GILPP Quarterly: Volume 3, Issue 3 The Role of Faith Communities in Governance and Development

The September 2025 issue of GILPP Quarterly (Volume 3, Issue 3) focuses on the role of faith communities in governance and development, highlighting the contributions of faith-based mediating institutions and religious leadership to relief, advocacy, policy influence, community mobilization, peacebuilding, and sustainable transformation in contexts of weak state capacity, conflict, or social fragmentation. It begins with a letter from President Henry Deneen outlining the Geneva Institute for Leadership and Public Policy’s (GILPP) mission to equip global leaders through education and networking for sustainable development. The publication features two main articles: one by Dr. Stephen Offut detailing the role of mediating institutions in faith-based relief, development, and advocacy, including the Christian Transformation Paradigm and case studies from Tearfund’s church and community mobilization model, Nigerian Pentecostal networks (RCCG), and South African anti-apartheid efforts; and another by Rev. Dr. Haroution Selimian discussing how religious leadership transforms communities and nations through social services, conflict mediation, education, and government partnerships, drawing on lived experience in Syria. The issue concludes with overviews of GILPP and its parent organization, Global Hope Network International (GHNI), emphasizing collaborative approaches to transformational development, disaster response, and leadership training.

Authors:
Henry Deneen: President of GILPP; author of the introductory letter.
Dr. Stephen Offut: Scholar at Baylor University and founder of Empower Transformation; author of Blood Entanglements and Religion and Poverty; author of “The Role of Mediating Institutions in Faith-based Relief, Development & Advocacy.”
Rev. Dr. Haroution Selimian: Head of the Armenian Protestant Community in Syria; author of “Leading with Faith: How Religious Leadership Transforms Communities and Nations.”