Christian groups move beyond charity to political action
Story and Video By Sandi Villarreal, originally published March 6, 2008
On Sunday afternoon, Trita Parsi stood at the pulpit in the chapel of St. Pauls United Church of Christ in Lincoln Park and gave churchgoers the history of U.S.-Iran relations. Parsi, president of the National Iranian-American Council, was lecturing on avoiding war with Iran and strongly advocating diplomacy.
It’s not a topic most churches would broach, but leaders at St. Pauls believe educating people of faith on political issues is important.
"Protestants in this country, especially progressive Protestants, really need to take seriously the fact that we need to have a voice in our public life," said Rev. Avena Ward, associate pastor at St. Pauls.
Nancy Brandt, a longtime member of the church, knew eight years ago something was missing from the ministry. She said St. Pauls was a very active, giving church, but she believed that wasn’t enough.
"We were very good at charity, very good at helping others," Brandt said. "But there was no place to consider issues of justice. In our creed we say that we seek justice and resist evil, but we weren’t seeking justice anywhere."
Brandt’s involvement in founding the Chicago-based group Protestants for the Common Good prompted her to do something about it. What started as a pilot program to look at public education funding from a faith viewpoint grew into a monthly examination of how faith translates into action.
Brandt, 79, spoke each word about the program with the same care she took in putting the group together. As a active church member of 25 years, she took on the task of creating a ministry out of nothing, drawing on her experience at the Continental Bank Foundation where she focused on education and youth grants. Brandt's passion for taking action against injustice led to the creation of one of the church's most popular programs, according to a recent church survey.
"There are many justice issues that have a faith dimension," said Brandt, "all the way from affordable housing, which is beyond the charity of a shelter program, to food stamps and a living wage, which is beyond a food pantry."
She said the church does not take a stand on the issues they present and they allow for a variety of viewpoints. Parsi’s lecture advocated a diplomatic approach to Iran, but Brandt provided the audience with a packet of articles written from other positions.
Rev. Alexander Sharp, executive director of the nonpartisan Protestants for the Common Good, said his group is able to go beyond education to advocacy.
"We encourage debate," Sharp said, "and ultimately we do take a stand. We advocate for legislation at the city, the county, state and national level, so you have to do both."
The organization believes Christians are called to engage in political activity, he said.
"How can you read the Bible and not be concerned about politics? … To see something happening, to see people being hurt, seeing people not having an equal shot and doing nothing about it, is itself a political position."
Sharp isn't aware of any other Chicago church that has such a cohesive public policy series. But, he added, no other church has someone quite as unique as Brandt.
Brandt fully believes it is the responsibility of faith communities to "give a voice to the voiceless."
"The people who are poor, who are marginalized, the recipients of police brutality, the immigrants who can’t speak for themselves, the refugees who are refugees because of what we as a nation have done—somebody has to speak for them," Brandt said. "And those voices should be ours as faith communities."
Sunday’s lecture--"Understanding Iran, Avoiding War with Iran"--was part of St. Pauls’ monthly Faith and Public Issues series examining war and peace. The next lecture--"Christian Perspectives on War and on Ending the Iraq War Responsibly"--is scheduled for April 6.