Leah Daughtry
Reverend Leah Daughtry was born in Brooklyn in 1963, daughter of Herbert Daughtry, a long-time civil rights activist and Pentecostal pastor. She is a fifth generation of clergy and is currently pastor of the House of the Lord Church in Washington, D.C. She says she grew up speaking in tongues and frequently receives gifts of the Holy Spirit during her sermons.Daughtry has also had a long involvement in politics: she served at the U.S. Dept. of Labor during the Clinton Administration, served on the Clinton-Gore Transition Team of the 1992 Democratic National Convention, and served as Legislative Assistant to Congressman Towns. Currently she is the chief of staff of the Democratic National Committee, and she also founded the Democratic Party’s new Faith in Action Initiative to reach out to people of faith.
Daughtry on religion and social activism: “It is, I think, a sin to go to church on Sunday and praise and worship and go home and step over homeless people along the way and hungry people and the church does nothing and says nothing about that. The church is called to be prophetic and that is to declare the kingdom of God here on earth. So what does that mean? In the kingdom of God, there’s justice, there’s peace, there’s freedom and there’s love, but people are fed, people are clothed and people are housed. How do I worship a God who only calls me to the kingdom of God in a place I’ve never seen and this place where I live is in disarray?”
