Abstract
Faith-based community development has become an important trend in recent years among philanthropic foundations such as the Ford Foundation and in the political arena. In the United States, both presidential candidates, A1 Gore and George W. Bush, have spoken about the need for a “faith-based initiative” where religious groups can be used to deliver social services, especially in poor urban neighborhoods. While the wisdom and the pros and cons of such a policy can and should be debated, the faith-based initiative does recognize the historical fact that religious groups are often grass-roots community institutions, and they have delivered some forms of social services in their neighborhoods.