MANSFIELD — In a new season where federal agencies are not hostile to religious freedom, an opportunistic group of religious leaders are supporting four candidates in key mayoral and council races. Local clergy are saying that the future of the City of Mansfield is hanging in the balance with November 5th elections just around the corner.
Reverend El Akuchie, Coordinator of the Richland Community Prayer Network, along with a group of pastors say that clergy are not only responsible for their congregations, they are also responsible for their community.
“The Bible clearly shows that believers have a dual-citizenship in Heaven and on Earth. We are to render under Caesar what is Caesar’s and render unto GOD’s what is GOD’s. Therefore pastors not only have an obligation to their congregations, they also have a civic duty to engage their government. As stewards of our community, we are encouraging believers to show up at the polls this coming Tuesday and vote Biblical values.”
(Photo courtesy of Frontlines Ohio)
In a joint-statement released to Frontlines Ohio, twenty-four pastors are publicly endorsing four conservative candidates running for office.
“We believe Mayor Timothy Theaker, both Councilmen Cliff Mears and David Falquette, and Gerald Strouth, are all qualified candidates in their respective races. If elected as city officials, it is our opinion these four will best represent faith, family, and freedom, based on their responses to the Frontlines Ohio candidate survey.”
“We believe Mayor Timothy Theaker, both Councilmen Cliff Mears and David Falquette, and Gerald Strouth, are all qualified candidates in their respective races. If elected as city officials, it is our opinion these four will best represent faith, family, and freedom, based on their responses to the Frontlines Ohio candidate survey.”
Clergy joint statement
The incumbent Theaker is running for his last term as Mayor. Councilman Mears is running for City Council President, and Councilman Falquette for Councilman-at-Large. Strouth is running for the first time for Fourth Ward City Councilman.
Pastors in north central Ohio have taken an active role on election issues recently. Twenty-four Richland County pastors endorsed a conservative candidate in the 2016 Ohio Presidential Primary. Last year several clergy publicly supported a police-fire department levy renewal.
Since 2008, a Christian-based law firm, the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), has been encouraging pastors to engage critically-important political issues from the pulpit, including elections. Pulpit Freedom Sunday was a movement started by ADF with the goal of having the Johnson Amendment declared unconstitutional, thereby removing the ability of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to censor what a pastor can say from the pulpit.
Thousands of sermons addressing political issues and candidates were recorded by churches and sent to the IRS with the intent that the IRS would respond by stripping a church of its tax-exempt status. The IRS never did challenge a congregation since it knew it was a gross violation of the First Amendment. In 2017, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to temporarily halt the Johnson Amendment from being enforced.
Family Research Council has also partnered with ADF in equipping pastors to address public policy issues with Biblical answers. View the video below to learn more about the Johnson Amendment and religious freedom in the pulpit.
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