Souls to the Polls and Voter Registration -- What, Why, and How

One of the things your Chapter and clergy staff are trying to do is remove the mystery about how things work and how things happen at Christ Church Cathedral. Last week, I wrote this post (What is *Christian* Outreach at Christ Church Cathedral) and updated you on the work of our Outreach Visioning Team ... which (among other things) will be proposing to Chapter a process for discerning which outreach ministries we should embrace as an entire congregation.

In the meantime, I was approached by the Rev. Traci Blackmon of Christ the King United Church of Christ to see if Christ Church Cathedral would be a part of Souls to the Polls, an ecumenical movement afoot among 31 churches (so far) in the St. Louis metro area to help get out the vote on Election Day, Nov. 6.

Christ Church Cathedral is now a "Souls to the Polls" congregation. But I want to be clear how we got there ... and invite conversation and feedback as much about the process as the outcome. Remember, we're all in this together.

First, what is Souls to the Polls?
Souls to the Polls is Rev. Blackmon's idea (I know Traci from our work together on Magdalene St. Louis). It is a nonpartisan effort that I believe comes from two common principles:

1) As Christians, we believe faithful exercise of the vote for the greater good is part of loving one another as Christ has loved us (John 13:34)

2)As Americans, we believe nobody should have his or her right to vote taken away or discouraged.

Many of us (myself included), believe that voter suppression ... particularly among the poor, elderly and minorities ... is alive and well. But you do not have to share that opinion to be part of Souls to the Polls. You just have to recognize that the poor, homeless, disabled and elderly face many challenges accessing the vote ... and be willing to help.

For a congregation to participate, all they need is a congregational coordinator who can rally volunteers in the congregation and act as a liaison between the church and the citywide effort. All volunteers need is a vehicle (theirs or the church's), driver's license and valid insurance.

Second, how did Christ Church Cathedral become a "Souls to the Polls" congregation?
When Pastor Blackmon invited us to join, I asked her to put us in the "maybe" category and I attended an organizational breakfast at her church. There, I became convinced that this was truly a nonpartisan effort, and that the two principles above (which are my distillation of their mission) were ones that the vast majority of people not just in our Cathedral congregation but in the diocese whose cathedral we are could embrace.