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Massachusetts Conference Edition
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What’s the vote on Election Day sermons?by Marlene Gasdia-Cochrane, Editor August/September 2008 When Tiffany Vail, Massachusetts Conference Associate for Communication and Communication Technologies, sent out an email to local church clergy requesting feedback on election sermons, the response was immense, with both those for and against weighing in. While most clergy in the Massachusetts Conference seem to understand that endorsing candidates from the pulpit is off limits, they have widely divergent views about what is and is not appropriate and called for when it comes to preaching about elections. Some clergy say they feel obligated to remind congregants of their duty to consider the issues that are important to them as Christians when they are voting, while others say they would never mention an election during a worship service. Some have held voter registration drives, while the thought never occurred to others. Here are comments from just a few of those who cast their votes. Mark Seifried, intentional interim pastor from the Central Association, has preached a number of sermons prior to elections. He receives mixed responses each time. “I believe that our faith should inform our politics,” he said. “Some feel that I’ve been right on in pointing out ‘God’s politics,’ lifting up the plight of the poor and our complicity in it, as well as the case for other marginalized people and the care of the earth. Others have thought it blasphemous to bring anything remotely political to the pulpit. My contention is that the church is called to be relevant and a healing agent for our culture. We live into this call by measuring our communal and individual practices against the teaching and ministry of Jesus.” The Rev. Fred Anderson has survived 10 Presidential elections during his ordained ministry and has preached many biblical-based election sermons, examining and exploring salient election year issues. “Race, poverty, and the war in Vietnam were all issues I addressed with focused attention when I began my ministry in Vermont in the late 1960’s,” he wrote. “And the response I received, as I remember, was varied and impassioned!” One particular incident Anderson recalled concerned a retired Army colonel in his early 70’s, who after an election sermon, covertly attempted, without success, to persuade the diaconate, on behalf of the disgruntled members of the Vermont congregation, to call for Anderson’s resignation. The larger membership, however, continually affirmed the church’s strong and long tradition of “freedom of the pulpit.” “More than simply hearing, I learned to listen, deeply, while I served the First Congregational Church in Vermont,” said Anderson. “I also learned during my years ministering that if a pastor truly loves her or his congregation, and that community of faith knows it, then Sunday after Sunday, the congregation will be able to accept ideas, perspectives and positions from their pastor with which they may strongly disagree. Over the years, faith communities in which I have offered pastoral leadership have learned, as have I, how to disagree without being disagreeable.” Christo D. Owens, Associate Minister at St. John’s Congregational Church in Springfield and a Human Rights Officer at the Providence Behavioral Health Hospital in Holyoke, will give her first election sermon this year because she believes local churches have an obligation to provide information and encouragement about and for people to go out and vote. She feels this year especially holds an historic election that has already opened doors for members of minority groups, and for females, who are a minority of holders of public office.
“Unfortunately minorities are often under-represented at elections due to a lack of education as to what their vote and voice mean in the political process at the local, state and national levels,” she said. “My message will focus on the young adults because our ancestors fought for the right to vote, and there is a rich legacy that is being passed to the young; the only way they can uphold that is to become educated about the process and involved in the process. I want to generate hope and excitement about the possibilities and the potential for real change to take place within our city, community and country and discuss how to get more people to become more politically educated and involved in the overall process of equal representation,” she said.
“I won’t endorse a particular candidate, but this particular election is making many dreams come true and the possibilities are endless,” said Owens. “We all hold a stake in this current election and we all have a responsibility to be a part of the process that is taking place, to help ensure that a positive change takes place for the many, not just a few. But unless all of us take an active role to advocate, educate, motivate and stimulate a positive change, it will not happen.” Michael McSherry, pastor of Central Congregational Church, UCC in Jamaica Plain, has never preached an election sermon, in the sense of hinting or telling folks the direction in which they should vote, but he does encourage his congregation to become as informed as possible and to participate, not just by voting but by working on issues and campaigns. “Even when it might appear abundantly clear to me that we are all called to do something specific to promote the good, for several reasons I avoid stating my opinion,” he said. “First, I might be wrong, or only seeing my part; for example, I might concentrate on what God wants from me, and not be able to see the whole of God’s vision for others. Second, in order to remain effective as the pastoral leader of the whole community, I find it necessary (so far) to not speak out on political issues in a way that could set up one portion of the congregation, with which I become publicly aligned, against another.” One woman had been attending McSherry’s church for several months when she commented that what she appreciates about her experience of worship and the community at Central is the way in which she is invited and supported to cultivate her spiritual life, “without feeling that she was told what or how to think.” She specifically mentioned to McSherry that she had tried several other area churches, and agreed with the politics expressed from the pulpit, but was not looking just for an organization where she felt politically in agreement, but “spiritually challenged and fed.” “I have preached about immigration, racism and other ‘political’ issues, and with lay leaders organized Sunday services focused on the environment,” said McSherry, “but I try to keep the emphasis on engaging and equipping the congregation.” John Burciaga, Interim Minister at Central Congregational Church UCC, in Newburyport, has done several election sermons over 50+ years of ministry in order to acquaint members with that aspect of religious history. “I have made no critiques of candidates seeking office, whether local, state or national, but of issues before the nation and their moral over- and under-tones. I would focus on the importance of conscientious, informed balloting and the sacredness of individual conscience,” he said. “Personally, along with specifically religious thinking and action, including worship, I consider the ballot a sacred act of faithful people, and the ballot box a sacred place among free people.” Len Warner of Norwood, now retired, summed up his thoughts: “While I would not presume to tell my parishioners whom to vote for, they certainly knew where I stood on most major issues because of my preaching and teaching over the years. If I were preaching an election sermon today, I doubt if I would have much to say to my congregation except, ‘May God guide your decision making in this coming election.’”
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