Politics & the Church: What Do We Do on Election Day??

When I was in seminary I started a Christian Formation class at my field ed church called Episcopal Church 101.  Most parishes—including the one I now serve—have such inquirers’ classes.  On one particular day I was talking about the roots of the Episcopal Church, namely the ugliness of the Tudor dynasty and the beginnings of Anglicanism.  It is one of the ugliest, bloodiest periods in all of human history, let alone the history of the Church. 

After talking about Henry VIII, Edward VI, Bloody Mary, Elizabeth I, and all the people who died under each’s regime, a woman got up from the group and started to leave.  “I can’t take this,” she said.  “I thought you were going to talk about the history of our church.”

“I am,” was my response. 

“I’m sorry,” she said.  “It’s just too ugly and mean.  It’s too political.”

The woman left the room before I could tell her that the ugliness, the meanness, and the politicization are all part of what it means to be the Church, especially a part of the Church that was formed during such political turmoil.  Like it or not, the Church is and always has been political.  But what exactly does that mean?

In some parts of the country, especially where I grew up, pastors are more than happy to take to the pulpit and let their flock know who the proper candidate is, who might be God’s pick for a particular office.  Many times this has little to do with the actual candidate and more to do with his or her political party, especially if that party has close ties to the pastor’s own denomination. 

Still, there are also the voices that say that, given the Church’s historic role in the bloody history of politics and war, that pastors today should remain as neutral as possible.  Politics, they say, have no place in the pulpit.  They insist upon the separation of church and state to the degree that hardly anything that’s actually happening out in the world is shared.  It is not the place of the Church to get involved in politics, they say.

But imagine if we as Christian leaders followed either one of these patterns.  If we were the kinds of leaders who told our parishioners who to vote for then we are no longer preaching the Word of God but the Word of Joe (or whoever).  At that moment we cease being shepherds walking with our flock and become herders trying to force the flock into a pen that is the same shape and size as our own political allegiances.  However, if we are completely neutral then social justice and the true work of the Gospel will never be accomplished.  What if the Episcopal Church had remained silent following the death of Jonathan Daniels?  Odds are we would not have been at the forefront of social change for African Americans (and subsequently women and LGBT folks).

So what are we called to do as pastors when it comes to politics?  What message are we meant to send to our parishioners on this Election Day? 

Firstly, we cannot preach our own politics from the pulpit.  I am a priest in a church that is filled with Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Independents, and everything else.  Yes, my own politics sometimes clash with folks in the pews.  As one of my mentors once put it:  Do you know what separates the liberals from the conservatives in the Episcopal Church? Answer:  the altar rail!  In my congregation is a young woman who works on a campaign for a Democratic candidate while an incumbent Republican congressman sits a few pews over from her!  This is the beauty of the Church, that God’s house is big enough to fit every single person and every single view inside.  Yet it is not my job to speak openly from the pulpit about whether that Democrat is the better candidate or that Republican.  I am called to be a witness, not to sway voters.

That being said, we cannot be completely silent.  To be the Church means to be paying attention to the world.  There is no difference between the two.  We who are called to be leaders in the Church are called to raise awareness among our parishioners and encourage them to make their voices heard, even if their voice is not the same as ours.  When the rights of human beings are being denied, we are called to raise that up because it is a human issue, not a political issue.  When war ravages God’s people we are called to pray for peace, no matter how angry we may be, no matter how impossible peace may seem.  I have sat through too many church services where there is no mention in the sermon or the Prayers of the People of the needs of God’s world outside our own doors.  When human voices cry out for justice and healing, we cannot turn a deaf ear.  In my last year of seminary several students rallied together and marched with Occupy Wall Street.  Decked out in our black cassocks, many of us gave interviews with New York City news outlets and told them that we were not there to take sides, merely to let everyone know that the Church is paying attention.  When God’s people cry out, we must pay attention.

So what is this cleric’s advice this Election Day?  It’s pay attention!  Get out there and vote!  But vote with both your heart and your mind.  Don’t vote just because your pastor said that Candidate X is a good Christian.  Vote for issues that are important to you.  Don’t be silent, thinking that the Church has no place in politics.  Make your voice as a Christian heard!  Go vote!  

**Father Prime apologizes for the lateness of this post but hopes his brothers and sisters who still have time will get out there and vote!**