Southern Baptist president calls on pastors to ‘step up’ ahead of midterm elections
Southern Baptist Convention president and pastor Willy Rice has urged pastors to become more involved in politics ahead of the midterm elections. He argues that many political questions have theological and moral dimensions, and that pastors have historically influenced important moments in American political life.
Rice said Christians had been encouraged to withdraw from politics, while people on the theological and political left remained engaged. He named abortion, marriage, gender identity and immigration as issues Christians should consider when voting. On immigration, he said compassion for people in need can coexist with enforcing the law.
- Willy Rice urges pastors to engage in politics before the midterms.
- He says several political debates raise theological and moral questions.
- Rice argues compassion and immigration law enforcement can coexist.
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The Southern Baptist Convention is America's largest evangelical Christian denomination, representing millions of churchgoers across the country. Southern Baptist leaders hold considerable influence over their congregations, and their political views often shape voting patterns among evangelical voters.
There is an ongoing debate within American Christianity about how deeply religious institutions should engage with politics. Some Christian groups have withdrawn from political involvement, whilst others argue that moral and theological concerns make voting decisions a matter of religious responsibility.
Southern Baptist voters form a significant electoral bloc whose preferences often influence American election outcomes. This makes statements from the denomination's leadership on political matters particularly noteworthy, as they may signal how millions of evangelicals are thinking about their participation in elections.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Pastors have a moral responsibility to speak to issues with theological dimensions, including abortion, religious liberty and how society treats vulnerable populations. Religious communities have historically been essential moral voices in political life, and remaining silent when policies conflict with core religious convictions about human dignity effectively cedes important moral questions to secular voices; if engaged activists on other sides remain politically active, disengagement itself becomes a political choice that abandons those seeking religious guidance on moral matters.
The case against
The separation of church and state protects religious institutions' independence and moral authority, allowing them to speak as prophetic voices that transcend partisan divisions rather than becoming tools of political movements. When religious leaders become overtly political, they risk fragmenting congregations along partisan lines and compromising their spiritual mission. Individual Christians should absolutely bring their values to voting decisions, but institutional religious endorsement of specific political positions risks reducing faith to mere ideology rather than cultivating the spiritual depth and moral clarity that gives religion its distinctive credibility in public discourse.