Michael Curry, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the U.S.
Presiding Bishop Michael Curry doesn’t mince words. He says, “It is a Christian obligation to vote, and more than that, it is the church’s responsibility to help get souls to the polls.” We at ICCT believe voting and getting out the vote is a very important way for all people of faith, not just Christians, to live out our values and influence society for the good of all peoples and all Creation.
Theology of Voting: The Right to Vote is Sacred
An excerpt from a blog by Joan Neal (M.A. in Pastoral Studies and an honorary doctorate from the Catholic Theological Union) with NETWORK Advocates for Justice, Inspired by Catholic Sisters. She begins with a quote from Rev. Raphael Warnock, an American Baptist pastor and U.S Senator:
In his opening address to Congress in January 2021, Senator Raphael Warnock from Georgia said, “We believe democracy is the political enactment of a spiritual idea – that we are all children of God and therefore, we ought all to have a voice in the direction of our country and our destiny within it. Democracy honors the sacred worth of all human beings, the notion that we all have within us a spark of the divine, to participate in the shaping of our own destiny. The right to vote is a sacred right.”
Neal continues:
“Voting and political participation in our democracy is one of the most important ways we can honor every person’s human dignity, enable our vision of justice, and contribute positively to the common good as members of society.”
Here’s Why Get Out the Vote is ICCT’s #1 priority this year:
- A strong democracy is essential to enacting and maintaining effective Creation care policy, so we GOTV to protect and strengthen democracy.
- With very little time left to reduce emissions and species extinction, we GOTV now to help avoid more catastrophic, even existential damages.
- This election will impact our response to climate change for many years to come, so we GOTV to ensure justice now and for future generations.
Bring Our GOTV Campaign to Your Congregation or Group
In November we don’t want to look back with deep regrets. So we invite you to join us as we partner with one of two non-partisan groups writing postcards and phone banking in your congregation- the Environmental Voter Project and Reclaim Our Vote.
See the difference between the ROV and EVP campaigns in a side-by-side table in ICCT’s 2024 GOTV Manual that’s updated regularly with information on new campaigns. It also offers guidance on how to obtain postcards, addresses, and stamps and how to host GOTV events. It will help to start planning your campaign NOW. For an effective, organized campaign, you need to seek support from leaders and groups in your congregation and start planning soon. To help with that, there’s a 1-page document explaining these campaigns.
Try to schedule a postcarding event as soon as you can. It’s totally doable.
If you get involved now and your first postcard event works for your congregation, you’ll have time to schedule another one. We’re hoping that faith communities will have multiple postcarding events throughout the election season. One faith group plans to offer postcarding at least every two weeks starting in mid-August. But even one postcarding event is good.
We stand ready and willing to assist North Carolina Triangle area congregations and groups with their GOTV efforts as needed. And please let us know if you get involved in GOTV. We’d like to hear what you’re doing. Contact us at ICCTriangle@gmail.com.
For congregations outside the greater Triangle area, the Environmental Voter Project (EVP) and the Center for Common Ground Reclaim Our Vote (ROV) work across NC and in many states nationwide so you can go directly on their websites to get involved
