This past Spring, the UCC was cleared of wrongdoing during an IRS investigation that resulted from questions surrounding the appearance of Barack Obama at the UCC’s General Synod in Hartford last year.  Obama was not a presidential candidate at the time he was invited and the UCC endorses no particular candidate; but many churches all throughout history have endorsed ‘Election Day sermons’ – which have little to do with candidacies.  In early New England, election speakers reminded inhabitants and leaders they  were not only bound in particular churches but were also part of a national ‘people of God’ entrusted with a divine commission to let their light shine before the nation.

[photo by Marlene Gasdia-Cochrane]