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Non-profit

Dietrich Bonhoeffer Institute

Website:

tdbi.org/
Location:

Washington, DC
Tax ID:

30-0938979
Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)

Budget (2020):

Revenue: $55,345
Expenses: $500,024
Assets: $586,455
President:

Rev. Robert L. Schenck
Type:

Christian political group

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The Dietrich Bonhoeffer Institute (DBI) is a Christian intellectual organization which hosts discussions on political issues among clergy and other institution leaders. Its leadership and views tend to support left-of-center political goals, especially concerning gun control and abortion. The organization is named after a German Lutheran pastor who was executed in Nazi Germany for helping Jews escape and coordinating with anti-Nazi movements.

The DBI was founded and is led by Reverend Robert L. Schenck, a former prominent anti-abortion advocate who had a high-profile break with the religious right and is now a proponent of legal abortion.

Political Views and Discussions

Gun Violence

The Dietrich Bonhoeffer Institute supports gun control. DBI president Reverend Robert L. Schenck has joined the Everytown for Gun Safety, a pro-gun control group. 1 DBI’s Twitter page often posts about American gun violence statistics. 2 The DBI’s website has referred to civilian deaths in Nazi Germany as being “perpetrated by killers using firearms.” 3

The DBI hosts Faith over Fear, a Bible discussion group on a Christian approach to dealing with gun violence. 4

In 2020, the DBI published “God and Guns in America” by Michael Austin. 5

The DBI produced The Armor of Light, a documentary on an Evangelical minister and the mother of a shooting victim who attempts to reconcile pro-life and pro-gun political views. 6

Immigration

The DBI hosted “You Welcomed Me,” a discussion group of dozens of ministers on immigration policy and ethics from a Christian perspective. 7

LGBT Issues

The DBI supports LGBT interests. An article on its website refers to speculative evidence that the Institute’s namesake, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, may have had same-sex intimate relationships. 8

Death Penalty

The DBI opposes the death penalty and has partnered with Death Penalty Action to advocate against it. 9

Leadership

Robert L. Schenck

Robert L. Schenck is the founder and president of the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Institute. He has been a prominent Methodist theologian and religious political activist for over forty years. He is a member of the U.S. Senate Chaplain’s Emergency Pastoral Response Team. 10

Schenck was formerly an anti-abortion activist and the leader of Operation Rescue. For decades, he recruited and organized anti-abortion protests. In 1992, Schenck received national attention when he carried the remains of an aborted fetus named Tia at a pro-choice rally and thrusted it at President Bill Clinton (D). He was jailed and paid fines for the incident and was later arrested in the early 2000s in another incident. 11 12

In the 2010s, Schenck changed his view on abortion, affirming the right of women to terminate pregnancy and decrying the conditions of home and family life of unwanted children. In 2019, he said anti-abortion states were full of “terrible poverty, social marginalization and baldfaced racism.” 13

From 1995-2018, Schenck led Faith and Action, a group which organized twenty meetings between 20 couples and conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Antonin Scalia. In July 2022, Schenck revealed that he coached the couples to subtly encourage them to advocate against abortion. Faith and Action became a part of Liberty Counsel in 2018. 14

In 2015, Schenck was a subject of the documentary, The Armor of Light, which detailed his break from right-wing politics over the issue of gun violence. 15

Suzan Cook

Suzan Cook is a governor of the DBI. She was previously the United States Ambassador-at-Large for international religious freedom in the administration of President Barack Obama (D). Prior, she was a policy advisor to President Bill Clinton (D) and U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Henry Cisneros. 16

