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The history of Election Day sermons

by Marlene Gasdia-Cochrane, Editor

August/September 2008

Election sermons are not new, and they are not about endorsing particular candidates.  They are, however, part of a rich Congregational tradition that continues today.

Colonial era

In an article written four years ago, right before the last election, the Rev. Barbara Brown Zikmund of the UCC, wrote:  “Unlike sermons in the Church of England, which were supposed to ‘please and inspire,’ New England Congregationalists inherited a rational tradition and argued that a good sermon was to ‘inform and convince.’ Not only did pastors in each town preach every Sunday, but in keeping with the Calvinist belief that all human activity falls under the jurisdiction of God’s Word, sermons were preached at significant public events, including anniversaries, thanksgiving days, fast days and election days. Published colonial sermons show that most ministers did not mix religion and politics on Sundays. However, when they were asked to preach an ‘Election Day sermon,’ that was different.”

Dr. Margaret Bendroth, the Librarian/Executive Director of the American Congregational Association in Boston, agreed that the election sermons were a special moment to address questions about the state of affairs in the Commonwealth, which did not happen on an average Sunday morning (and afternoon).  Weekly sermons were clearly about more strictly religious and theological matters.  “It would be wrong to suggest that the Puritans went around thinking about political and social issues, and saw everything in those terms,” she said.  “They cared about personal spirituality and good church dynamics – and this was what Sunday was about.”

But while election sermons were for Election Day, Bendroth says, Congregational churches have had a long history of weighing in on civil matters.  “Even after the First Amendment to the Constitution, very few people imagined complete separation of church and state.” 

The First Amendment states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof....” It does not state that churches are prohibited from participating in politics.

Bendroth explained that most 19th century American Protestants assumed that democracy simply could not exist without good people schooled in good moral values by

religious institutions. “When Congregational churches in Massachusetts were finally separated from state support in 1833, things changed somewhat, but the basic principle remained in place: a good society required regular input from churches,” she said.

In the book ‘The New England Soul,’ author Harry S. Stout notes that after the Revolution, the tradition of election sermons began to die out. Religious belief became increasingly individualistic and churches had less power to tell the government anything. “In the colonial era, election sermons were limited to New England,” Stout wrote, “and there they limped into the 19th century and gradually disappeared.... The American people, it was clear, were bound by ties of common ideology, not a common religious faith.  In place of the occasional sermon other, more secular rituals emerged to organize, direct, and revitalize the collective ideals of the community and the nation. Fourth of July orations, inaugural ceremonies, and Memorial Day observances did for the American republic what fast day and election sermons had done for colonial New England.”

But that line of separation of church and state sometimes blurred.  Bendroth mentioned that even into the 20th century, many public schools commenced with a reading of a Protestant translation of the Bible. “This kind of social vision didn’t always fit well with social diversity, and of course it was a means of marginalizing Catholics and Jews and other smaller religious groups—which is worth bearing in mind, and is probably one of the biggest reasons why the religious issue has become so delicate,” she said.

Present day

And that may be the reason the UCC became a news item in the Barack Obama presidential campaign after Obama addressed nearly 10,000 church members at the 2007 General Synod in Hartford. An organization, like a church, that wishes to retain tax-exempt status, (section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code), may not attempt to influence legislation as a substantial part of its activities and may not participate in any campaign activity for or against political candidates.

Staff at the national office of the UCC were quite aware of these issues, which is why the UCC was able to retain a tax-exempt status when challenged by the IRS.  After an investigation, the Internal Revenue Service determined that for several reasons the UCC activity did not constitute an intervention or participation in a political campaign in violation of the requirements. The invitation to Senator Obama, issued well before he announced his candidacy, was to speak in a non-candidate capacity, on how his personal faith intersected with his public life. It had been verbally communicated to those in attendance that Senator Obama was there as a member of the church and not as a candidate for office, that the audience should not attempt to engage in any political activities, and that the church’s legal counsel had advised Senator Obama’s campaign of the ground rules for his speech.

Bendroff said that some of the prime movers behind the First Amendment were smaller sects like the Baptists, who understood it as a means to prevent the government from interfering in religion, i.e., supporting one denomination (Congregationalists in Massachusetts, for example) over another.  “The idea was to allow religion the greatest freedom to grow and develop unimpeded by government – not, as we often assume, to keep religious people walled off from civil matters,” she said.

So it seems that although the common mantra of contemporary dinner party guests may be to avoid the topics of religion and politics, our forebears felt differently during the infant stages of this country, and it is certainly acceptable today for our local church leaders to address both matters in their weekly sermons.

Barbara Brown Zikmund article
<www.ucc.org/ucnews/oct04/election-day-sermons-were-co.html>

American Congregational Association in Boston
<www.congregationallibrary.org>

IRS Letter

<www.ucc.org/ucnews/junjul08/concluding-its-ucc-inquiry.html>