Obama Campaign Press Release - Obama Campaign Announces Iowa Faith Steering Committee

Des Moines, IA -- The Obama Campaign today announced that 32 Iowans of different faiths will participate on the Faith Steering Committee for Barack Obama's Iowa Campaign. Today's announcement comes as the Obama Campaign kicks off a 10-day faith tour to give Iowans an opportunity to discuss faith, values, and politics.

"One of the reasons I support Barack Obama is because of his unique ability to discuss faith in a unifying way that doesn't exploit religious differences for political gain," Rev. Matt Perkins of the United Church of Christ said. "His faith, compassion and commitment to bringing people together are exactly what we need in our next President."

The Faith Steering Committee will lead outreach efforts to religious communities across the state and discuss Senator Obama's commitment to challenging conventional thinking in Washington, D.C.

"Our campaign is committed to reaching out to people of all faiths as we build our grassroots movement to challenge the status quo in Washington, D.C.," Senator Obama said. "That's why I am honored to have the individual support of these leaders in the faith community who are dedicated to working in communities across Iowa to help us build our unifying movement."

On June 16th of this year, Barack Obama discussed his faith as he addressed the Iowa United Church of Christ statewide conference. Barack and Michelle Obama are Christians whose faith is a part of their everyday life.

The 10-day faith tour begins today, September 4th, and ends September 18th. At each stop, the Obama Campaign will lead forums entitled "What's faith got to do with it?" For more information on the Obama Campaign's organizing and outreach efforts in the faith community, click here. See below for the Faith Steering Committee members and details on the Obama Campaign's faith tour. Faiths and denominations are listed for reference purposes only; they do not indicate church or temple endorsements.