Our guest for this episode is the Rev. Kendal McBroom, Director of Civil and Human Rights at Church and Society, where he leads our work on voting rights, democracy, racial justice, immigration, and other human and civil rights issues.

During this episode, we'll talk about what faith has to do with voting, what makes this election cycle significant, how voters can prepare before Election Day, and how churches can support faithful civic participation in their communities.

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Pre-roll/post-roll

Welcome to Justice Takes Courage, a podcast hosted by Bishop Julius Trimble, General Secretary of the General Board of Church and Society.

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Bishop Julius Trimble

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Bishop Julius Trimble

If you find these episodes to be meaningful, there are a few ways you can support the podcast. Subscribe to wherever you listen to podcasts. Leave a review, share this episode with your congregation or your Bible study group or your small group, and share our episodes on social media. There are topics you would like us to cover in the future episodes.

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Bishop Julius Trimble

We'd love to hear from you. With that, let's turn to today's conversation. For those of us in the United States, the midterm elections are approaching. As United Methodists, our faith calls us to engage the political process as part of our Christian witness, including the sacred act of voting grounded in the Christian values of the Wesleyan tradition. We believe every person should have the opportunity to participate in the democratic process, and that every vote should be counted.

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Bishop Julius Trimble

We have hold efforts to remove barriers to voting and advocate for fair and transparent elections, because we believe that this work reflects our call to justice, love and mercy in all aspects of life. Participating in elections isn't just about casting our own vote, but also about making sure that everyone has the opportunity to participate and that we engaged in the process faithfully and fairly.

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Bishop Julius Trimble

My guest today is my colleague, Reverend Hindu McBroom, the director of Civil and Human Rights at Church and Society. He leads work in the area of voting rights, democracy, racial justice, immigration and other human and civil rights issues. During this episode, we'll talk about what faith has to do with voting and what makes this election cycle significant. How voters can prepare before Election Day, and how churches can support faithful civic participation in their communities.

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Bishop Julius Trimble

Kendall, thank you for joining us and share a word about the work that you do at the General Board of Church and Society.

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Rev. Kendal McBroom

Thank you, Bishop Trimble, for having me. And it's an honor and privilege to be here. As Bishop has shared, I serve as the director of civil and human rights. And so in that role, I lead the policy and legislative agenda on behalf of the church and the General Board of Church and Society as it relates to voting rights, immigration, criminal justice and the like.

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Rev. Kendal McBroom

That helps with working with different offices on the Hill, as well as being a resource for the United Methodist constituencies both in the US and throughout the globe. And so it's an honor to be here and a privilege to to truly be in service to the General Board of Church and Society.

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Bishop Julius Trimble

Thank you. Kendall. So so let's start with the basics. Get right down to this. You know, these core questions. You know, when people make reference to the midterm elections. Sometimes there's assumption everybody knows what that is. But but why are elections important. We're talking about right now here in the United States. They're midterm elections coming up. Can you share what our midterm elections and why this is an important moment for people to get out and vote.

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Bishop Julius Trimble

Sometimes people get excited when there's presidential election, but there are lots of other elections that take place with locally for school board and this, that and the other. But this is midterm elections. What are we talking about?

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Rev. Kendal McBroom

Right. Absolutely. So midterm elections or midterm elections are happen every two years. This is where we elect at a nominal base or at the baseline basis. We elect our House of Representatives, those that go to Congress and represent us in the House of Representatives. These are congressional delegates, our congressional delegations. So each state has a certain number of house united in the United States House of Representatives that represent geographic districts within that state.

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Rev. Kendal McBroom

We also the the Senate does something where about of course, every six years they are elected. And so they're on cycles. And so there are some states who will be voting for senators. For example, my home state of North Carolina will be electing a senator in these midterm elections. And so these particularly in the House of Representatives, they serve every two years.

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Rev. Kendal McBroom

So we are currently in the 119th session of Congress. And then following the election, the midterm elections that take place in November will enter into the 120th. And so they will set the agenda for the next two years. But beyond just those next two years, they will be setting a long term agenda. What policies, what legislation can they get passed?

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Rev. Kendal McBroom

What messaging can they essentially put out to the US and to the globe broadly? And as you shared, there are typically every year we are voting. If we're not voting for federal elections, we are voting for local elections, we're voting for our state judges. We're voting for our state officials. So generally, about every year there is a reason and a time to vote on what makes this particular time so, so important is that it is in between a presidential election.

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Rev. Kendal McBroom

And so this will show who gets power or has control over the House and over the Senate. And and so that's one of the reasons why why it is not only this is a very critical time, but it's also why we must be aware of the elections that take place on a year to year basis.

