Lutheran Leader Urges Church to Engage in Faithful Political Talk

By Eric Young, Christian Post Reporter Sunday, October 19, 2008

The head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is urging people of faith to speak out publicly on the vital issues facing the nation and the world and to exercise faithful civic engagement.

"In the Lutheran community of faith we value both public and private discourse, because we believe God works in vital and redemptive ways with human words," expressed the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of ELCA, in a pastoral letter to the denomination.

"The words uttered by those seeking office and those voting have power, not only to provide the substance necessary for good decision making, but also to bring hope," he added.

The Lutheran leader made no reference to the recent effort orchestrated by the Christian legal group Alliance Defense Fund, which urged pastors last month to preach from their pulpits about the moral qualifications of candidates seeking political office amid fears that such sermons could jeopardize their church's tax-exempt status.

Hanson did, however, remind the denomination of its social statement, "The Church in Society: A Lutheran Perspective," which calls the Church to "promote sound, critical, and creative citizenship and public service" and encourages people to join in public deliberations.

"As we are called also 'to contribute toward the upbuilding of the common good,' we can express the expectation that the candidates call for an end to personal attacks, and focus on the issues and things that matter to all of us," he stated.

Hanson's letter comes as many Americans are asking hard questions about the role of the church in politics at a time when the country is facing the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, is in the midst of a war on terror, and is just about to elect its next president.

According to a recent survey released by Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, a majority of Americans – for the first time in more than a decade – believe churches and houses of worship should keep out of political matters.

Overall, the survey found that a slight majority (52 percent) of the public now says churches should "keep out" of politics and not express their views on social and political matters, compared to 44 percent who held this view in 2004.

Perhaps the most notable change was among Republicans, 37 percent of which wanted churches not to participate in politics in 2004. Today, 51 percent of Republicans say churches should keep out of politics – one point less than Democrats who say the same today and the same figure that the survey recorded for Democrats who shared that view in 2004.

"To my mind, that spells frustration," commented Andrew Kohut, president of the Pew Research Center, according to The Associated Press.

"It's not that they want to take religion out of politics, it's that their frustrations with the way things seem to be going are leading them to say, 'Well, maybe churches should back off on this.'"

Amid the latest trend, ELCA's presiding bishop urged believers to maintain a level of discourse "worthy of this important moment in our nation's history and the pressing issues demanding our attention."

With the current financial crisis sweeping the United States and the world, Hanson said it is too easy to forget those who are most vulnerable – people who live in poverty in America and abroad.

"They deserve our attention too, as we prepare to determine this nation's direction for the next four years," he stated.

Hanson concluded his letter by noting the instrumental role of government in society.

"[A]nd participation in the electoral process," he added, "is an example of our affirmation of baptism to 'serve all people, following the example of our Lord Jesus' and 'to strive for justice and peace in all the earth.'"

The ELCA, which was formed over 20 years ago through the merger of three Lutheran denominations, is composed of nearly 10,500 congregations across the U.S., Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, and nearly five millionmembers. It stands as the largest of all the Lutheran denominations in the United States and the fifth-largest Protestant denomination.