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Political vs. Partisan in Preaching

For years now, I have heard in preaching and clergy circles about being political in sermons; the good, the bad and those who state that church shouldn’t be political. There are workshops, books, and podcasts talking about politics in the church with a variety of opinions.

What do people mean when they make the statement that the church shouldn’t be political? The IRS has the most say about the rules for the separation of church and state/politics. If your church wants to be tax exempt, there are rules: don’t endorse any candidate or party, if you allow one party to use your space, other political parties also must be allowed to use the space, etc. The UCC’s general counsel, Heather Kimmell, has a webinar on this topic if you’d like to hear a more detailed explanation which can be found on the UCC’s YouTube channel. Churches have gotten “creative” in how to get around this, often partnering with another non-profit group to give support to a particular group. The UCC is proud to claim that we do not do this. We are a nonpartisan denomination; we have not and do not support or endorse a particular candidate or political party.

How I see things, there is a difference between being political and partisan and I’ll use preaching as my focus. Political preaching talks about moral/ethical dimensions of public life, social issues. Partisan preaching supports/opposes specific candidates, parties, agendas. The church is called to speak about social issues. Jesus spoke about social issues often: feed people, cloth people, care for the widows, heal the sick. These mandates should move us to address the social issues that allow people to be homeless, excluded, treated unjustly, and so on. This means we work in many ways to address society and try to make changes so all know God’s love. This is why you will see the UCC make statements and encourage people to reach out to elected officials so we can bring about God’s kin-dom here and now on earth. Partisan preaching would be me telling the church that to be faithful you must vote a certain way and only support certain candidates.

One of the many reasons why I love the UCC is that we don’t endorse candidates, and we welcome diversity in thought and opinion. People from various political parties, theologies and experiences are welcome in the UCC. I also love that when we see that others are hurting or harmed, we respond. We continue to support refugees, the LGBTQIA+ community, fighting for healthcare that won’t bankrupt a person, relieving debt (school, medical, payday loans, etc.). I love that the UCC encourages people to act their faith in a variety of ways and that we work with the United Nations and local, state and national elected officials to bring about change here in our communities and around the world.

Sometimes the UCC and the individual congregations get labeled as being “liberal” or “progressive.” And while these are not bad words, the UCC is more then just these adjectives. We are a denomination that cares for all of creation, that wants justice, dignity and love for all, and we want to follow in Jesus’ footsteps. We are believers in God, we are the faithful. And we welcome all! This is how I hope we will be known.

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