Sometimes you hear people say that faith and politics don’t mix. But that notion is antithetical to the historic self-understanding of Presbyterians. From a Presbyterian perspective, our faith demands that we take our responsibility as citizens seriously and involve ourselves in the public affairs of our community, our nation, and the world.
Presbyterians have been involved in civic affairs from the time our country was founded. The Rev. John Witherspoon may have been the only clergyman to sign the Declaration of Independence, but he was not the only Presbyterian. Of the 56 signers of the Declaration, at least 14 of them, or 25%, were Presbyterians. Indeed, Presbyterians were so involved in the American Revolution that many members of the British Parliament, and even King George himself, referred to the Revolution as “the Presbyterian Rebellion.” Presbyterian leaders of the American Revolution were distinguished by their “restless and turbulent antimonarchical spirit.” And the Presbyterian form of government, which offered a living example of an alternative to monarchy, became the model upon which American democracy was based.
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Indeed, Presbyterians were so involved in the American Revolution that many members of the British Parliament, and even King George himself, referred to the Revolution as
“the Presbyterian Rebellion.”
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What about the separation of church and state? Presbyterians have long supported that principle as well. It is the basis of our freedom of religion. But to say that people of faith should not be involved in politics or in public affairs because of the separation of church and state is a gross misrepresentation of the Constitutional principle. The relevant Constitutional clause says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . .” Our country’s founders did not want our country to have an official state religion. So they included that language in the Constitution to preserve and protect religious liberty in the United States. The principle was never meant to prevent people of faith from exercising their rights and responsibilities as citizens, as some people like to argue.
Presbyterians believe that faith leads directly to action. It has become a Presbyterian axiom: “To believe is to do.” We are a church that is socially engaged. We put our faith into action in the public arena. That means we exercise our right to vote at election time. But it means more than that. It means participating in the democratic process between elections as well, by communicating with our elected officials and engaging in public policy advocacy. That is why Baltimore Presbytery has a Director of Public Policy in Annapolis and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has an Office of Public Witness in Washington, D.C. Both are valuable resources for Presbyterians seeking to live out their responsibility as citizens.
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Although as a denomination we speak out on public policy, how many Presbyterian churches are actively involved in advocacy in the public arena? Does our Sunday School curriculum teach what is in this article? At the individual church level, do we instruct children, youth and adults on how to be advocates and give them practice with hands on opportunity or is our action emphasis and teaching solely charity and mission based?
I don’t know what’s available for children and youth, but for adults the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program has published some good educational resources on this: “Living Faithfully in The Public Square,” “Making a Difference in The Public Arena,” and “The Good Samaritan, Presbyterians, and Public Policy.” Also the Presbyterian Office for Public Witness puts out the resource “How to Be an Effective Advocate . . . Make Our Voices Heard.” All are available through http://store.pcusa.org. Now if only Presbyterian congregations would use these great resources to help equip and empower their members to engage in public witness in the world!
Excellent and timely article! We view politics as Republican versus Democrat, but becoming engaged in the policies that direct how we treat one another, both as individuals and as nations, is nothing if not the work of faith-based people. It is our responsibility as Presbyterians, as Christians, and as Americans. I trust this is taught in our seminaries?
I went to Andover Newton Theological School and was fortunate to have William Johnson Everett for Christian Social Ethics. Also took an elective with Kirk B. Jones on “Public Ministry.” He noted that most congregations are very happy to have pastors who deal with four areas of ministry: preaching and worship, pastoral care and counseling, Christian education, and church administration. He lamented that only a few churches encourage their pastors to be engaged in a fifth area — public ministry or prophetic witness — and some churches actually discourage their pastors from getting involved in ministry beyond the local church. I wonder what other seminaries are offering in this regard?
Great question, Deb and Roger! Unbound’s next issue will be asking that very question with seminary and div school students writing most of the articles.
Personally, I graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary last May. Princeton has some amazing professors integrating social action, theology, and ethics. It also has some very active student organizations. The field education program is perhaps the clearest context where students have an opportunity to make “public” and to enact their theology. Unfortunately, though, Princeton’s overall culture can be tough for advocates. A lot of people want to make Princeton an erudite retreat from the world. Walk into any precept and you might hear a lot about justice, public faith, and ethics. But you’re not going to find as much action, with some notable exceptions. I think what’s generally lacking in my seminary experience is education on “how” to do public ministry, how to get those reticent churches involved. But! Just this January, a new and exciting class was offered on faith-based community organizing! So there’s hope!
It’s tricky to teach church involvement in the public sphere in seminary because, honestly, you’re in a classroom. I’m a student at Princeton Seminary, and I agree with everything Patrick said. I do wan to say, though, that this school year things are getting a bit more active on our campus. For example, the class Patrick mentioned was called Theology and Practice of Broad Base Community Organizing. It energized many of the students, and change is happening. the Last fall I took a class from Dr. Richard Osmer called Evangelism in Congregational Context and a dual taught class called Toward a Theology of Church Leadership which dealt with a lot of these issues as well. So classes are being taught. What’s more important than being in classes and discussing involvement is our field education experiences. Plus, you can do field ed at any number of non-profits whose focus is advocacy. The question of how we get involved is still a hard one.
I also hope this is being taught in our churches! We can’t expect our seminaries to teach church leaders everything, and not all church leaders go to seminary. Engagement happens not just between the church and culture but within the Body of Christ as well.
The biggest problem is: when the church is disconnected from the realities of everyday life, engagement in the public sphere doesn’t help anyone. You wonder why a lot of people think the church is disconnected? Because many churches are! Look at the arguments over contraception. My unchurched and lapsed church friends all agree the church’s position that they hear in the media is absurd. Thankfully other Christian voices are emerging in the public sphere. Being socially engaged means being willing to enter into discussion with people who disagree with you, even when those people are other Christians.
Engagement means a community is opening themselves to transformation… and that’s a scary thought! When we engage authentically with others we risk realizing we’re wrong. Public engagement needs to be modeled and taught at all levels of the faith journey because we are always needing to be renewed by the Spirit. We also need to be aware of the realities of the present so we can engage and actually make a difference. We need to look at our context, pray, and choose our battles carefully. Not every church or seminary can do everything, but every church and seminary can do something.
Hi, Deb. Like Patrick and Emily, I also attended Princeton Seminary. Your question makes me think of a class I had on the secularization of our society—the growing divide between religion and American culture. I did a research paper for that class on the differences between faith-based, non-profit, and governmental social services. What I learned was really encouraging! Research shows that faith-based organizations are more effective than government agencies at providing social services, are just as effective as non-profits, and that religious congregations may even be the most effective.
Given these results, I completely agree with you, and I hope that people of faith will take steps to be more involved in social action and to influence social policies.
Thank you, Roger, for this article. As a staff person in the United Methodist Washington Office, I can say that the Presbyterian Office is our greatest and closest ally. Just as in your tradition, so too, in ours do we have ample historical and theological basis for speaking truth in the halls of power.
Roger, thanks for this timely article. I think you’ve nailed it right on the head and I will certainly use this post the next time someone quizzes me on the proper role of religion in the public sphere. One of the issues that I would press further is the nature of citizen participation. Most citizens are trained to believe that our participation is limited to voting and to sending letters to representatives at all levels. While important, participation limited to this level is a great reduction of what it means to be citizen. Unfortunately, many elected officials also hold this kind of understanding so that our democratic values are reduced to a group of elites (the elected) managing our public space on our behalf. A robust democratic environment – everything from a Presbyterian Church to a nation – includes citizens who are more deeply engaged. I’d love to hear you reflect on that.