POWER Interfaith’s Board of Directors is delighted to announce that it has hired Bishop Dwayne Royster as the Executive Director, effective January 1st, 2021. Bishop Royster will take the helm of POWER Interfaith at a critical time, as the Board of Directors has also voted to take the organization statewide.
Bishop Royster has acted as the interim Executive Director for the last year. Bishop Dwayne Royster is the Senior Pastor of Faith United Church of Christ in the North Michigan Park Section of Washington, DC. He is a native of Philadelphia, PA.
In addition to his role at Faith Church, he is the National Political Director of Faith in Action. Faith in Action is the nation’s largest faith-based organizing movement committed to racial and economic justice, with 40+ federations in 22 States and 5 Countries. As former interim Executive Director and National Political Director of Faith in Action, Bishop Royster has led in organizing and empowering the underserved communities and vulnerable working families of Philadelphia, Southeastern, and Central Pennsylvania for the last year. Bishop Royster will continue as the Northeast Regional Director for Faith in Action..
POWER Interfaith’s Board of Directors has voted unanimously to accept the Leadership Assembly’s recommendation to adopt a new statewide structure with Bishop Royster leading this mission.
POWER Interfaith, a statewide racial and economic justice advocacy group, focused on increasing the civic power of people of faith and the issues impacting the most vulnerable across the state of Pennsylvania. The network of congregations and community organizations spanning Philadelphia, Montgomery, Bucks, Lehigh, Lancaster, York, Lebanon, and Dauphin Counties have joined to transform our democracy and political institutions. Last year POWER mobilized tens of thousands of voters to build the support to take on the critical problems facing our state our state’s,
“The board voted unanimously to approve Bishop Royster. We feel confident in the Bishop’s mission to take us statewide. We know that we have the right person, he’s resuming his journey, and the continuity is not broken.”– Imam Abdul Hassan, Co-Chair, POWER Interfaith’s Board of Directors
“I am very excited about this new chapter for POWER Interfaith! I am confident that Bishop Royster’s experience in leading a statewide organization will help us bring many more congregations into POWER’s crucial organizing work – including from the Muslim communities across the state.” – Ahmet Selim Tekelioglu, POWER Board Member, and Education and Outreach Director at CAIR-Philadelphia
“We had him once, but now twice is nice! I worked with Bishop Royster from the beginning days at POWER and we’re thrilled to have him back again as Executive Director.” -Frances Upshaw, POWER Board Member
“Faith-based, local organizing enables communities across the state to work on common concerns and justice issues. Together we tackle problems of the most vulnerable among us. Our job is to empower working people to do just that — with organized people and organized money, we can rebuild a state with opportunity for all.”– Rev. Michael Caine, Co-Chair, POWER Interfaith’s Board of Directors
POWER: An Interfaith Movement, uses our belief in God’s goodness and compassion for the suffering to organize and empower people to live and work together so that God’s presence is known on every block, that people work together to transform the conditions of their neighborhood, and that life flourishes for all.
