The Evangelical Covenant Church is committed to joining God in God’s mission to see more disciples among more populations in a more caring and just world. Two historic questions have guided the Covenant in fulfilling this mission: (1) “Where is it written?” and (2) “How goes your walk?” As we strive to answer these questions as a denominational family today, we offer this curated resource as a place to begin and potentially enhance existing communal conversations in this polarized season. These resources can help establish a biblical foundation for challenging conversations and a framework rooted in our new life in Christ, informed by the life and ministry of Jesus.
As we pursue Jesus’s commandment to love one another as Christ first loved us, we understand that the world will know that we are Christ’s disciples by our love for one another. We hope and pray that this resource will aid us in loving one another well, strengthening our individual and communal discipleship, and fostering healthy communal dialogue that leads to fresh missional insights. While individuals may choose to explore these resources independently, this resource was produced to be engaged in community, offering opportunities to connect with sisters and brothers in Christ in a Christlike posture as we process with people of varying viewpoints and learn from one another while growing together.
Ten Ways These Resources Could Be Communally Engaged
- Offer a small group focused on how Christian faith can inform our civic engagement.
- Use these resources for an adult Sunday school class, small group, or midweek study.
- Start a book club called “A Dialogue on Christian Faith and Politics.”
- Offer a monthly movie night where you watch and dialogue about some of the longer videos.
- Launch a prayer team focused on Christian unity and the Church’s witness this election season. Show one of the shorter viewing resources at each gathering, and invite attendees to intercede, praying on behalf of the specific topic covered each session.
- Offer a first-time voter class. Talk about how we can view politics through the lens of Scripture, directed by the life of Jesus, versus seeing Scripture through our political lens.
- Select a few of the recommended resources and invite your congregation to engage them alongside fasting, prayer, and communally discerning missional opportunities.
- Select one resource from each category, create your own engagement pathway, and invite your congregation to participate. Then, offer debriefing opportunities over a meal, dessert, or coffee.
- Select an issue that is important for your community, engage the associated resources, and invite a local organization that is working on that issue to share about partnership opportunities.
- Host a FREE Sunday, and write letters to one of your elected officials protesting human trafficking.
Ten Books to Consider
- The Ballot and the Bible: How Scripture Has Been Used and Abused in American Politics and Where We Go from Here, by Kaitlyn Schiess
- Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion, and Truth in the Immigration Debate, by Jenny Yang and Matthew Soerens
- Jesus and the Powers: Christian Political Witness in an Age of Totalitarian Terror and Dysfunctional Democracies, by N.T. Wright and Michael F. Bird
- How to Be a Patriotic Christian: Love of Country as Love of Neighbor, by Richard J. Mouw
- Subversive Witness: Scripture’s Call to Leverage Privilege, by Dominique Gilliard
- Disability and the Church: A Vision for Diversity and Inclusion, by Lamar Hardwick
- Exiles: The Church in the Shadow of Empire (Church in the Shadow of Empire, 2), by Preston M. Sprinkle
- Compassion (&) Conviction: The AND Campaign’s Guide to Faithful Civic Engagement, by Justin Giboney, Michael Wear, and Chris Butler
- The Confessions, by Saint Augustine
- Moral Man and Immoral Society: A Study in Ethics and Politics, by Reinhold Niebuhr
Three External Resources to Consider
- The After Party features Dr. Russell Moore, David French, and Curtis Chang. This resource was created “for pastors and people who know there’s a better way to ‘do politics.’ It is designed to equip and encourage you to do the hard work of engaging across differences, reframing political identity in light of the gospel’s promises, and focusing hearts and minds on the ‘how’ of relating to each other before the ‘what’ of political opinions.”
- “Welcoming the Stranger in an Election Year—Without Dividing Your Church,” a resource from the Evangelical Immigration Table
- “For the Health of the Nation: An Evangelical Call to Civic Responsibility,” a resource produced by the National Association of Evangelicals
15 Short Videos to Consider
Less than 20 Minutes
- “How Should We Vote?” by Phil Vischer
- “The Bible and Politics—How to Spot the Misuse of Scripture by Politicians and Activists,” by Kaitlyn Schiess
- This video on biblical justice from the Bible Project
- “Was America Founded as a Christian Nation?” by Russell Moore
- “Does Romans 13 Say We Have to Obey the Government?” by Kaitlyn Schiess
- “Do Politics Belong in the Pulpit?” from the Gospel Coalition
- “The REAL Problem with Christian Nationalism,” by Skye Jethani
- “What Does It Mean to Be Holistically Pro-Life?” by Trillia Newbell
- This excerpt of an interview with Jenny Yang entitled “Why Is Immigration an Issue the Church Is Called to Care About?”
- This video on the crisis along the US southern border
- “The Lies That Serve Us,” by Justin Giboney
- This homily entitled “Minding the Gap,” by Efrem Smith
- Video of a Covenanter politically mobilizing her community to love vulnerable neighbors
- “Peace in the Holy Land”—Rev. Dr. Mae Cannon interviews Jessica Montell and Sami Awad
- “Caring for Creation One Church at a Time,” from Lausanne Global Classroom
Ten Longer Videos to Consider
- “Faith and Politics,” sermon by Rev. Eugene Cho
- “God, Politics, and the Church: Resisting the Politics of Fear,” sermon by Rev. Rich Villodas
- “Making Room: Playing Host to Ideological Strangers,” lecture by Dr. Richard J. Mouw
- “How the Bible Defines Love,” interview with Rev. Dr. Dennis Edwards, dean of North Park Theological Seminary
- The documentary “True Justice: Bryan Stevenson’s Fight for Equality”
- “The God Who Sees: Immigrants, the Bible, and the Journey to Belong,” lecture by Karen Gonzalez
- “Jesus Sees Our Pain,” sermon by Rev. Dr. Alexia Salvatierra
- “Questions Christians Should Ask About Social Justice,” sermon by Dr. Thaddeus Williams
- “God’s Kingdom and Our Politics,” lecture by Dr. James Skillen
- “Rebirth of the Range,” video highlighting Indigenous wisdom and land rights
Five Podcast Episodes to Consider
- This podcast on Christian nationalism by Dr. Andrew L. Whitehead and Dr. Samuel Perry
- This podcast from Rev. Dominique Gilliard on “What Joseph, Pharaoh, and the Apostles Teach Us about Privilege”
- This podcast from Dr. Wille James Jennings after George Floyd’s murder
- This podcast on felon disenfranchisement and voting rights
- This podcast on Critical Race Theory, “What Is It, Actually?” by Dr. Nathan Cartagena
Closing Prayer
Consider closing your communal gatherings with the “Peace Prayer”
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.
