The Episcopal Church is overseeing a program aimed at helping members become engaged in the democratic process as the United States nears the 2024 presidential election.
The Church’s Office of Government Relations leads a program known as the Episcopal Election Activators, which trains Episcopalians to be involved in such things as voter registration and education.
OGR Church Relations Officer Alan Yarborough told The Christian Post that the program was established in 2022.
“We launched the pilot cohort of Episcopal Election Activators ahead of the 2022 midterm elections to offer educational support, coaching, and networking among Episcopalians passionate about supporting the democratic process,” he said.
According to Yarborough, the program has 55 activators in the current election cycle thus far. The application process “will remain open for others to join.”
“Through the program, we aim to motivate people to help their local churches serve their communities by promoting informed, respectful civic education and participation,” said Yarborough.
One of the Episcopal Election Activators in the current cycle is 69-year-old Emily Hopkins of the Episcopal Diocese of California, a retired Navy captain who participated in the 2022 pilot cohort.
“I do what I can in a nonpartisan way to strengthen our democracy,” Hopkins told Episcopal New Service. “As Episcopalians, I think we’re supposed to be the hands and feet in our community and our daily lives, so this is a way we can make a difference.”
“It empowers people.”
Kim Hayes, a 71-year-old member of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina, is another of the activators involved this year. She told ENS she felt a “sense of urgency” in her efforts.
“It’s just really important for people to get out and vote and take responsibility for [electing] who is representing us,” said Hayes, who, like Hopkins, was also part of the original 2022 group.
According to the OGR’s website, requirements for the activator program include being involved in the program through next year, providing regular updates and signing a pledge to be nonpartisan in their activator work.
The activators program comes when many churches are looking to respond to what is expected to be an especially divisive presidential election season by mobilizing their faithful to vote and be engaged in the political process.Â
Earlier this month, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention released a guide for Christian political engagement.
Titled “The Nations Belong to God: A Christian Guide for Political Engagement,” it was authored by Andrew Walker, assistant professor of ethics and apologetics at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a fellow at the ERLC Research Institute.
“Politics is a calling to be engaged within a world that belongs to God, not ultimately to princes, presidents, or prime ministers,” wrote Walker in the guide’s introduction.
“My goal in writing this resource was to move Christians to a place of strategic engagement. That begins, first and foremost, with understanding that the nations belong to God.”
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