Pulpit Freedom Sunday

Glenn Beck interviews two Drew alumni GBTV about Pulpit Freedom Day--Oct 2.

For most mainline Protestant churches, today is World Communion Sunday. For many Roman Catholic and Episcopal churches, the first Sunday in October is for blessing animals in the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi whose anniversary and Feast Day is this week. For at least 500 mostly conservative evangelical churches and pastors, today is Pulpit Freedom Sunday

In light of what’s at stake in congregational legislation and upcoming elections, should pastors and other ministerial leaders be free to support or oppose specific political issues related to social policy, ethics and morality, or endorse political candidates who share their biblical-informed, Christian-based, principles and religious views. Or should the government and its legal tax codes enacted by Congress limit freedom of speech when it comes to faith and politics expressed from the pulpit or in the name of a church?

Since 1954, the Johnson Amendment has been selectively applied to prohibit churches and their pastors from political pronouncements or activities?

The Johnson Amendment states that entities that are exempt from federal income tax cannot: participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statements), any political campaign on behalf of – or in opposition to – any candidate for public office.

There are, of course, very good reasons why a wise and responsible pastor should be careful when it comes to showing their support of political candidates and calling attention to their stands on social and ethical issues that affect the best interests of their congregation and community. But that’s exactly the point—pastors and congregations should decide what issues and candidates to support or opposed based on their religious views, not the government.

I’ll have more to say about 'freedom in the pulpit' at Glide Memorial United Methodist Church in San Francisco this week where I will be teaching a Doctor of Ministry course on the Theology and Practice of Shalom. In preparing for class with pastors from the SF Bay Area, I’ve been thinking about the “Politics of Shalom” in the current political, economic and spiritual climate in the USA and the rest of the world.

Conservative talk show host, Glenn Beck, did a TV segment this week on Pulpit Freedom Sunday called “Pastors on the Left and Right”. I was the “lefty” in his interview, and if you’re interested in what two ministers had to say, here’s the clip: GBTV

I welcome your comments as I continue to explore this issue: mchriste@drew.edu

Mother Shalom

South Central, Los Angeles, was the neighborhood in the city where Communities of Shalom began in 1992. I met Marx Gutierrez from El Salvador who was there attending High School at the time. He remembers what happened at the corner of Florence and Normandy Streets in South Central, LA, when Reginald Denny was pulled out of his truck and beaten while the crowd looked on and the police did nothing; and how the Rodney King beating resulted in a not-guilty verdict for the police and resulted in a major, 3-day uprising in the neighborhood, until the National Guard came in and finally imposed law and order. He can still remember the fires, the bright orange night sky, the mass looting, 45 unsolved killings, the social chaos...And how the United Methodist Churches responded by creating a zone of shalom in 7 neighborhoods of Los Angeles. Today, Marx is a community organizer, and married to Jennifer Gutierrez, Conference Shalom Coordinator in the Calif-Pacific Annual Conference, and Rev. Vilma

First Generation Lambs Club Reunion

Fifteen of us gathered Saturday night at the Lambs Club for a 35 th year reunion of those who helped start the Lamb’s Church in Times Square in the mid to late 1970’s, including: Rev. Paul S. Moore , Founder of the Lamb’s Church of the Nazarene, and his wife, Tamara Dr. Michael J. Christensen , charter member and former associate pastor, and his wife Dr. Rebecca Laird Fr. William (BJ) Webe r, former Associate Pastor and Director of the Lamb’s Residency, and his wife Sheila who lived at the Lamb’s Jim and Dustee Hullinger, who were on staff together and made the Lamb’s their home for over 25 years Effie Canepa , who was the church pianist under 3 pastors, and her husband Peter Shirley Close, who attended the Lamb’s in the late 1970’s while studying, performing and teaching music and voice Carl "Chappy" Valente , former associate pastor Rev. Bob DiQuatto , lead singer of the Church’s “Manhattan Project” and staff member of the Lamb’s, and his son Jason Rev. Gabriel

Liberation Spirituality: Henri Nouwen and Gustavo Gutierrez in Dialogue

Liberation Spirituality: Henri Nouwen and Gustavo Gutierrez in Dialogue Lecture Notes: Presented by Michael J. Christensen, Ph.D., Associate Professor in the Practice of Spirituality and Ministry, Drew University; and International Director, Communities of Shalom, The United Methodist Church Introduction “There is a little man in Peru, a man without any power, who lives in a barrio with poor people and who wrote a book. In this book he simply reclaimed the basic Christian truth that God became human to bring good news to the poor, new light to the blind, and liberty to the captives. Then years later this book and movement it started is considered a danger by [the USA, or Rome], the greatest power on earth. When I look at this little man, Gustavo, and think about [the President of the US, or the Pope], I see David standing before Goliath, again with no more weapon than a little stone, a stone called A Theology of Liberation (Henri Nouwen

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