What Can a Pastor Say about Political Candidates?

The campaigns for the governor's race in Louisiana have begun to intensify. When Gov. Kathleen Blanco decided not to run for re-election, several individuals took hard looks at the possibility of making a run for the governor's mansion. One candidate who had announced early has since changed political affiliations in order to carry a different party banner than the front-runner.

I have a candidate that I will support. I will not name the candidate here because that might be construed as an official endorsement. My support of this candidate is based upon the candidate's past because the best indicator of someone's future positions are the decisions and stands that person has taken in the past.

Many are confused as to what role and to what limit a pastor or church may participate in political races. I'd like to shed light on this confusing area in hopes that churches and pastors might come to a clearer understanding. It's also important to note that from the beginning years of our nation, Christians -- and in particular, Baptists -- have had a great deal of influence in the shaping of policy. Baptists in Virginia were instrumental in the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, becoming adopted.

Here is a list of actions pastors in which they can participate:

• Preach sermons and teach on moral and social issues, including biblical teaching on abortion, same-sex marriage.
• Encourage civic participation.
• Conduct candidate or issues forums where each duly qualified candidate invited and provided an equal opportunity to address the congregation.
• Educate on how the political processes work.
• Distribute candidate surveys and incumbent voting records.
• Offer support or opposition of judicial, department, or cabinet appointments.
• Offer the use of its building to political candidates, as long as other candidates are invited.
• Engage in voter registration activities that avoid promoting any one candidate or particular political party.

But there are limitations. Pastors cannot:

• Endorse any candidate for political office on behalf of the church. (However, as an individual citizen and not in his official capacity as pastor, he can support candidates running for office.)
• Use church funds or services (such as mailing lists or office equipment) to contribute directly to candidates or political committees.
• Set up a political committee that would contribute funds directly to political candidates.
• Allow candidates to solicit funds while speaking in a church.

So we will continue to teach on moral and social issues in order to help people understand what the Bible says about these issues. I will continue to participate in the campaigns of individuals running for political office as an individual. We will encourage voter registration and voter participation without endorsing any candidate as a church.

In a couple of months, voters in Louisiana will be casting the ballots in the governor's race and other local races. But I can only imagine that our participation in this election will seem small when we compare it to the candidating that will accompany an intensified election season when it's the 2008 Presidential Election. Won't that be something?

Two Years Past Katrina

It's hard to believe that almost two years have passed since Hurricane Katrina changed our lives in Louisiana and Mississippi. Our communities still bear the marks of the winds and floods. We've experienced significant changes in many ways. While the entire region continues to deal with these changes, I'd like to let you know how the changes have affected our community.

The first change comes in the form of the landscape changes. In the first few months following Katrina, many residents were slow to return to Mandeville and Covington. Though not as hard as in New Orleans or Slidell or the Mississippi Gulf Coast, our community had been hit hard by the storm. Flood waters hit the "old Mandeville area," while the trees that had graced so much of our landscape had now ripped open many of our homes. Still today, the remnants of those fallen trees can be seen in virtually every area of our parish. Broken trees, fences, and even some damaged structures still dot the landscape. It will be years before these telltale signs are gone.

We've also experienced changes in our population. Many of our residents elected not to return immediately due to job relocations and the fact that the schools did not reopen immediately. Once the school board announced that the schools would reopen in October, more residents began making plans to return to the Northshore. The population continued to grow steadily through the rest of the year. The numbers continued to increase as former Southshore residents explored their options to remain in the region by moving to the Northshore. The makeup of the population has changed.

In our church, First Baptist, we've had to adjust in several ways. Prior to the storm in August 2005, our church's attendance regularly exceeded 450 on Sunday mornings. The first Sunday in September of that year, we had an attendance of 81 for one service. While we have increased since that time, we have not exceeded 400 on any Sunday since before the storm. Many of our families relocated to other parts of the country because of job relocations.

I'm hopeful about our future at First Baptist. The Lord has gifted us in a variety of ways with so many faithful followers of Christ. At a time when it would have been easy to retreat, our congregation has launched out with a tremendously missionary spirit. In the past year our church has added these mission endeavors:

• Established Iglesia Bautista Cristo Redentor and has called a full-time Hispanic pastor. With the rebuilding efforts in our region, we've seen a significant increase in the Spanish-speaking population. Not only has First Baptist provided the space for this ministry, the church has significantly funded the budget of this daughter congregation.
• Outfitting two Disaster Relief Units. We learned firsthand how important disaster relief is, so we are outfitting two new trailers as DR units. One will serve as a shower trailer, and the other will be a washer/dryer unit. These units will be dispatched by the North American Mission Board in the event of a disaster.
• Established a church planting partnership in Nigeria. In the past 9 months, we have sent two small teams to Nigeria to partner with our International Mission Board work in central Nigeria. This summer we provided the financial support for a student at the Nigerian Baptist Pastors School to work with an unreached people group. In this 10-week project, two churches were planted and 63 new believers were added to the kingdom.
• Began an "Angel Food Ministry". This is a monthly food ministry that involves about 35-45 volunteers.
• Mission trip to Joy Community Fellowship in Hot Springs, South Dakota. This trip involved 9 from our church. They encouraged the pastor and his wife, and they also provided a Bible school experience for the community.

All this -- and more -- even though we're smaller than we were prior to Katrina. I believe that we will continue to see even more work that the Lord does through us. And this faithful ministry will result in Him receiving more glory!