Our Faith Our Vote in action: Charlottesville church sends roadside message to vote with love

On Wednesdays, congregants of Sojourners United Church of Christ, gather along the road in front of their church building in Charlottesville, Virginia, holding signs with messages like “Vote hope, not fear” and “Register to vote here.”

It’s a ministry they call Wednesday Witness.

Since the church is located near the exit of a busy interstate that heads toward downtown Charlottesville, their rush hour timing means high visibility and a lot of notice from passersby.

The Sojourners congregation has used this act of public witness during the six weeks leading up to the election to encourage people to Vote With Love. They are one among many UCC churches putting Our Faith Our Vote values into action.

Signs of justice

When the people are along the road, the congregation’s rainbow flag and Black Lives Matter signs sit next to the road year-round as part of their community witness.

“Our congregation has been committed to justice, specifically racial and LGBTQ+ justice, since its inception over 30 years ago,” said Alice Justice, a member of the church’s Justice And Advocacy Ministry. “We witness daily to those two justice issues through the banners on our lawn. This has sometimes drawn unwanted attention in the form of vandalism, hateful comments on our livestream, and other expressions of disagreement with our witness. But our congregation remains committed to witnessing to these values.

“This witness has also been a beacon for folks who need to know a community of faith exists that supports these values. For us, that witness includes being vocal and involved in the political process both in our local community and on a national level.”

Offering up postcards and voter registration

This community witness shows up on Sundays when Sojourners passes the offering plate during worship as one way to gather the postcards that congregants have written to mail to swing state voters.

“We collect the completed postcards during our offering time because we view them as an offering to God and to our community,” said the Rev. Karen Mann, Sojourner’s pastor.

The congregation found that postcarding was a safe way for the church’s justice and advocacy group to continue their work while socially distanced during the height of the Covid pandemic, and they have continued doing them for both primaries and general elections.

They have sent over 500 postcards to voters of color in swing states with the Center for Common Ground Reclaim Our Vote program. The organization identifies target areas and aims to create effective language for mobilizing voters in these locations. Their research shows that postcarding can make a significant difference in getting voters of color to the polls.

Folks from the congregation have also sought to encourage community voting through voter registration drives. Their Justice and Advocacy Ministry last held one on Sept. 29, one of at least two voter mobilization projects they aim to hold every year. Volunteers are also available to assist people with voter registration during their Wednesday Witness events.

Deeply rooted in faith

With these communal practices, the congregation aims to become a fixture and trusted place for people to register to vote and get voting information.

“In this world where the loudest voices claiming to speak for Christianity in our political discourse espouse beliefs and actions that are unrecognizable from the gospel I know, I want us to not only be a justice-loving, justice-seeking people, but to be able to say that we love justice not in spite of our faith, but because those values are deeply rooted in our faith – deeply rooted in our identity as followers of Jesus,” said Mann. “We care about climate change because of our faith. We care about peace around the world because of our faith. We care about the poor and the orphan and the widow and the stranger because of our faith. And because of our faith, we work for justice in our church, in our community, and in our politics. This is our true worship.”

Our Faith Our Vote Resources

The United Church of Christ’s Our Faith, Our Vote campaign offers many resources to empower people and congregations towards nonpartisan faithful engagement as the Nov. 5 Election Day nears – from Vote With Love yard signs and an Our Faith, Our Vote Resource Toolkit, to a Civic Engagement Center to check voter registration and polling locations.

Explore the Our Faith, Our Vote website for a wealth of information and resources.

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