The Board of Directors of Faith in Florida has announced the appointment of Wes Lathrop as our new Executive Director.
From an email sent to West Orlando News:
Wes has been in the field of community organizing for twelve years including three years as Director of the Brockton Interfaith Community (BIC) in Massachusetts. In 2009 he began working with faith leaders in Philadelphia to build a new faith-based movement for social justice that eventually would become POWER.Wes served as POWER’s Deputy Director which included managing POWER’s voter engagement program in 2014 that mobilized thousands of voters to polls for the successful passage of a minimum wage ballot measure. He has experience working on public safety, education, immigration. and economic social issues. Wes attended Spring Arbor University in Michigan where he graduated with a B.A. Sociology.
Here are a few words from our new Executive Director:
“I begin this new journey with you all with incredible gratitude and humility. I’ve come to understand that even in the midst of great fear and my own overwhelming sin that God is alive, that God is loving, that God is forgiving, and that God is all-powerful. It’s only by grace alone that I’m here and that God allows me to do this important work. Because of my confidence in these truths I also begin this work with you all with a spirit of hope, determination, and imagination. It is in this spirit that I believe we must walk together. God has called us to be powerful not timid (2 Timothy 1:7), and the time to step into that power is not next year, next month, or even tomorrow…the time is today.
We live in a state where lies are told every day; lies that some people are more valuable than others, lies that there is not enough resources for everyone. It is important to understand that these lies are told with an intention to benefit particular people and/or institutions’ interests. Together we must be as “wise as serpents” to shine a light on the current arrangement of power, and be clear, just as Dr. King was in naming evil as evil.
The status quo of racism, extreme economic inequality, and environmental degradation will not go away without a mighty and righteous fight. As people of faith we are called more than ever to move from the sidelines of silence into the realm of public life. We cannot wait for anyone else – it is indeed us who have been equipped and empowered for this moment. The moment for people of faith to rise up, resist the status quo, and push Florida toward a place of peace, justice, and opportunity for everyone.”
Wes can be reached at [email protected]