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Bishop Julius Trimble

What are some of the concerns in this midterm elections, and concerns and opportunities for faith communities that we should be paying attention to?

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Rev. Kendal McBroom

Yeah. Great question. The the concerns are truly massive. I would say, particularly this year. You know, we oftentimes have heard dating probably a couple of decades back that every election is consequential. This is a consequential election. This is very important. And we need to do this. But this year, I think those words ring truer than ever. We have on a kitchen table level, have seen groceries and food skyrocket.

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Rev. Kendal McBroom

People are struggling to put bread and meals on their table. We've seen gas prices skyrocket. We've seen the necessities of this life pharmaceutical needs, medical needs, health needs. We've seen all of these things simply skyrocket in price and affordability, but also in access. So that's on one level. But then on the other level of it, we are we have the concerns of even accessing the ballot.

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Rev. Kendal McBroom

We have legislation both at the federal level and in many state houses that are seeking to roll us back to a previous period of time that had poll taxes and had literacy tests, and had all of these other mechanisms that hindered particular person's ability to cast their vote. And while they the poll tax might not be available, there are still these barriers that have been placed and are trying to be placed in accessing the poll, accessing the ballot.

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Rev. Kendal McBroom

And then lastly, I think some of the opportunities are this is a great time, particularly this midterm election, for the faith community to not only preach and teach what it values, but to show that value and show that love and show that compassion and show that accompaniment in how and in participating in the voting process and in protecting that right for others as well in their communities.

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Bishop Julius Trimble

Thank you. So, so often with people here, faith and politics, they get a little nervous. People get a little fidgety about, you know, what's going to be, you know, preached in church and I didn't I didn't go, I don't go to church to hear about politics. What does it mean to engage in the election process from a Christian faithful position?

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Bishop Julius Trimble

You know, we you know, you know, we're we're in the world, not of the world, but we can't just, you know, we can't just live on biblical platitudes and and love and kumbaya. We're living in a world where people are being oppressed, and some people seem to be rising to the top financially while others are just being restricted.

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Bishop Julius Trimble

So when we hear faith, people talk about faith and politics. Is there a faithful way to really approach this? And what guidance does the United Methodist Church offer for faithful civic participation?

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Rev. Kendal McBroom

Absolutely. So I think back when you had shared about, you know, some people say they go to church and they don't they didn't come to hear about the politics or the policy. I encountered that actually at my first well, not my first. My first appointment, actually, where I was, I was brought back to my office and told, you know, Rev, we like what you're doing, but we don't want to hear that on Sunday morning.

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Rev. Kendal McBroom

And I really saw that as a teaching moment. And I think this is what these podcasts do as teaching moments, particularly, you know, before we get to, to Wesleyan heritage and, and, you know, our grace and grace and all of those things, I think we have to look at Jesus's life that Jesus was not afraid of speaking to the power, speaking out against the power, speaking against the oppression, speaking up for the least, the last and the lost.

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Rev. Kendal McBroom

Standing in solidarity with the overburden, the overtaxed, the rundown, the burnt out. Jesus was right there with them. And Jesus was not only with them, but was an advocate. All of the stories in the Bible, in the gospel text that talk about healing, are not just spiritual narratives, but Jesus is spiritually. Jesus is socially addressing the issues leprosy caused social isolation.

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Rev. Kendal McBroom

That's a the woman with the issue of blood, lack of access to quality health care, the the man with the possessed demon, mental health issues and access to mental health and and access to to restoration within the community. So Jesus serves, as you know, as the church, as as Christians. Jesus serves as that guide that we ought to talk out about these things and and the context out of which he did.

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Rev. Kendal McBroom

That speaks to our very own context. I mean, imperialism and oppression and inequity and and all sexism, all of those things speaks and gives guidance to that. And then when we tap on and tap into our our Methodist and our Wesleyan heritage, we know that John Wesley speaks of this thing called social holiness, that our private piety cannot be relegated to our own prayer room, our own prayer closet, our own altar, but rather it must be brought out into the public space.

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Rev. Kendal McBroom

It must be brought out to to those who are our heavy burden and heavy burden, not just because life is not fair or life is, is, is, is difficult, but burden because of the systems and the society and the policies and the legislation and the practices and programs that have unduly bound people have unduly placed this heavy weight upon them.

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Rev. Kendal McBroom

So for us, what it means for us to engage faithfully is to, to speak to, to to speak out against the ways in which certain policies are, are harming our brothers and sisters in our siblings. It is to call out, you know, the evil that is within our midst. It is to speak truth to power courageously and not in our own authority, but under the guidance and God of the Holy Spirit.

