Phone a Friend, Swing State Edition
Remind your friends and associates that they are not alone
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Forty-eight days until the election.
I’m back on the road. My upcoming schedule is, well, tough. So many people are clamoring for help and encouragement, seeking to understand the mess we’re in. I took a few months off in anticipation of this fall — knowing it would be full.
I confess, I’m reeling! Not only is the workload intense, but people are sharing stories with me about the strains and disagreements in their communities, families, and congregations. It is tense out there. For all of us. We’re all feeling the stress.
But, friends, I gotta tell you that it is really, really hard to be a pastor right now — especially for pastors in mainline congregations with mixed political groups in the swing states of North Carolina, Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Nevada. I’m also hearing some pretty painful stories from Florida and Ohio as well.
I have a suggestion to help.
Pick up the phone and call a friend in a swing state. Especially if you have a friend in a swing state who happens to be a pastor or congregational leader.
You’re not making a political call.
You’re making a friend call.
Ask them how it is going — what’s going on in their congregations?
Thank them for leading communities in this contentious time. Appreciate their courage in speaking truth to power — and encourage them to continue raising important concerns. If they’ve been preaching or talking about hard issues (or want to), how can you support them? What can you do to encourage and strengthen their resolve over the next few weeks? Use your own good judgment in bringing up specific issues.
Don’t just call.
Adopt a congregation.
Add a swing state church to your prayer list — pick one that you might be connected with through friendship or in a place you previously lived. Send a financial gift if you can for their outreach programs. Email the pastor good, encouraging resources and inspirational quotes, memes, and blogs. Get your church to send notes to a swing state congregation saying “we’re thinking and praying for you” or “we know it must be tough right now in …. and we want you to know that you are not alone.”
Let’s reach out to one other with kindness, encouragement, and courage.
We aren’t helpless in the flood of division, invective, deception, and lies. We are connected one to another. We have friends and family in many states and places. For those of us who went to seminary, we have former classmates working in difficult situations with less-than-supportive congregations.
We need to remind the lonely that they are not alone, relieve the fears of those who are afraid, and restore the ties that bind us.
Consider this post your Cottage-Phone-a-Swing-State-Friend Permission Slip. Pick up that phone and dial.
Or, send a text. Or email. But reach out.
None of us is alone. This is a big community with a lot of love and bravery to share. If you feel weary, lift someone else up. We need each other right now.
How would you describe what’s going on right now in your congregation, family, or community? What are the challenges? And — importantly — what are some hopeful stories?
Cruel, unhelpful, and purposefully provocative comments will be taken down. I will use discretion to close the comments to only paid subscribers if needed.
In addition to my usual INSPIRATION poetry section, I’ve listed a number of resources for sanity in this election season below. I highly recommend anything from PRRI (Public Religion Research) and the congregational resources from Take Back Christianity.
Use the resources below to inspire congregational conversations, help in preaching, provide non-partisan information to your community. Keep focussing on trustworthy sources — and keep an eye out for biblical texts and denominational resources that point toward moral issues and the common good.
I’m working as hard as I possibly can over the next six weeks in congregations, at colleges, and at events for both a renewed vision of faith and politics and a sane, moral, and just democracy.
I deeply appreciate the prayers and financial support of this community standing with me and strengthening my resolve in these efforts.
Next Week’s Events:
September 22-24: Pittsburgh Theological Seminary
There are still online seats and in-person tickets for some of the events of the Henderson Leadership Conference. The theme: “FAITHFUL RESISTANCE: CHOOSING CHRIST OVER EMPIRE.” Information and registration HERE.
September 26: Madison, Wisconsin
The Bethel Speaker Series Presents An Evening With: Diana Butler Bass. Title: “A Better Language for Faith and Politics: Searching for a More Hopeful Relationship Between Church and Public Life.” Information HERE.
RESOURCES
TRUSTWORTHY DATA
The American Values Atlas from the good folks at PRRI is my go-to for specific, up-to-date data on religious demographics and issues. It is an interactive, easy-to-use map that you can search for your state, region, and metropolitan area. Look up Pennsylvania for example — and find out what percentage of the population belong to white evangelical churches. Super valuable for the bigger picture and to understand how your locale may differ from national trends.
You can also search county data in a new report from PRRI, “2023 PRRI Census of American Religion: County-Level Data on Religious Identity and Diversity.” Scroll down the page and look for this map. When you look at it in the online report at PRRI (not just my screen shot below), it is also interactive! There are several versions of it, including religious diversity and specific religious groups by county.
