LEWISTON – Rep. Stan Moody is a bit of a fish out of water.

The Manchester Democrat is an evangelical preacher who switched parties after he was elected as a Republican to the Maine House of Representatives.

On Wednesday, he’ll jump even further away from the familiar pond with a trip to Washington, where he will talk to Democratic congressional leaders about the interplay of religion and politics.

Moody is among a panel of experts who will address the Democratic Faith Working Group, an initiative launched by U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the House minority leader.

“The event is bringing together what they call the leaders of ‘people in the faith and public policy movement,'” Moody said. “We’ll talk about the role of religion in public life, about what’s going on on the ground and where we go from here.”

Much has been written about the national Democrats’ “God problem.” A July poll conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press and the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found that only 26 percent of those asked said the Democratic Party is friendly toward religion. Three years ago, that number was 42 percent.

Forty-seven percent said in the July poll that the Republican Party is friendly toward religion.

“The Democratic Party, through the decades of concentrating on things such as choice, has unwittingly alienated people of faith,” Moody said. “And the Christian Right has dumbed down the Gospel to the point where it’s reduced to two moral absolutes: abortion and homosexuals. They’ve created a litmus test for the faithful about where you stand on these issues, not where you stand with God.”

The Democratic Faith Working Group is an effort by Pelosi to help Democrats reach out to people whose politics are informed by religion and to provide a venue where people of faith within the party can discuss ideas.

Moody, who lives in Manchester, is an evangelical Baptist minister and the founder of the Christian Policy Institute. He holds a Ph.D. in theology and has written a number of books, including “McChurched: 300 Million Served and Still Hungry,” which was published in May.

The book takes issue with what Moody describes as the merger between the Republican Party and the Christian Right. The result has been a trickle-down philosophy that gives to the rich and powerful with the idea that the benefits will flow down to others, Moody said.

“We have to understand that the Christian faith calls for us to want for our neighbor the best of what we want for ourselves,” Moody said. “We need a kinder, gentler faith-based initiative that thoughtfully considers matters of social justice and economic justice.”

Moody, who is not seeking re-election after two terms in the Maine House, said that the state has become divided and much of the middle ground has disappeared.

“Once you’ve sold the public on this idea that faith is just one or two issues, it’s easy to say who’s not one of the faithful, to say who’s evil and who’s good,” Moody said. “I think this is a growing phenomenon that comes out of the frustration that things aren’t going right.”

Moody is hopeful that the forum, which will include other national experts on religion and public life, will be a serious discussion about trying to solve problems and not just an example of political posturing.

“Faith defines who we are,” Moody said. “Gradually, we’re being moved into a dialogue with other people who are concerned about this issue.”