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Rev. Kendal McBroom

And with Jesus being our guide. That is what it looks like to to engage faithfully in this election process and in the civic process generally.

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Bishop Julius Trimble

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Bishop Julius Trimble

You know, Jesus wasn't just with the crowd people. He was for the people. You know, he said, hey, people need to eat. So that's politics. You know, people need to have access to food. And he told the disciples, you feed them. So there's some churches want to encourage faithful civic participation and voting, but they worry about crossing any legal lines.

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Bishop Julius Trimble

What are churches allowed to do and what should they avoid? As 501 C3 taxes and exempt nonprofit organizations?

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Rev. Kendal McBroom

Yeah. So this yeah, this has come up, you know, often and truly comes up around election time often. And so the the notion is that this comes is rooted in the Johnson Amendment. Right. And this is the amendment by then Senator Johnson, Lyndon B Johnson, future President Lyndon Johnson, that puts a a parameter or barrier around what 501 churches included, churches being a part of that can do and say from the pulpit and the activities they can engage in.

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Rev. Kendal McBroom

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Rev. Kendal McBroom

It does too much. But in actuality, the Johnson Amendment provides a protection so that unfiltered, unfettered funds, which we know money plays a big role in our political machine today, would not have the final say. Wouldn't I have the final word? And so the Johnson Amendment places these barriers. But it does allow it does encourage, you know, in or protect, I should say, churches who engage in voter registration drives, churches who engage in speaking about the issues, the nonpartisan issues.

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Rev. Kendal McBroom

So issues that affect everyone in the community that that the church is trying to help, such as health, such as economics, such as criminal justice, such as immigration, such as, you know, LGBTQ plus rights, such as all of these things. The Johnson Amendment allows for us to speak to those. What we cannot do is be, preach or teach or do programing for specific candidates or for specific political parties.

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Rev. Kendal McBroom

But if you have a public forum and you invite all of the candidates there to speak to the issues that you have questions about, or speak to the areas that affect your community, that's perfectly within the realm of what the church can do, and this is something the church should do. It is a gathering place, and so it should be able to gather folk to to not only ask questions, but also hear from their representatives, those who have been duly elected to office.

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Rev. Kendal McBroom

They should be able to hear from them about how can we, how can we fix this? How can we address these things?

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Bishop Julius Trimble

It's not uncommon, at least I recall when I was pastoring local church, not uncommon for those running for office or those who are elected officials to say, hey, I'm planning on coming to your church. And sometimes I would allow them to bring greetings because I that feeling was you, these people you serve. But I didn't get up and say, make sure you go vote for this person or that person or I didn't prohibit if it was someone in a on an opposing party, if they were going to come to my trip, my preference would be they stayed for worship sometime.

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Bishop Julius Trimble

They would they would, you know, plead the case and say they were going to visit multiple churches. My belief was that people need to be informed voters, and people need to be exposed to the reality of what's going on. And and we need to be prepared to have a prophetic word for those who are running for office and say, listen, what about the children?

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Bishop Julius Trimble

What about this? The the Ice agents who are running wild in our community, you know, to hold them accountable for that? And to me, that is all within the within the realm of Jesus being, not just with the people, but being for the people. And I think that could be done, you know, that can easily I think it can easily be done without stepping over the boundaries of endorsing a particular party, or even, for that matter, saying that this is who you should vote for.

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Bishop Julius Trimble

But my concern is that there's a lot of things going on, Kendall, and I'd like you to speak to this about suppressing the vote or making it more difficult. You know, I'm a little concerned for people with my relatives included that, you know, maybe you're used to being confident and mailing in their ballots. You know, in the latter days of my mother's life, you know, she needed to have access to being able to mail in a ballot.

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Bishop Julius Trimble

And now you mail. You know what? If you don't mail, if you better mail it in pretty early because you don't know what's going to happen. And once it goes into the mailbox and there's some states that have they sent out ballots to everybody, I think Colorado and some other states where that's kind of how they do how they do voting.

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Bishop Julius Trimble

Is there a concern that the federal government is doing a little bit of overreach? When I my understanding is that states run the, you know, run, run the elections, even this midterm election.

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Rev. Kendal McBroom

Yeah. Yeah. I mean thank you for highlighting and bringing that into the play. So there are there I'm going to take one step back to take maybe hopefully two steps forward. So I really want to emphasize that what we are seeing now and I touched on it earlier. But I just want to give a little bit more detail.

