In every election year, pastors face the reality of political conflict and tension in their congregations. This year is that and more.
For 20 years, I served as pastor of what some call a “purple” church — a mixture of red for Republicans and blue for Democrats, plus independents. Parkview Baptist Church in Gainesville, Fla., has members who vote all three ways.
Nevertheless, we were able to unite around our values and vision and avoid divisive conflict.
Gregory Magruder
A 2023 survey of 1,700 U.S. religious leaders found 72% of churches reported some degree of conflict and dispute. That number is up from 64% in 2020. During a presidential election year, this figure is likely to increase.
How can a pastor navigate through conflict during a hotly contested election year? How can a pastor lead a congregation during a presidential campaign designed to provoke anger and polarization?
Psalm 46:1 reminds us that God is our help in times of trouble.
Let’s focus on HELP as an acrostic. God is our refuge, God is our strength, and God is present to help us when things get rough. Our election year creates rough sailing in troubled waters. But God is our help. We can navigate this election year with God’s help.
Have a clear vision: Where is the church going? Preach on your vision for the church. Remind your congregation why you exist.
“Preach on your vision for the church. Remind your congregation why you exist.”
Ray Johnson, our new pastor, led the deacons through a process of defining the values of First Baptist Gainesville, Fla. These core values speak to the essence of who we are as a church. The church voted to accept and adopt the core values.
Now Ray will be preaching through each value so the congregation can understand and internalize them. The church can make decisions and plans based on the core values. When questions or suggestions arise, the church can ask if the suggestion is in line with our core values.
Embrace your mission: Ask, “How do we get there?” Explain the specific mission you are trying to fulfill. Remind members how they can contribute to the mission by using their gifts and giving their funds. Preach on spiritual gifts and the body having many members but different gifts, as taught in 1 Corinthians 12.
Parkview Baptist Church is a multiethnic, multiracial and multinational congregation. We had homeless, working poor, blue-collar middle-class and professional doctors, lawyers and educators attending our small church. Yet somehow, we got along and kept our focus on Christ and the mission. The mission changes as new situations arise, but the commitment to accomplish the mission as God’s people remains the same.
When the Southern Baptist Convention/Cooperative Baptist Fellowship conflict arose in our church history, Parkview decided to focus on our mission, not denominational conflict. Members chose which group they wanted their offerings to support.
We had regular reminders of our vision and mission. We met in focus groups to discuss the state of the church and current needs. We all had a voice and made the commitment to follow where God led us.
Love one another: Love conquers all and covers a multitude of sins.
Preach on loving one another. We had a Democratic county commissioner and Republican state representative in the church, but they loved one another and took family vacations together.
“Preach on loving one another.”
Preach on unity around a common vision and mission. We had Republican trustees and Democratic trustees. In the days when President Obama was in office, two white trustees tangled with a Black trustee over Obama’s policies. It was a heated discussion. The Black trustee became angry and left the board, but not the church. I had to remind them all that we seek first the kingdom of God. We keep Christ central in our attitudes and discussions. We don’t split over politics.
I cannot say they resolved their differences over politics, but they did remain faithful to the church and its ministries.
Preach on forgiving as Christ has forgiven you.
Francis Schaeffer tells the story of two Brethren groups that met after Word War II. One group had supported Hitler and thrived during wartime. The other group refused to support Hitler and suffered much loss and pain. After the war, the groups met to discuss reunification.
There was much fear and suspicion between the leaders. They agreed to fast and pray and seek God’s will. Schaeffer asked one of the men who had been there what happened. The old man said, “Why, we were just one.”
Love is possible when there are deep divisions. Preach on love.
Evangelist George Whitefield preaching to a crowd in America as part of what came to be known as the Great Awakening.
Promote Jesus: Scripture says to fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Uplift Jesus. Our faith is not in a political party, not in a candidate for office, not in a political agenda, not in a pastor, not in the elders or the deacons. Our faith is in Jesus.
The two great leaders of the Great Awakening in the 1700s — John Wesley and George Whitefield — were opposite theologically but continued to pray for one another. Their followers, however, were not as kind and forgiving.
John Wesley
One time Wesley was severely ill, and Whitefield sent him a kind word. Someone asked Whitefield if they would see Wesley in heaven and Whitefield said, “No, he will be so close to the throne of God that we will not be able to see him.”
Wesley recovered from his illness. Later Whitefield died. Wesley preached at the funeral service and praised Whitefield as a friend, a brother and a great evangelist. These two men fixed their eyes on Jesus, not their differences, and set the example for their followers.
Preach Jesus. Focus on him. Tell your congregation to follow him, to have no other gods before him, and to lay down all their lesser gods and agendas.
If we are to serve God’s people, we are going to have to choose if we will promote our political and personal preferences or if we are going to minister to all the people of God and keep people focused on Christ our King. We can have our own convictions and political persuasions, but our primary task is to work for the kingdom of God and to minister to all of God’s people.
With God’s HELP we can do that.
Gregory Magruder serves as church administrator at First Baptist Church of Gainesville, Fla.
Related articles:
What the color chart teaches us about surviving in a ‘purple’ church | Opinion by Mark Wingfield
The unsolvable political problem facing those who lead purple churches