https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-q8b6z-1b905ca
Four white mainline Protestant pastors are running for Congress this year. A generation ago, that would have been hard to imagine. Could it spark a revival for a tradition many have written off?
In this episode of Church and Main, Dennis Sanders talks with Daniel K. Williams, a historian of American religion and politics at Ashland University in Ohio.
The conversation stems from Williams’ Substack article, where he argues that the midterms could be “an important first step in rehabilitating the cultural image of mainline Protestantism for a younger generation of progressives.” Dennis and Williams look at why white mainline pastors have mostly stayed out of electoral politics, why that may be changing now, and what it could mean for the pews.
In This Episode:
- [10:03] Why religious traditions rarely disappear and instead reinvent themselves, and why mainline decline isn’t a straight line to collapse
- [16:48] Why pastors stayed out of office: congregations that are politically divided, and a “prophetic voice” tradition wary of getting cozy with power
- [21:26] What changed: the Trump era, the denominational splits of the 2010s, and a Democratic Party more open to faith
- [28:17] Whether denominations will sort politically the way the parties have, and the challenge of attracting younger members
- [33:10] Adam Hamilton and the surprising idea of a progressive mainline megachurch
- [36:04] Which Pew political groups the mainline might be uniquely poised to welcome, from loyal liberals to Republicans uneasy with the party’s direction
- [40:08] How prominent candidates change the public image of a tradition, with Jimmy Carter and J.D. Vance as examples, and the possible return of a vocal religious left
- [45:38] What white mainline pastors can learn from the Black church about preaching prophetically while doing the work of governing, including Raphael Warnock and John Lewis
Links
- Daniel K. Williams’ Substack article on the midterms and the mainline
- Faith leaders on the ballot: 12 races to watch from Religion News Service
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