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Rev. Kendal McBroom

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Rev. Kendal McBroom

All of these things are taking place. And then we fast forward. We have Jim Crow that enters into the scene after the intentional fail, intentional dismantling of reconstruction, which implements all of these black codes that hinder and prohibit African Americans, Black Americans, from participating in the process of voting that was done through poll taxes, literacy tests, jelly bean tests, all of these things.

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Rev. Kendal McBroom

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Rev. Kendal McBroom

It's not a federal thing. Even though we participate federally, we vote for representation. But each state and even down to the localities control how those elections are run. During that time, there was a thing called preclearance, where states submitted in their information for verification to to ensure that their processes were fair and were equal. And this was done for a couple of states.

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Rev. Kendal McBroom

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Rev. Kendal McBroom

That that was somehow, even though that the maps were trying to right or wrong, that could not be the case anymore. Distilled a little bit further. What this has put into place has essentially said that as long as a state legislature, because now you have to show intent, the Supreme Court has made it where you have to show intent of racial bias of of all of these things.

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Rev. Kendal McBroom

This what the what has come out of this now is that as long as a state says they're doing it for political reasons, Partizan reasons, and not racial reasons, the maps are good to go. Well, we know that that's very dangerous. And we've seen what happened after Louisiana versus Calais or Calais versus Louisiana, that states went to the drawing boards to try and redraw their maps before these midterm elections.

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Rev. Kendal McBroom

And so I share that to say that there is a there is an overwhelming attempt to dilute the vote from the maps, from gerrymandering and the maps being redrawn to these policies that have come out, these memos that have come out regarding Mail-In voting, when there are states, like, as you mentioned, Colorado, but Oregon and Washington who solely have Mail-In voting.

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Rev. Kendal McBroom

So there's a lot of intimidation there. And then on top of this, we had the Save act that the current administration is pushing very strongly. That would require either proof of citizenship. And the way that that is done is through birth certificates and and passports. Half of the country does not have a passport. We have individuals still living today who had home births and have don't have access to their birth certificates.

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Rev. Kendal McBroom

I heard a story a couple of months back, 94 year old man. The one thing he wanted was his birth certificate because he had a home birth that was born on a former plantation and did not have a birth certificate. I just I just hope that our listeners hear that this is not far. This is not a long time ago.

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Rev. Kendal McBroom

Right. We are talking about people living today that are being, in a way, by what we're going through now when the voting access. So so all of that is true. And I know I think we're going to get to talking about how can we protect ourselves against this as voters, but also just just wanted to to to reiterate or share too, that there's these narratives of Ice and law enforcement being at the polls, monitoring the polls.

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Rev. Kendal McBroom

We've never seen anything like this in certain people's lifetimes. I can say in my lifetime I never saw that. But this is what we're this is what we're up against. And so the fear is real. But the courage has to be just as real, and the preparation has to be as as real as well.

00;25;51;28 - 00;26;16;24

Bishop Julius Trimble

Help. People will really understand, Kendall, that your vote matters. My vote matters. Our vote matters. A lot of times you think like, well, what could one vote? Do you know is not going to have any. Or you say, I don't really know any of these candidates that. Well. Now, if you know, if you've got a smartphone or if you get access to a computer or, or you know, you can, there's ways to get information I think searches.

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Bishop Julius Trimble

You know, one thing we can do is help people have become just like we want them to be educated shoppers. We want them to have, you know, be educated, health, you know, health advocates for themselves. We want people to also to be, you know, educated and and be advocate advocates for full participation in the democratic process. And what I think the faith community brings to it is the compassionate edge ethos to the democratic process.

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Bishop Julius Trimble

We want a democracy where where not some people's votes are considered important, but everybody's vote is considered important. And I really do believe one one vote does matter. Election day approaches these midterms. What people are concerned about misinformation, intimidation, discouragement, you know, threats that there may be military presence at voting, voting, polls or, you know, they may not be for certain if they're registered.

00;27;16;09 - 00;27;34;16

Bishop Julius Trimble

I just got something in the mail, you know, saying verifying that I was registered. But I don't know if everybody gets that gets that. So we hear a lot about that. What do you recommend people do or churches do, or people who want to advocate who may say, well, I'm going to go vote, but maybe we can do more than just vote ourselves.

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Rev. Kendal McBroom

Yeah, absolutely. It is. It is. One vote is important. But when the collective gets together, it can change the tide. I mean, there are certain elections that have been won by less than hundreds of votes, less than 100 votes, that decisions, important decisions, state supreme courts. So one vote does make a difference. And and the church can do a lot.

