July 11, 2025
In the Shadow of Church and State
Almost exactly a month ago I returned to Fuller Seminary to both hood my last two doctoral students, as well as to have the leaving-taking that transitioning to First Covenant from Fuller during the COVID pandemic didn’t afford me. Among the many thoughts and feelings I experienced in those quick 48 hours away, was the beauty of Fuller’s campus and the surrounding area. Immediately behind Fuller’s campus are two delightful structures, Pasadena’s gorgeous City Hall (a go-to site for Quinceañera photos) and the regal All Saints Episcopal Church. In a way Fuller’s campus was framed by Church (All Saints) and State (City Hall).
I found no small irony in reflecting on that, as my first introduction to All Saint’s Church was when I was still in Chicago. All Saints was then national news because of the church-state issue they were embroiled in. The year was 2004, President George H.W. Bush was running for reelection against Sen. John Kerry. The Gulf War and the “war on terror” were central themes in both campaigns that year. In that same year a controversial sermon was preached at All Saints Church, which is said to be the largest and most progressive Episcopal Church west of the Mississippi. The sermon was framed as a debate between, Bush, Kerry, and Jesus. The IRS claimed it was election interference by a non-profit organization. However, those I knew who attended there said, they could have chosen any number of sermons that year. It was finally cleared of that charge in 2007. If found guilty it would have lost its tax-exempt status.
The first time I was exposed to such a church-state overlap, was when I was attending a church in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, home of Pittsburgh’s housing projects. It was a predominantly Black church, with a handful of white college students like myself attending. It was an autumn Sunday before election day when the pastor invited a candidate for City Council to join him in the pulpit to say a few words. After the candidate’s comments and his invitation to consider voting for him, the pastor simply said, “This is our man, vote for him and he will serve you well.”
Like Dorothy in Oz, I wasn’t home anymore. This was a completely different experience in church than I have ever had before. Over time I would learn that Black churches, especially in the inner city, are often as much community centers as they are houses of worship. Here such blurring of the church-state lines was not uncommon. This comes from the nature of the Praise House on plantations which saw its function to build resistance to the oppressive, dehumanizing burden of slavery and advocate for Black lives in this new land. For example, often information about the Underground Railroad would be shared here, even if in code.
The European "pilgrims" who came here for religious freedom wanted no connection to politics. Other groups like the Quakers, would later have a similar desire for separation of church and state. Later immigrants, like the Mission Friends from Sweden, would be like minded as well. In 1954, then Senator Lyndon B. Johnson successfully added an amendment to the U.S. Tax Code, declaring that a non-profit organization could not use its resources to campaign for or against anyone running for office. Yet now the IRS is declaring that houses of worship can endorse political candidates. This appears to be a drastic shift, but if and how it will be implemented remains to be seen.
Jesus was not apolitical. He nothing good to say about the Herodian family (Luke 13:32) and seemed to state fairly clearly that there is a divide between affairs of the state and affairs of the church (Mark 12:13-17). Even more important to this discussion is the post-resurrection declaration that “Jesus Christ is Lord,” a direct contrast to “Caesar is Lord”; a bald-faced political statement. This to me implies that the Reign of God established by Jesus defines the rules and ethics by which we live, not a person, party, or government. The Reign of God declares that all governments and their people are accountable to the values of God revealed in all of scripture, but especially through God’s revelation in Christ and the on-going prompting of God’s Spirit. And all nations will be judged accordingly. (Revelation 18-20)
Every church exists in the shadows of both “church” and “state.” Our task is not to endorse, or “baptize,” a candidate, party, or government, but to assess them by the values of the Gospel and respond accordingly. May we prayerfully negotiate this task in ways that makes it clear to whom we pay our allegiance.
With confidence in Christ,
~ Pastor Todd