attend the 6th Pan African Conference, otherwise known as Sankofa 2024. This conference is hosted about every five years by the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians. Heather shares highlights from her trip and about how these theologians are processing, leading and acting.   Texans of faith are also leading, and it is so inspiring to see. If you want to find out how you can get involved, check out texasimpact.org, and for sure check out the Texas Faith Votes page for tools and resources. Learn more about Sankofa and the CCAWT here circle.org.za and in Heather's blog texasimpact.org/journey-to-ghana  

This week is the final episode of our series introducing Texas Impact's new staff members as we welcome Grace Bonilla to the program. Grace was formerly an intern with Texas Impact and was recently hired as our newest Public Witness Mobilizer. Grace is working on a number of projects. Among them, she is helping staff Texas Impact's Public School Defenders team. I hope you enjoy the conversation with Grace and keep an eye on Texas Impact's website for opportunities to come meet the new team members in person.   Become a Public School Defender or join one of Texas Impact's other issue champion teams at texasimpact.org/our-issues/join-a-team/issue-champions-groups

This week we are joined by Texas Impact Policy Advocate Bobby Watson for a conversation about his travels this summer related to his work with Texas Impact's Ending Gun Violence team.   In light of recent events, faith leaders have offered reflections condemning political violence and calling on us for peaceful conversations about important issues. Scott reads a statement issued by Texas United Methodist Bishop Rueben Saenz at the top of the program.   Find out more about Texas Impact's Ending Gun Violence team and join at texasimpact.org/our-issues/join-a-team/issue-champions-groups

The Texas Impact staff recently met in Austin and welcomed several new staff to new positions, so we thought we would use part of this summer break to introduce you to our new team members.  We continue the series this week with Heather Malkawi. Heather is not new to Texas Impact though, if you have been to an event in the last few years, you have probably met Heather. You have an even higher likelihood of knowing Heather if you are a Unitarian Universalist since she just finished a stint as a UU Fellow with Texas Impact. But, now that she has finished her award-winning seminary education, Heather is joining us full time as a Policy Advocate, so we wanted to give everyone a chance to get to know Heather today.  If you want to learn more about Heather or any Texas Impact's projects or teams, head on over to texasimpact.org. Check out our resources, the Texas Faith Votes Campaign or join a team.

The Texas Impact staff recently met in Austin and welcomed several new staff to new positions, we thought we would use part of this summer break to introduce you to our new team members. We continue that series today with a conversation with Rebecca McIlwain, Project Manager of Houston Faith Votes. For over a decade, Rebecca served in parish ministry in the Ft. Worth and San Angelo Dioceses, focusing on social justice initiatives, adult and youth religious education, and campus ministry. Then, she turned to community organizing where she worked with congregations and schools across West Texas and later Austin to engage members in nonpartisan civic engagement.    Between the primary elections and the consequential general elections, there is important civic engagement work going on and now is the perfect time to use the Texas Faith Votes resources to figure out what you and your congregation plan on doing this fall. Find out more at texasimpact.org/campaigns/texas-faith-votes

Texas Impact staff recently met in Austin and welcomed several new staff and new people to new positions, so we thought we would use part of this summer break to introduce you to our new team members. And, we are starting that series today with a conversation with Kaitlin Dunn, our new Houston Faith Community Mobilizer working with the Houston Faith Votes team. I know you will be excited to hear from her today and get to know her in the months to come.  We are in the heat of the summer in between the primary elections and the consequential general elections. There is important civic engagement work going on. Now is the perfect time to use the Texas Faith Votes resources to figure out what you and your congregation plan on doing this fall. Visit texasimpact.org/campaigns/texas-faith-votes to find out more!  

This week marks the beginning of Gun Violence Awareness Month and many of us will still remember where we were when we received the news about the tragic school shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde just two years ago. Joining us this week is Texas Impact's Policy Advocate, Bobby Watson, to discuss his work with our gun violence prevention issue team and their visibility project, Vidas Robadas, an installation of t-shirts bearing the names of victims of gun violence.    Find out more about the project and join Texas Impact's issue team at texasimpact.org/campaigns/vidas-robadas

We talk weather this week with Dr. Becca Edwards, Texas Impact's Climate Action Fellow. Originally because we wanted to talk about Hurricane Season, which begins this weekend and runs through November, but seems like most of Texas has already endured at least one climate disaster in the last month. North Texas has had floods, tornadoes and wind events. Houston had a wind event that knocked out most of downtown and had people without power for the better part of a week.. and we haven't even made it to hurricane season yet! Join Texas Impact's Climate Action Team at texasimpact.org/our-issues/join-a-team/issue-champions-groups

The runoff elections are next Tuesday, May 28th, and interim hearings are underway to help shape public policy recommendations going into the next legislative session. What does it all mean? Here with us to discuss is friend of the program and Texas Impact's outside legislative counsel, Beaman Floyd. Spoiler Alert: he is going to remind us about the importance of these elections and how your vote is extra valuable and he will talk about ways you can get involved in public policy during the interim. Fear not, Texas Impact has tools for you. This is a perfect time to visit Texas Impact's election center and our Texas Faith Votes campaign resources at texasimpact.org/campaigns/texas-faith-votes  

This week we are excited to welcome Diana Forester, Director of Health Policy with Texans Care for Children. This is an important conversation this week because legislative leaders recently released their interim charges for the biennium, and it provides some opportunities to speak to the unacceptable state of health coverage in the state of Texas. Diana joins us to talk about that, the interim charges, and what Texans can do. Find out more about the work of Texan Care for Children at https://txchildren.org To receive updates about Medicaid eligibility email update@hhs.texas.gov 

Texas Impact is proud to be a part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's ELCA Advocacy family as a State Public Policy Office for Texas. Joining us this week is Christine Moffett,  ELCA Program Director for Environment and Energy Policy, to discuss the Farm Bill. She will talk about whether Congress can pass anything during an election year, what's in the bill and why it matters.  Find out more about the work of ELCA Advocacy at https://www.elca.org/Our-Work/Publicly-Engaged-Church/Advocacy/Environment