00;28;01;10 - 00;28;31;19

Rev. Kendal McBroom

We talked about earlier that the church can hold political forums. You say it is still in many communities. A trusted institution and a trusted voice to provide information that is true, that is accurate, and that does have that moral language to go along with it. That's one of the things that the faith community also adds is a moral lens to see these issues through the moral language.

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Rev. Kendal McBroom

When we think about being made in the image of God, the imago day, when we think about salvation, when we think about freedom, and when we think about this grace and this grace being sufficient, the the faith community has the language to really assess and also to encourage voters and citizens, that and people broadly that your voice and your vote make a difference in the civic realm.

00;29;04;19 - 00;29;34;15

Rev. Kendal McBroom

Your voice is your vote. There are, you know, of course, protests and things that you can do. But ultimately in a civic society, in a civil society, your vote makes a difference. Your vote for that representative, your vote for that senator makes decisions, helps to make decisions, and really make sure your light shine, if you will. And so those are some things that people can do as far as the faith community.

00;29;34;16 - 00;30;00;20

Rev. Kendal McBroom

Other things that can do is ensure and help people understand and or go through the research and go through the process of ensuring that they are registered, that they're accurately registered, that they know where their polling location is, making a plan to vote. That is a specific thing that the church can do, that the faith community can do is walk people through a plan, because that's what's going to be needed in these midterms.

00;30;00;22 - 00;30;26;08

Rev. Kendal McBroom

Knowing the the possibility of intimidation, the possibility of of all of these things, these barriers is making a plan if you need your birth certificate, if you need if you're in a position to be able to get your passport, making a plan to do that well in advance of November so that whenever these things take place, we're not caught off guard.

00;30;26;08 - 00;30;35;08

Rev. Kendal McBroom

And I mean, Scripture tells us to be vigilant. And so these are some ways that the faith community can do that. And we have some other resources to that I know we'll get to.

00;30;35;09 - 00;30;56;15

Bishop Julius Trimble

But thank you, Kendall. I was just thinking about, you know, there's it's been said I'm of a generation I'm older than you, much older than you. And it's been said, well, people have have bled and died for you to have the right to vote. And, and sometimes I hear young people or other people say, well, I don't know anybody that's ever died in order for me to have the right to vote.

00;30;56;15 - 00;31;19;02

Bishop Julius Trimble

00;31;19;08 - 00;31;38;25

Bishop Julius Trimble

And so when people say people that, well, what who is Mecca Evers? And you know what? What's that got to do with me? Well, like I said, I wasn't quite ten years old, but my parents and my grandparents were living at that time. My parents and grandparents are from the South. This was in Jackson, Mississippi. My my parents and grandparents were from Alabama, so they were very much aware.

00;31;38;26 - 00;31;59;18

Bishop Julius Trimble

My father was a Pullman porter and they wrote he worked on the train and the Pullman porters brought information from the south, back and forth, from the north and south. So a lot of things that happened in the black community, the Pullman porters were the first ones to report on the specifics around them, but make their. Evers was the field secretary for the NAACP in Mississippi.

00;31;59;20 - 00;32;28;28

Bishop Julius Trimble

And his primary role, Kendall, is, you know, this history was helping people get registered to vote. He was assassinated not just because he was a black man working on a farm or working in the in a factory. He was assassinated because he was a black man working with an organization that was registering black people to vote in Mississippi, in the south.

00;32;29;00 - 00;32;32;05

Rev. Kendal McBroom

In front of his children and white.

00;32;32;07 - 00;32;32;28

Bishop Julius Trimble

Pardon?

00;32;32;29 - 00;32;35;03

Rev. Kendal McBroom

I was in front of his children and wife.

00;32;35;10 - 00;32;57;01

Bishop Julius Trimble

Right. I mean, it was I mean, even to hear the story, in fact. And, you know, the history says, you know, later, the person who did it, people knew who did it. And the person was the the Byron De La Beckwith was finally, finally found guilty. But he had two trials where an all white jury, you know, exonerated him.

00;32;57;01 - 00;33;17;02

Bishop Julius Trimble

And, you know, history reports that he kind of bragged about some of these things that were happening. So people have I bring that story because it's a true story, and it's a true story that happened when I when I was a child, but long before you were born. But when I was a child. And it's something I know to be a fact.

00;33;17;02 - 00;33;43;22

Bishop Julius Trimble

00;33;43;22 - 00;34;17;26

Bishop Julius Trimble

And the effort was that people should have an unencumbered access to vote. You mentioned about the poll taxes and all these other things that prevented black people from voting and discourage women as well from voting for many, many years. You're pretty modest about this, but I know you've actually worked in the election and both as pastor observing him and worked in so what what do you have any stories that that make that that bring to life the fact our vote is important even in midterm elections?