References

  1. [1] Schor, Elana. “Gun control group starts faith-driven push ahead of election.” Detroit News. Accessed July 13, 2022. https://eu.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2020/05/12/gun-control-group-starts-faith-driven-push-ahead-election/111691502/.
  2. “TDBI.” Twitter. Accessed July 13, 2022. https://twitter.com/tdbidc.
  3. “At the Intersections: Pride, Immigrant Heritage, and Gun Violence Prevention.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer Institute. June 10, 2022. Accessed July 13, 2022. https://tdbi.org/06-10-22/.
  4. “Gun Violence Prevention.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer Institute. Accessed July 12, 2022. https://tdbi.org/gun-violence-prevention/.
  5. “Gun Violence Prevention.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer Institute. Accessed July 12, 2022. https://tdbi.org/gun-violence-prevention/.
  6.  “Gun Violence Prevention.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer Institute. Accessed July 12, 2022. https://tdbi.org/gun-violence-prevention/.
  7. “Immigration.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer Institute. Accessed July 12, 2022. https://tdbi.org/our-work/immigration-ywm/
  8. “At the Intersections: Pride, Immigrant Heritage, and Gun Violence Prevention.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer Institute. June 10, 2022. Accessed July 13, 2022. https://tdbi.org/06-10-22/.
  9. “Remember MLK Jr. By Ending the Death Penalty.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer Institute. January 14, 2022. Accessed July 13, 2022. https://tdbi.org/01-14-2022/.
  10. “40 Years Lived in the Headlines.” Reverend Rob Schneck. Accessed July 12, 2022. https://www.revrobschenck.com/about-rob.
  11.  Schneck, Robert. “A Look Back At Baby Tia Controversy.” The Buffalo News. June 15, 1992. Accessed July 12, 2022. https://buffalonews.com/news/a-look-back-at-baby-tia-controversy/article_6438a0d4-fbea-5b3a-9758-25aab799a816.html.
  12. Schenck, Robert. “I Was An Anti-Abortion Crusader. Now I Support Roe vs Wade.” New York Times. May 30, 2019. Accessed July 12, 2022. https://buffalonews.com/news/a-look-back-at-baby-tia-controversy/article_6438a0d4-fbea-5b3a-9758-25aab799a816.html.
  13. [1] Schenck, Robert. “I Was An Anti-Abortion Crusader. Now I Support Roe vs Wade.” New York Times. May 30, 2019. Accessed July 12, 2022. https://buffalonews.com/news/a-look-back-at-baby-tia-controversy/article_6438a0d4-fbea-5b3a-9758-25aab799a816.html.
  14. Canellos, Peter S.; Gerstein, Josh. “’Operation Higher Court’: Inside the religious right’s efforts to wine and dine Supreme Court justices.” Politico. July 8, 2022. Accessed July 12, 2022. https://www.politico.com/news/2022/07/08/religious-right-supreme-court-00044739.
  15. Canellos, Peter S.; Gerstein, Josh. “’Operation Higher Court’: Inside the religious right’s efforts to wine and dine Supreme Court justices.” Politico. July 8, 2022. Accessed July 12, 2022. https://www.politico.com/news/2022/07/08/religious-right-supreme-court-00044739.
  16. “Our Team.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer Institute. Accessed July 12, 2022. https://tdbi.org/our-team/staff-and-board-of-governors/.
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Nonprofit Information

  • Accounting Period: December - November
  • Tax Exemption Received: December 1, 2016

    • Available Filings

    Period Form Type Total revenue Total functional expenses Total assets (EOY) Total liabilities (EOY) Unrelated business income? Total contributions Program service revenue Investment income Comp. of current officers, directors, etc. Form 990
    2020 Dec Form 990 $55,345 $500,024 $586,455 $77,479 N $55,344 $0 $0 $147,000
    2019 Dec Form 990 $422,612 $426,384 $1,027,934 $74,279 N $422,521 $0 $0 $147,000 PDF
    2018 Dec Form 990 $1,328,684 $449,905 $984,796 $4,574 N $1,328,684 $0 $0 $147,000 PDF
    2017 Dec Form 990 $320,772 $412,959 $42,045 $3,102 N $320,772 $0 $0 $108,325 PDF
    2016 Dec Form 990EZ $134,292 $3,162 $131,942 $812 $0 $0 $0 $0

    Dietrich Bonhoeffer Institute


    Washington, DC