If there is a silver lining to the trauma inflicted by the pandemic, it is that our country rallied to meet the human needs on an unprecedented scale: donations to food banks; contributions to charities; federal assistance; and offers of time and service to help others all increased. As the leaders of national faith-based organizations, we know firsthand that moments of crisis also create unexpected opportunities for unity and hope, and this was certainly one of them.

How else can we explain that the United States has lifted more than 4 million children out of poverty over the past year? At a moment when our nation suffered the sharpest increase in overall poverty since the federal government began tracking that figure, we all chose to focus on the wellbeing of children. As a result, we could see the child poverty rate drop by 40 percent.

Read the full article at The Hill.

Kenneth Hodder

Commissioner Kenneth Hodder serves as national commander for The Salvation Army in the United States. He was commissioned in 1988. He and his wife subsequently served corps appointments and as staff officers at USA Western Territorial Headquarters. During his role as chief secretary, Commissioner Hodder assumed operational responsibility for the creation of the Kenya East and Kenya West Territories. He later was appointed to International Headquarters where he served as international secretary for personnel, and as legal and constitutional adviser to the general. Commission Hodder created The Way Out, an initiative that strives to double The Salvation Army’s response to homelessness. He previously practiced corporate and real estate law in Los Angeles, and is a graduate of Harvard University and Harvard Law School.

Walter Kim

Walter Kim became the president of the National Association of Evangelicals in January 2020. He previously served as a pastor at Boston’s historic Park Street Church and at churches in Vancouver, Canada and Charlottesville, Virginia, as well as a campus chaplain at Yale University. He preaches, writes and engages in collaborative leadership to connect the Bible to the intellectual and cultural issues of the day. He regularly teaches in conferences and classrooms; addresses faith concerns with elected officials and public institutions; and provides theological and cultural commentary to leading news outlets. He serves on the boards of Christianity Today and World Relief and consults with a wide range of organizations. Kim received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, his M.Div. from Regent College in Vancouver, and his B.A. from Northwestern University.