“Houston Megachurch Pastor Roots for Obama”
Read a Jan. 20, 2008, Associated Press story about Houston megachurch pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell’s endorsement of Obama. The story appeared in the Houston Chronicle.
Faith: Christianity
“Pastor’s endorsement of candidate probed”
Read a Feb. 14, 2008, Los Angeles Times story about the IRS examining a California clergyman’s use of church letterhead to endorse Huckabee. According to the article, when it became public that Americans United for Separation of Church and State was asking the IRS to investigate, the pastor, Wiley S. Drake, encouraged supporters to pray […]
“Politicking from the Pulpit: Should Religious Leaders Endorse Candidates?”
Read a Nov. 2, 2012 PBS article about one church leaders’ fight against the IRS’ prohibition of religious endorsement of political candidates.
“LifeWay Research Finds Americans Wary of Political Endorsements from Pastors, Churches”
Read a Sept 24, 2008 LifeWay research report on how the U.S. public feels about political endorsements by religious leaders. When U.S. citizens were posed the statement “I believe it is appropriate for churches to publicly endorse candidates for public office,” 59 percent of participants strongly disagreed.
Raymond Flynn
Raymond Flynn is chairman of the Catholic Alliance, a former mayor of Boston and former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican. His group supported the “Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act of 2005.”
Shirl James Hoffman
Shirl James Hoffman is professor emeritus of kinesiology at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He wrote the Jan. 29, 2010, Christianity Today cover story “Sports Fanatics,” and he has a book, Good Game: Christianity and the Culture of Sports.
Kent Berghuis
The Rev. Kent Berghuis is senior pastor at First Baptist Church of Oklahoma City, and an affiliate in theology at Palmer Theological Seminary in King of Prussia, Pa.
Clifford Putney
Clifford Putney teaches American religious history at Bentley College in Waltham, Mass. He is the author of Muscular Christianity: Manhood and Sports in Protestant America, 1880-1920, regarded by many as a definitive work on the relationship between Protestantism and sports in America.
Warren Goldstein
Warren Goldstein teaches American history at the University of Hartford, where he chairs the history department. He is the author of Playing for Keeps: A History of Early Baseball, and he wrote an essay in the Nov. 1, 2003, Christian Century magazine titled, “Winning Isn’t Everything: Baseball as a Theological Discipline.”