00;34;17;29 - 00;34;46;00

Rev. Kendal McBroom

There's a number that I can think. So one year I worked as a poll worker in Alamance County, Burlington, North Carolina, and it was at this at a polling location, I think the name was Elmira, the Elmira Community Center. And this is just one of many that's that's coming to me right now. I'm not sure why, but I honor I honor this witness and one of my grandfather's friends, Mr. Clement Terrell.

00;34;46;03 - 00;35;18;29

Rev. Kendal McBroom

Mr.. Clement Terrell was 91, came in to vote. And I think what I witnessed in that scenario and that in that arena was that here is someone who had been denied the right to vote, possibly for many years, for a significant amount of time. And as proud as can be was in there was casting his vote unencumbered, unhindered, but freely took it very sacred.

00;35;19;00 - 00;35;36;29

Rev. Kendal McBroom

It was very it was a very sacred moment for him. And I witnessed that just in how, you know, he moved with the pen and because it was electronic machine. And of course, as an observer, you cannot watch them or as the, as a poll worker, you cannot watch them cast the vote, but you can watch the process.

00;35;36;29 - 00;35;52;06

Rev. Kendal McBroom

And that just it did something to me that this was this was a 91 at the time, a 91 year old man casting his vote. I remember a couple of years ago, I came across my great grandmother's voter registration card.

00;35;52;09 - 00;35;53;22

Bishop Julius Trimble

My God, my God.

00;35;53;23 - 00;36;19;09

Rev. Kendal McBroom

00;36;19;09 - 00;36;44;23

Rev. Kendal McBroom

But just to know that she went through all of those barriers, it made it real for me and my family that, yeah, somebody did sacrifice for this. And it's not not somebody that I might know historically or I might know tangentially. Like, you know, of course we talk about Martin Luther King and we talk about John Lewis, and we talk about the Freedom Writers.

00;36;44;23 - 00;37;10;08

Rev. Kendal McBroom

And I think there has been this historical disconnect for some in younger generations. But I think tying that together, and I think the faith community can do this to, you know, the people in your pews that are of a certain age, that and what they had to go through to, to cast the vote, have them share those stories with the younger generation.

00;37;10;08 - 00;37;44;13

Rev. Kendal McBroom

If if the space and time allows, because I think that makes a difference. Whenever I can put when you can put a face and a lived experience with somebody that you have a relationship with, it makes a difference. As far as their ability to comprehend. Wow one. This wasn't that long ago, and if they went through this for me, then you know I need to do the same not only for myself, but for my community to not only pay homage to them, but also to open up a door for those that have come after me that I think is, is is a part of the voting process.

00;37;44;14 - 00;37;59;12

Rev. Kendal McBroom

It's a witnessing process. And while it might not be our only tool, it is one of the most significant tools to change this current the current direction that we're headed politically and socially.

00;37;59;15 - 00;38;20;02

Bishop Julius Trimble

Praise God, praise God. You know, my wife and I, we tend to. That's been our practice to vote early when there's, you know, there's voting because we don't like crowds, don't want to wait in lines, but everybody doesn't have access to do that. You know, everybody doesn't have, you know, transportation, whatever or time to do that, coordinate that.

00;38;20;03 - 00;38;54;10

Bishop Julius Trimble

What do you have any just kind of practical recommendations for people and particularly pastors there may be. And then if, if the other resources that you want to point people to, I know we're going to post some resources, but some things you would be aware of in, in your, in your area and in collaboration with other faith leaders and ecumenical interfaith bodies that also concerned about the direction of our country and that people actually, you know, if, you know, Angela Davis said, we don't have to accept the things we cannot change.

00;38;54;10 - 00;39;14;23

Bishop Julius Trimble

We should change the things we cannot accept. And one of the ways we can change things we cannot accept is to vote and say, hey, listen, I'm not I'm either happy with the way things are going and I'll vote this way, or I'm not happy with the way things going. And so, so, so I have a way of expressing that through voting.

00;39;14;25 - 00;39;36;21

Bishop Julius Trimble

But but you have any suggestions? Yeah. I feel like people at this midterm election, people said, hey, if you whatever you if you're going to have to stand in line till you vote. But like I said, we try to we try to do early voting, but there may be other things that people should consider.

