Advancing the unified voice of Georgia’s community of the faithful
Our Origin Story
Founded in 2019 by The Venerable Carole Maddux, Archdeacon of the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta, the Georgia Interfaith Public Policy Center was organized by a coalition of leaders who believe in the power of organizing not just around a single issue but around our shared values. Organizers included the Very Rev. Robert C. Wright, Episcopal Bishop of Atlanta and Northern Georgia; Rev. Dr. Raphael Warnock, Senior Pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church of Atlanta; Rabbi Peter Berg, Senior Rabbi of The Temple; and Soumaya Khalifa, Executive Director of the ISB Atlanta. Based closely on the work of the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy, GIPPC remains one of only three such statewide faith-led advocacy organizations in the country.
Our Mission
The Georgia Interfaith Public Policy Center (GIPPC) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that educates and empowers Georgia’s community of the faithful and those of good intention to advocate for the common good. We work daily to ensure that state laws and political discourse reflect our shared values of love, mercy, justice, and hospitality.
Our Values
Love: To love our neighbor is to respect the dignity of every Georgian. To promote equity and to insist on equality. It is to state that every child in Georgia deserves an equal chance to become all that our Creator made them to be. It is to encourage the generosity of resources and spirit. And to put the needs of our neighbor on equal footing as our own. To love our Creator is to care for creation. To respect the resources of Georgia as a sacred trust that is to be treated with respect and wise stewardship. To ensure our beautiful heritage of sea and mountains, river and swamp, rolling hills, and sandy plains are preserved and cared for so future Georgians may enjoy and care for them in turn.
Mercy: In recognition of the grace we all receive, known and unknown, we believe in mercy, forgiveness, and reconciliation. Hand in hand with justice is the ability to start anew with restoration in our communities. We believe that broken relationships and promises cannot remain broken in healthy communities, and that attempts to restore them should be encouraged and promoted. We believe that everyone is better than their worst day.
Justice: We recognize that peace is received through justice. Justice requires listening, understanding, and relationship. It demands a belief in the inherent value of every human being and a striving to understand each other. Justice calls for awareness of our neighbors’ pain and for a prophetic voice when others try to ignore it. Justice is caring for and protecting the powerless among us, and restoring balance.
Hospitality: We believe in welcoming the stranger among us, as we all have been dependent on others. In a state founded by people both invaded and expelled, we recognize the need to work together for the well-being of all. We believe that a spirit of generosity and sharing will result in enough for all and that we are stronger together than we could ever be alone.