When to Say Something

I am a small village pastor in a larger, near a metropolis area. As such, I know my name and title doesn’t have much weight behind it beyond a friend circle and my area. With all that is happening in the world, the question I’ve had from fellow clergy is when and how to say something about what is happening in the world.

I have been doing advocacy work for most of my career as a clergy person. I’ve stood in front of the group out of Kansas who protested gay and military funerals (I won’t say their name as they scan websites for it, but you know who I mean), I’ve proposed resolutions in my Synod that led to change there and in the larger church, and I’ve advocated in state capitols and met with politicians. I am putting this to show, I’ve had some experience, but what is happening now is unlike anything before.

The difference with what is happening now is national politicians have stopped listening to their constituents and don’t care because funding comes from corporations, not individuals. Social media has taken hold as a place to make statements. It also seems as if large protests do not get coverage as 80% of the media is controlled by a political party and therefore protestors are painted as being wrong. So, when should one say or do something and how can it be done?

Personally, I’ve begun to take a different approach. It is the approach I share with those I am in conversation with and it may not be completely correct, but it has worked for me recently. I share it because I have been asked to sign on to a whole bunch of statements recently, but turn down most of them, except certain ones. I will share my strategy and why I ignore others.

Looking at what gets results and recognizing my limited reach, I’ve focused a lot on local statements that can be placed on our church pages and in local papers. While I have written ones on my own that I just posted to my church, when it comes to the local papers, I will gather with my fellow ecumenical or Lutheran clergy to make statements. There is more power in 5 leaders from different traditions saying something, than one person posting on Facebook. These statements then go into all the local publications that will take submissions. They are focused on things that our Scriptures speak about- the poor, immigration, refugees, ecumenical relationships, etc and the target audience is local readers.

Again, my name and title doesn’t mean much beyond my community, so focusing on local means I can have conversations with individuals and people can approach me. The people will not be anonymous, but rather my neighbors. Connection is everything.

I have had conversations with my local mayor and village board members who can make local laws and change local attitudes. This means it might not get beyond our village, BUT if our village makes a statement and the neighboring village makes a statement and the other neighboring village makes a statement or changes a law, movement and advocacy has happened.

Approaching national politicians, for me, only happens when I see them face to face. I will not talk to staff members because it tends to go into the void. You will be surprised at how many national politicians show up to local events. I was at a prayer service giving the opening prayer at a local Memorial Day event when our House Representative showed up. I had an opportunity, because I was a speaker, to not only sit next to him, but to approach him face to face to talk about immigration and the harm that is being done. National politicians show up locally several times, but right place, right time is part of the game, so I volunteer to do prayers at most local events. All the local politicians know me now and I have gotten face to face time with National ones too.

Here is what I will not sign on to- social media or change.org statements. They don’t work. The goal is data collection to solicit for funds. The statements get ignored often and don’t change anything. Think of any social media protests or statements you have seen that have changed anything. I don’t add my name because they don’t work.

When it comes to protest marches, I recognize they are there to network and get to know people, but rarely achieve anything. As much as I admired the protests as of late, what change has come from them? Right now there seems to be more retribution to protests than anything. To me, local is key again because of the network connections. I can get to know someone with influence at a local event, where I am just another face in the crowd at a national event.

Right or wrong, this is how I’ve shifted my voice and name. I have found local achieves more change than being another face. My name and title has more pull locally than nationally. I can meet people where they are locally and the neighborhood knows me.

What have you found that works for you?