00;39;36;23 - 00;40;02;22

Rev. Kendal McBroom

Yeah. So right now there are a couple of things. So if you cannot early vote and if because I know that a lot of people also don't have that day off, election day off to, to to take off and go to the polls. But if you can config on one side for in person, if that's what you would like to do, I would highly suggest scheduling your day.

00;40;02;23 - 00;40;22;04

Rev. Kendal McBroom

No researching. What time do the polls open in your state? In your county? I know some of them open at 6 a.m., some open at 7 a.m., and they don't close until 8 p.m. or 7 p.m. or 8 p.m. see if you can schedule time around that. I know that it can be difficult. You got to get the kids to school.

00;40;22;04 - 00;40;51;27

Rev. Kendal McBroom

You got to clock in at the right time. But if you can research those on your state Board of Elections website for whatever state you're in, the second is to request an absentee ballot, formally request that. And right now, because of things, how things are with since the most recent ruling from the Supreme Court, you're going to want to check with your Board of Elections, your county Board of elections about that process.

00;40;51;28 - 00;41;19;06

Rev. Kendal McBroom

It differs from from county to county and state to state. But you're going to want to research that a couple of places that you can go is or you can also go to US Vote Foundation. And I believe there is one more that I'm blanking on. There's a particular website, but we'll have that out on our resources page for verification.

00;41;19;06 - 00;41;29;11

Rev. Kendal McBroom

But you want to go about it that way. These are some these are the avenues that I was suggesting. You want to do that earlier sooner rather than later.

00;41;29;13 - 00;41;54;28

Bishop Julius Trimble

So share. Share with us, Kendall, as we close any additional opportunities for people to get involved? Yeah, I've heard heard people talk about poll chaplains. I don't know what that is exactly. Maybe you can help us understand that. I think I know what it is, but others may not. And resources. I know GPS has done two kids and is the pages for progress.

00;41;55;01 - 00;42;04;03

Bishop Julius Trimble

Certainly what would be some of those resources and I'm sure we'll post people, go to our website, be able to get resources as well.

00;42;04;06 - 00;42;37;11

Rev. Kendal McBroom

Yeah sure thing. So we are by the help or with the the help and leadership of our comms director, we are going to have a sacred voting activation resource page. And on this page you will have information. Currently for the last four weeks we've been in an Election Observer program, a UMC Election Observer program that really grounds people in the Wesleyan and Methodist tradition and a faith tradition to then go and be observers in their local election, in their elections.

00;42;37;14 - 00;43;15;23

Rev. Kendal McBroom

00;43;15;23 - 00;43;45;00

Rev. Kendal McBroom

But this is a way to bring that into the electoral process as well. Also, there is information on teaching and sermon series that can be preached and text that can be used as you navigate that. Up to November, we have a Voting Voice and Democracy webinar, two part webinar on October 1st and October 2nd, where we'll explore what's at stake for voting rights representation in the future of American democracy.

00;43;45;04 - 00;44;22;02

Rev. Kendal McBroom

As Bishop, you mentioned our pages for progress. Give Us the ballot by Ari Berman will begin October 16th. I can say I just listened to a podcast with him not too long ago. Phenomenal. Phenomenal storytelling as as it relates to what is, what we're looking at moving forward and what this moment that we're going through with the dismantling of the Voting Rights Act, with the dismantling of trust within our elections, what that all leads to and how we can how we can engage and navigate this space.

00;44;22;02 - 00;44;43;17

Rev. Kendal McBroom

And then also, I think that might be the gist of it, but even I would say I would share that even our book of resolutions for the United Methodist Church speak to voting in the US as a, as a and protecting that right, that we have an obligation to do that as, as people of faith. So all of those things will be posted on the resource page.

00;44;43;17 - 00;45;09;05

Rev. Kendal McBroom

And again with the links that if you do encounter voter intimidation, voter suppression, there are numbers to call and to share that information with them so that it can be documented and so assistance can be provided. Lastly, we have partnered with Faiths United and we had the poll chaplain. As Bishop Trimble, you mentioned earlier, Paul chaplain and peacekeepers program.

00;45;09;05 - 00;45;40;20

Rev. Kendal McBroom

I believe there are two more trainings in September and October to prepare for that in November. And a poll chaplain is essentially someone who keeps the peace as seeking to keep the peace and be a faithful presence in the midst of whatever might be taking place at that polling location. Sometimes, and I think we're going to see this a lot is a sense of anxiety around casting their vote, people casting their vote, and this will open up.

00;45;40;20 - 00;45;54;23

Rev. Kendal McBroom

This will allow the opportunity for a faithful presence to be there, somebody to pray with you, somebody to just encourage you, somebody to to to look at and know that everything is going to be all right and that you're not alone in this process.