PRRI is a great source of data overall, with a huge data base and a first-class international, academic, and professional reputation.
Also a gold star for trustworthy data goes to Pew Research Center and its bank of helpful data on the 2024 Elections — including this data on religion and party identification.
TAKE BACK CHRISTIANITY
Take Back Christianity is a website full of good information, sermon starters, and voter registration information. Particularly helpful is the “Facts v. Myths” section on individual issues. They explain their purpose here:
Christianity, at its core, is about love of neighbor. But really, what does that mean? In our increasingly divisive country, that can feel challenging if not downright impossible. And if you find yourself confused about what Christianity and Christ’s teachings say (and don’t say) about some of the pressing issues facing our country today, you are not alone!
Part of today’s confusion is due to some very sophisticated and deliberate attempts to reframe Christianity in ways that aren’t liberal or conservative. They’re extreme—and they’re slick and convincing. No wonder so many of us are having a hard time figuring out “what Jesus would do.”
RESEARCH ARCHIVE
The American Presidency Project is a non-profit, non-partisan initiative at the University of California, Santa Barbara — and it is a goldmine of archives, primary documents, videos, and research information.
BOTH party platforms can be found there - and you can read about the issues for yourself.
Democratic Party Platform 2024
https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/2024-democratic-party-platform
Republican Party Platform 2024
https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/2024-republican-party-platform
OFFICIAL CAMPAIGN WEBSITES
Harris/Walz
https://kamalaharris.com
Trump/Vance
https://www.donaldjtrump.com
PROJECT 2025
The whole document — minus the spin from either right or left — can be found HERE: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24088042-project-2025s-mandate-for-leadership-the-conservative-promise
INSPIRATION
We have memorized America,
how it was born and who we have been and where.
In ceremonies and silence we say the words,
telling the stories, singing the old songs.
We like the places they take us. Mostly we do.
The great and all the anonymous dead are there.
We know the sound of all the sounds we brought.
The rich taste of it is on our tongues.
But where are we going to be, and why, and who?
The disenfranchised dead want to know.
We mean to be the people we meant to be,
to keep on going where we meant to go.
But how do we fashion the future? Who can say how
except in the minds of those who will call it Now?
The children. The children. And how does our garden grow?
With waving hands—oh, rarely in a row—
and flowering faces. And brambles, that we can no longer allow.
Who were many people coming together
cannot become one people falling apart.
Who dreamed for every child an even chance
cannot let luck alone turn doorknobs or not.
Whose law was never so much of the hand as the head
cannot let chaos make its way to the heart.
Who have seen learning struggle from teacher to child
cannot let ignorance spread itself like rot.
We know what we have done and what we have said,
and how we have grown, degree by slow degree,
believing ourselves toward all we have tried to become—
just and compassionate, equal, able, and free.
All this in the hands of children, eyes already set
on a land we never can visit—it isn’t there yet—
but looking through their eyes, we can see
what our long gift to them may come to be.
If we can truly remember, they will not forget.
— Miller Williams, “Of History and Hope”
Thanks for this post and the suggestion of encouraging local church pastors in swing states. It means a lot to me to have you suggest this because I am feeling the stress of this time in my congregation.
This past summer I preached through the lectionary texts of II Samuel, which naturally lent to reflections on the relationship between prayer and politics, between church and state, which meant an opportunity to address and speak about the danger of Christian Nationalism in our country. I was "saved" out of Christian nationalism in my young adult years as a student at Messiah College. Having been raised in a white, evangelical, fundamentalist household, that listened to Rush Limbaugh and the 700 club my studies and experiences in urban Harrisburg, PA led me to a better understanding of the Gospel. I told my congregation, "if I were to write a memoir, I would title it, "Bad Faith to Good Trouble." I invited members to take off the yoke of "Christian nationalism" and get born again in the words of Rev. Barber.
We had six people attend a screening of the documentary Bad Faith and we're hoping to do a larger community screening in October. I also wrote two newsletter articles about the characteristics of fascism and asked the congregation to consider biblical values, commands, and Jesus' words to evaluate the allure of those fascist characteristics.
I've had push back from a couple leaders in my congregation as a result, but I stay the course and continue to love them while continuing to proclaim the gospel's alternative vision to a shared communal life. I appreciate any prayers you can offer for our congregation Grace Baptist in Blue Bell.
I love the idea of reaching out from a purple congregation in a very red area of Maine to churches in swing states. Also want to suggest reaching out to churches or non-profits in Springfield with cards of support and possible donations to their efforts there for our Haitian neighbors.