This newsletter sent to Churches, Active Clergy, Diocesan Council, Standing Committee, Chancellor, Wardens, Treasurers, Parish Administrators, Jubilee Center and Camp Leadership, Trustees, Summer Chapel Leadership, Diocesan Staff and Convention Delegates

2024 Election Engagement

Election season is fast approaching, and as Episcopalians, we believe our faith calls us to civic engagement. To encourage prayerful, productive engagement in the election process, we have assembled a roster of events and resources for clergy, lay leaders, and congregations, including a Vote Faithfully online panel discussion led by Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, and workshops on de-escalation and active bystander skills sponsored by the Maine Council of Churches. We hope these resources will be helpful to you as you help to get out the vote on Nov. 5!

PRAY FOR OUR NATION

OCT. 29- NOV. 6

Let's come together across the church to offer a novena for discernment in voting and for the well-being of our nation.

Starting Oct. 29 and continuing through the day after the election, we invite you to pray for the election of leaders in the United States. Download the guide for use at home or to share with your congregation.

The prayers will also be posted daily on Facebook and Instagram. To download the bulletin insert to share with your congregation, visit Forward Movement.

#seasonofprayer

ELECTION DAY PREP

NOV. 5

Follow the links below to find information about voting in Maine.

Are you registered to vote? Do you need to update your address? Go to vote.gov/register.

VOTER REGISTRATION

Absentee ballots are now available. In Maine in 2024, the deadline to request one here is 5 p.m. on Thu., Oct. 31. Ballots must be received no later than 8 p.m. on Election Day.

Resources from The Episcopal Church

GETTING SOULS TO THE POLLS

What can you do? What can your church do? The Office of Government Relations of The Episcopal Church offers us this comprehensive “where to start” guide for churches. The toolkit provides instructions and resources for effective “get out the vote” strategies, resources for worship, bulletin inserts, and graphics for social media to make it easier for you to plug election engagement into your church’s communications.

Each of the bulletin inserts focuses on a different aspect of voting:

Sept. 15, National Voter Registration Day
Oct. 6, National Voter Education Week
Oct. 13, Why Does Voting Matter?
Oct. 20, Misinformation in Campaigns
Oct. 27, Vote Early Day
Nov. 3, Vote Faithfully Sunday

These resources are designed to help parishes do more as faithful Episcopalians modeling healthy and constructive civic engagement. Remember that all election engagement work must be non-partisan, and please heed local laws, election details, and Episcopal safe church practices as you promote voting.

MAKE ME AN INSTRUMENT OF PEACE:

A GUIDE TO CIVIL DISCOURSE

Equip yourself for more constructive political conversations using Make Me an Instrument of Peace: A Guide to Civil Discourse. Help bridge partisan divides, learn from others, and enlarge the sacred space for debate.

Brought to you by the Office of Government Relations and Department of Faith Formation, in partnership with ChurchNext, this interactive, five-part curriculum offers hope that by using the tool of civil discourse, we can find new ways to love our neighbor.

Here are four different ways you can engage with this curriculum:

Take the interactive course complete with videos and discussion boards on your own: Make Me an Instrument For Individuals
Take the interactive course as a group–the same material, but set up for facilitators to engage with a group: Make Me an Instrument For Groups
While the full curriculum experience is available on ChurchNext’s website in the previous links, with discussion forums, quizzes and supplemental material, you can also access just the videos here.
Download the original PDF to use in your congregation or ministry. Each session includes specific instructions for group or forum leaders, and interactive components including prayers, discussion questions, and activities.

The ChurchNext versions of the course is offered free of charge for the first 2,000 students and available on-demand.

Promoting Peace and Preventing Election Violence

LIVING PEACE, PRACTICING NONVIOLENCE: THE LESSONS OF JESUS, GANDHI, AND KING FOR TODAY

Saturday, Sept. 28, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.

This day-long workshop at St. Joseph's College in Standish with activist Father John Dear is offered by the Maine Council of Churches (MCC) as part of "a collection of programs designed to help Maine's people of faith lead with love as we prepare for and respond to events as they unfold this election season and beyond." Learn more and register here.

DE-ESCALATION AND ACTIVE BYSTANDER TRAINING FOR FAITH LEADERS

Thursday, Sept.19, 9 – 11 a.m.

Thursday, Oct.10, 9 – 11 a.m.

Thursday, Sept.19, 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, Oct. 10, 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.

This online training for faith leaders (clergy and lay) on de-escalation and active bystander skills is offered by MCC in partnership with Prevention.Action.Change. Get more information and register here.

Find more election-season events and resources from the MCC, including "White Christian Nationalism: What It Is And How We Can Respond" here.

PREVENTING ELECTION VIOLENCE IN THE U.S. 2024

Council on Foreign Relations Fellow Jacob Ware authored a Contingency Planning Memorandum, which you can find here. Ware's analysis shows that religious leaders can play a key role in preventing election violence and calling for peace, recommending, “avoiding discussions of politics or ideology to instead focus on widely shared values such as nonviolence. Trusted leaders should educate their constituencies on civics and election integrity, and should prepare to band together in nonpartisan fashion should violence erupt.”

Panel Discussion with Presiding Bishop Michael Curry

Vote Faithfully: Episcopalians Engaging the U.S. Election

Wednesday, Sept. 18, 1 p.m.

On Zoom

Join Presiding Bishop Michael Curry online on Sept. 18 at 1 p.m. with guests from across the church. They will be exploring the meaning behind voting from a theological perspective that centers this civic action as one expression of caring for one another and God’s creation. Webinar panelists will offer framing for healthy, faith-based civic engagement from the theoretical to the tangible, including addressing why it is important for Episcopal churches to leverage our resources to help our broader communities vote.

In an election full of increasing pressures—disinformation, the risk of political violence, disenfranchisement, environmental concerns, and more—come learn how to navigate challenges while remaining focused in our preparations to cast our votes in this fall’s election. Our panelists will provide an engaging discussion and direct attendees to resources that can help you encourage your parishioners and community to vote faithfully.

Turnout Sunday Resources for Civic Engagement

Turnout Sunday coordinates civic engagement and public policy information sharing among denominational and independent church leaders facilitated through the Skinner Leadership Institute and the National African American Clergy Network (NAACN). The network brings together clergy (often in sacred collars), and lawyers to provide a moral and legal presence at polling sites of vulnerable voters. Download these materials in the faith-based voter toolkit here to empower you as clergy and lay leaders to reach out to your family, friends, colleagues, congregations, and acquaintances to raise awareness and promote activism.

THE DOS AND DON'TS FOR CHARITIES IN AN ELECTION YEAR

While charities cannot take sides in candidate elections, there is much they can do to promote issues of interest, educate candidates about issues, and both encourage and enable voter participation. Read the blog post here on Tech Soup to refresh your knowledge of ways churches can and cannot be involved during the election year.

From the IRS:

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