00;45;54;25 - 00;46;16;03

Bishop Julius Trimble

I hope people who are registered to vote will not feel intimidated by any particular environment or what they're seeing, the news and so forth, and trust that God has already made a way for them to get there and go to cast their vote. And, you know, we should probably, maybe have some voter parties, you know, you know, so I'm always good.

00;46;16;04 - 00;46;19;19

Bishop Julius Trimble

I'm always down for a celebration on any for any good reason.

00;46;19;27 - 00;46;22;10

Rev. Kendal McBroom

And that's in the toolkit. That's in the toolkit too.

00;46;22;12 - 00;46;47;23

Bishop Julius Trimble

So maybe we should have, you know, the day up or the day after, you know, voter voter, voter engagement, parties and celebrations, our our sacred right to participate in the democratic process really speaks to our commitment to respecting the human dignity of all people. You know, a lot of misinformation, Kindle and miss guidance is given. You know, there's not a lot of voter fraud.

00;46;47;25 - 00;47;10;02

Bishop Julius Trimble

You know, people if you if you're not a citizen, you know, people are not voting who are not citizens of the, you know, who don't have a right to be here. You can't just walk into a polling place and vote. You know, you got to be on the voting rolls. And in many cases, if not most cases, you know, have showed some identification and have your identification match that what they have on the rolls.

00;47;10;02 - 00;47;33;17

Bishop Julius Trimble

But but people are sometimes being discouraged because maybe English is not their first language. I would say please plan to vote, go out and vote with others. Some may have different ability or disabilities and feel that you know they're not. They're not given the proper access. We need to advocate for others so that they have the opportunity and access to vote.

00;47;33;18 - 00;48;04;02

Bishop Julius Trimble

Thank you. Kendall, any final words you have for for our listening audience? I sure hope they will participate in To Vote in Voting Voice and Democracy, the two part webinar series. I think that's going to be pretty exciting and helpful and the other resources that you mentioned. But I want to say thank you to you, Kendall and your colleagues as well, many, many of the staff members in GBK don't necessarily work directly in this area, but a lot of the areas that we work in overlap each other.

00;48;04;05 - 00;48;18;19

Bishop Julius Trimble

There's intersectionality to all of this, and I see it as part of the Christian discipleship process that is very much akin to the Wesley's notion of social holiness.

00;48;18;21 - 00;48;46;14

Rev. Kendal McBroom

Absolutely. Well, thank you again, Bishop Trimble, for having me and for being for allowing me to be a part of this podcast. And I just want to encourage folks to create. If there's one thing that you take from this, from this webinar that has been shared, I hope that it is this to create a plan for voting. And you you know, we have heard about, you know, sometimes people will do before New Year's.

00;48;46;14 - 00;49;13;13

Rev. Kendal McBroom

They'll do a a goal writing party or plan. They'll get their friends, their family together and write a plan out for what they hope for the next year. I just suggest something even like that, for the church and for the faith communities, and even for your family to do and know, because I think when you have that plan, whatever comes, whatever you come up against, you'll have something to go back on, go back to and refer to.

00;49;13;13 - 00;49;47;17

Rev. Kendal McBroom

And, and we are believing, you know, truly believing that God is with us as we go and cast our about just as God was with folk during that second reconstruction when the when they were on the Edmund Pettus Bridge and when folks cast their vote, just as we were believed that God was with those who cast their ballot for the first time after recently being emancipated, it is in that same trust in a God who walks and talks with us, but also gives us the strength and gives us the courage to meet the time.

00;49;47;17 - 00;49;50;01

Rev. Kendal McBroom

So. So yeah, thanks.

00;49;50;02 - 00;50;29;07

Bishop Julius Trimble

Thanks for joining the Justice Takes Courage podcast. Maybe in a future episode after the new Congress is sworn in, we can talk about the, you know, maybe resurrection of the John Lewis voting voting rights bill, because many of the things that were eviscerated through Supreme Court action, you know, have made, have made voting protection very vulnerable and open a door for discrimination in places where states may determine or parties may determine to discriminate against persons who historically have had their voting rights hindered.

00;50;29;08 - 00;50;39;12

Bishop Julius Trimble

So look forward to the future. But thanks so much and to our listeners, we hope you will spread the word about Justice Takes Courage podcast. God bless you and be encouraged.

00;50;39;16 - 00;50;49;13

Pre-roll/post-roll

Thank you for listening to Justice Takes Courage. A podcast hosted by Bishop Julius Trimble. General Secretary of the General Board of Church and Society.