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Happy Juneteenth!
This week, Texans have been perusing the Republican Party of Texas’ draft 2026 legislative platform, which the party adopted at its recent statewide convention in Houston. Next week, the Texas Democratic Party will hold its statewide convention in Corpus Christi, where it will adopt its 2026 platform. The Libertarian Party of Texas held its 2026 convention in Abilene in April, and the Green Party of Texas also is holding its 2026 convention next week—and both of these parties will consider their own platforms.
Political parties are not the only authors of policy platforms. Denominations and faith traditions also adopt “platforms,” and like for political parties, those documents can be subject to periodic revision. Denominational statements of principles usually are referred to as “social statements.” They typically are drafted by committees of theologians, ethicists, and others in the denomination who have deep knowledge of the denomination’s beliefs, creeds, and historic positions.
Texas Impact’s Leadership Council will adopt its 2027-2028 policy agenda at its biennial legislative retreat August 30-September 1. During July and August our action teams and Leadership Council members will be studying the issues and consulting with colleagues, partners, and legislators to identify the issues we should focus on in the upcoming legislative session, in light of our mission and vision for Texas.
Over the next several weeks, I’ll be doing a deep dive into denominational statements—where they come from, what they say, and how they relate to Texas Impact’s policy agenda. In the process, I’ll explain some details about ecclesiastical polity and provide some behind-the-scenes information about how denominational bodies in Texas do their policy work.
Read Bee's entire post on Substack
It's still six months till the Texas Legislature reconvenes, but Texas Impact staff are already in full session-prep mode—and we hope you'll get involved! Action teams are working on issue identification and education—Gracie's Immigration team has held two webinars on immigration topics and other teams are planning series to help bring you up to speed on issues we expect to be front-and-center in the legislative session.
We've also posted registration information for the first two installments of Ready...Set...Go! for the 2026 Midterms and Beyond. This series of in-person trainings will connect you with resources and opportunities, and most important will help you build your local and faith-based networks. Check out the Events page on our website for more information.
We hope you are enjoying hearing from Texas faith leaders on Weekly Witness. This week, Scott catches up with Rev. Marcus Jones, University Chaplain at Huston-Tillotson University in Austin. HT is an HBCU affiliated with the United Methodist Church and the United Church of Christ, and was founded in 1875—just 10 years after the first Juneteenth. Scott and Rev. Jones talk about the unique role HT plays, and how local congregations can bring college students into their social justice work.
Later this afternoon, Texas Impact will be celebrating another ordination, when Becca is ordained as a Deacon in the United Methodist Church at the Rio Texas Annual Conference. You can watch the ordination service on YouTube and Facebook.
It's a big weekend, between Juneteenth, Father's Day, and all the activities our faith communities have going on. Policy never sleeps, but Texas Impact is here to keep an eye on the Capitol and an ear to the ground. See you next week!
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