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Since it looks like Stacey Abrams and company may have pushed Georgia blue last night, a little thread on the religious history behind her historic organizing effort.
File this under “the religious roots of the progressive movement,” h/t @jackjenkins
File this under “the religious roots of the progressive movement,” h/t @jackjenkins
When Abrams ran for governor in 2018, she came to national attention because of her organizing. After years of Democratic recriminations for failures to do outreach or motivate the base, Abrams just went to work. There’s a black church history there … https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2020/october/atlanta-christians-political-action-raphael-warnock-black-c.html
Abrams specifically explained her approach to getting out the vote with a religious metaphor:
“We spend a lot of time trying to convince atheists to be Catholics,” she said again and again, “rather than just getting Baptists to go to church.”
“We spend a lot of time trying to convince atheists to be Catholics,” she said again and again, “rather than just getting Baptists to go to church.”
She also registered new voters. Get out the vote AND voter outreach. In church terms, we’re talking homecomings and evangelism.
These are ideas Abrams grew up with. When she was 10, the Methodist in Mississippi recognized her parents for “exceptional ministry of evangelism.”
These are ideas Abrams grew up with. When she was 10, the Methodist in Mississippi recognized her parents for “exceptional ministry of evangelism.”
Abrams says she was raised on “parables from the Bible mixed with real-life stories of the men and women of the civil rights movement.”
And she saw faith lived out: her parents James and Carolyn organized a Sunday school in prison. They helped peopled in need, people rejected.
And she saw faith lived out: her parents James and Carolyn organized a Sunday school in prison. They helped peopled in need, people rejected.
When Abrams was 15, the family moved to Atlanta, so her parents could attend Candler School of Theology, at Emory University.
In Atlanta, Abrams saw the power of evangelism again at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church in Midtown. The church was racially integrated in 1989, small, and in decline. On Sundays, St. Mark’s had fewer than 100 people.
Then a minister decided to open the doors to LGBT people. Mike Cordle was moved by a pride parade that went past his church. He saw all these nice people—someone gave his daughter a balloon—and he thought why not reach out to the folks in front of him? https://whosoever.org/the-courage-to-welcome/
Gay people were shocked when he invited them to church. They said, “Do you know who we are?” He said he knew God loved them and they should have a church to minister to them.
So he invited them and they came.
So he invited them and they came.
The church grew to 800 people, then 1000, then closer to 2000. Today it’s one of the largest affirming churches in the US. Abrams was 17 when this started. That’s a powerful time to see outreach change your world, re-draw the lines of who's included. https://thegavoice.com/news/atlanta/sunday-atlantas-saint-mark-one-largest-gay-friendly-churches-nation/
Two years later, Abrams went to work for Atlanta’s first black mayor, Maynard Jackson.
In her mind she wasn’t leaving church for politics: “Government is a ministry,” she said. “It’s supposed to serve people.”
In her mind she wasn’t leaving church for politics: “Government is a ministry,” she said. “It’s supposed to serve people.”
As long as I’ve been following politics, there’s always been a debate about “base strategy,” turning out your diehard supporters, and outreach. Abrams is interested in both.
You got to get the Baptists to go to church (so to speak). And evangelism is important too.
You got to get the Baptists to go to church (so to speak). And evangelism is important too.
If you want to understand Georgia right now, it helps to understand what Abrams did. And to understand Abrams, it helps to see the religious vision she learned from the evangelists of her youth.
Abrams is preaching a sermon to those who'll listen.
“I’m here today,” she said from a pulpit in 2018 “because...Micah tells us, ‘In that day, declares the Lord, I will assemble the lame and gather the outcast...I will make the lame a remnant, and the outcasts a strong nation.”
“I’m here today,” she said from a pulpit in 2018 “because...Micah tells us, ‘In that day, declares the Lord, I will assemble the lame and gather the outcast...I will make the lame a remnant, and the outcasts a strong nation.”
The end.
