Texas Impact exists to put faith into action. We equip faith leaders and their congregations with the information, opportunities, and outreach tools to educate their communities and engage with lawmakers on pressing public policy issues. We are an interfaith group that works together on issues that impact the most vulnerable people in our communities. We help people live out their faith in the public square, moving the faith community from charity to justice.

Texas is a big, diverse state, with a young, dynamic, and growing population. But there are many challenges we face. Disparities in health, education and quality of life abound, and the gap between those in power and those who have been marginalized continues to widen. People of faith can help bridge that gap.

Communities of faith have a heritage of service. We engage in direct acts of compassion toward the most vulnerable members of our community. While we recognize our calling to be the hands and feet that serve our neighbors, we also believe collectively we can make a broader impact by changing public policy. That’s where Texas Impact steps in.

Texas Impact is a religious grassroots network whose members include individuals, congregations, and governing bodies of Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and other faiths. Texas Impact exists to advance state public policies that are consistent with the shared values of Texas faith communities.

Texas Impact’s board consists of a delegation made up of up to two representatives from each Member Institution as well as several at-large and special members. There are currently about 50 members of the board.

Member Institution make annual pledges to Texas Impact and send members to Texas Impact’s board. Member Institutions include:

• Judicatories (regional governing bodies) of mainline Christian denominations in Texas such as United Methodist annual conferences

• Regional chapters of social justice groups affiliated with specific religious traditions such as the American Jewish Congress

• Regional and local single-faith and interfaith groups such as Interfaith Action of Central Texas

• Statewide units of religious women’s groups such as Church Women United

The board sets Texas Impact’s legislative agenda, approves policy positions, and maintains contact between Texas Impact and the Member Institutions. The executive committee oversees day-to-day operations, and there are other standing and ad hoc committees to address issues and projects as they arise. The full board meets three times a year, and committees meet as needed in person or via conference call.

Board members may be ordained or lay people, and come from religious communities throughout Texas.

Texas Impact was established in 1973, in the wake of a major corruption scandal that shook Texas state government to its core. To Texas religious leaders, the scandal was proof that Texas officials were more concerned with their own welfare than with the welfare of the people of Texas, especially of the disadvantaged.

The bishops, ministers, and lay leaders who established Texas Impact wrote that it was “increasingly clear” that the prophetic call to “do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God” could not be accomplished without attempting to influence public policy. Accordingly, they set Texas Impact up as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit for the purpose of lobbying the Texas Legislature. Texas Impact’s original name was the Texas Interfaith Commission on Human Priorities. The name was changed to Texas IMPACT in 1976 when the organization became part of Interfaith IMPACT, a national group with a similar mission working at the national level.

Texas IMPACT was one of many state IMPACT organizations; while the national umbrella has ceased to exist, most of the state organizations continue to work for social justice in their state governments. In some states there is a stand-alone Impact organization. In other states, the council of churches fulfills the public policy advocacy function.

Texas Impact works on a wide variety of public policy issues within the broadly held social concerns of mainstream religious traditions.

Texas Impact uses a process of discernment on public policy issues similar to the processes used by many faith traditions, using Scripture, the wisdom of the faith traditions, current public policy information and data, and the experiential knowledge of people of faith to develop our positions and policy goals. Texas Impact works collaboratively with religious and secular groups.

Texas Impact strives to make information about state government and public policy accessible to people of faith and all interested Texans. Texas’ excellent state government website should be the first stop for anyone looking for information about specific programs, the state budget, or any other public policy concern.