The Pastoral Work of Public Witness

Last week I joined hundreds of pastors and people of faith at the US Capitol for a Pentecost public witness. We rallied, we prayed, we held signs, and we addressed the senate asking for a moral budget that would not harm the poor.  Some senators showed up. Some of them might have even listened.  Will it be enough? We shall see.

Whether it was enough or not it was important for me to raise my voice for the poor. To speak up for the least of these. Lately I have been thinking a lot about the role of pastor as public witness.

As CBF becomes more involved with advocacy in our nation’s capital, I am becoming more convinced that the role of pastor includes the role of public witness.  To truly care for people means we show up as a voice and a witness in the public square. I was taught that as a pastor I should take the initiative and reach out to my people as they faced the struggles of life. Providing pastoral care ment showing up at the hospital and funeral homes and walking with people through the grief and pain of life. But is there more to tending the flock? It seems we should also take the initiative to speak up for our people as well. What if pastoral care means showing up at the hospital and the halls of Congress?  To tend the flock might mean we advocate for greener pastures and still waters in order to have them to lead our people to.

Bearing public witness as a pastor might mean we join a march or sit in protest.  To be true to Jesus we will always do these things in nonviolent ways, never seeking to harm others but to overcome unjust systems.  It might mean we stand with others behind someone giving a press conference to lend our presence to show the speaker is not alone. But it will also mean speaking to our government representatives about the needs of our people.  Being a pastor carries with it a certain bit of currency. Currency that at times affords us an ability to be heard because we speak from a place of faith and for a people. We should spend the currency we are granted on behalf of the people God loves!

It can be intimidating to walk the halls of Congress and the Senate office buildings to speak a word to our elected officials.   To be honest, it’s not much easier for me to meet with the mayor, the local police chief or city and state representatives. But the more I do it the easier it becomes.  The point is not to win a political debate it’s to speak for our people from our faith.  When it comes to talking points there are a lot of resources to give us the facts and figures we need.  It is also helpful to have a CBF advocacy team that can help us locate the resources for the people we are speaking for.   

In the Mid-Atlantic we have a unique opportunity to show up on the national level for our people because we are so close to Washington DC. One of the ways we can pastor through public witness is by showing up to press conferences and rallies as they happen in and around the capital. Jennifer Hawks, CBF Director of Advocacy would like a list of local pastors and people of faith willing to be invited to events in DC as they come up.  This might include showing up to support a press conference or joining a rally or a march. It might include times to meet with elected officials or their staff.  It could be to hand deliver messages or letters to offices on Capitol Hill.  If this interests you, join the list here.  Joining the list is not signing up for all events it’s just a willingness to be invited.

Though I am without a pulpit I still see myself as a pastor. As a pastor I want to speak for my people and for all the people God loves. I am willing to go to the capital and spend my pastoral currency for the poor, the outcast and the marginalized. Some may blame me for being political and to that I might agree but only to the extent that I mean what I pray when I pray the prayer the Lord taught me to pray saying …“Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”  

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