Skip to Main Content

Congregational Life: Social Justice: Census, Elections, & Voting

online and in-person connections for service and justice work

Welcome

Welcome to The Ministry Lab's curated list of resources to help congregational leaders encourage congregational engagement in ending voter suppression and encouraging people to vote. Here you'll find opportunities for:

  • Books for Adults & Booklists for Children & Tweens & Teens
  • Discussion & Sermon Prompts
  • Get-Out-the-Vote Toolkits, How-Tos, & Websites
  • Judicatory & Interfaith Resources
  • Voting Rights for All
  • Worship/Liturgical Elements & Inspirations

If you don't find a resource to fit your need, don't hesitate to consult with The Ministry Lab's director, Rev. Emily Meyer, who is happy to assist you.

Discussion & Sermon Prompts

Faith+LeadThe 2024 Election Season Toolkit

Discover resources, tools, and practices to navigate the unique challenges of election season for your congregation in this email toolkit.

How To Talk about Politics with Young PeopleHow To Talk about Politics with Young People

By   / 

Discussing social and political topics can be challenging, especially in light of widespread disillusionment and polarization. Springtide asked young people what adults can do to make young people feel like they can talk about these topics with the adults in their lives.

The Downballot: Overthrowing the tyranny of the Electoral College (transcript)

Peter Wallace's blog post Anger in the Service of Justice: Following Jesus’ Example offers helpful biblical context and grounding.

Straight, White, Christian, Married, Suburban Mom

Hell hath no fury like a suburban mom scorned

by Diana Butler Bass

Toolkits, How-To's, and Websites

Register and Vote! Supporting voters in the US:

Check out Vote411.org to register to vote in your state, check your voter status, and find out what is on your ballot. You can also follow a link to sign up as a poll worker or judge in your county to ensure fair elections.  

Concerned about voting rights? Visit And Still I Vote, a project of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, to learn about advocacy efforts to protect and expand voting rights in the United States. 

Interfaith Power & Light offers a multi-issue Faithful Voter Reflection Guide

 

Not sure who to vote for? You can read up on the environmental records of candidates using the League of Conservation Voters scorecards.

Election Protection Resources for Religious Communities

This publicly available toolkit is designed for faith, religious, and spirit-rooted communities that are mobilizing to protect the vote in the 2020 general election.

Please share widely using bit.ly/faithfulelection, and submit additional resources here.

Check your voter registration status

All Minnesota voters are eligible to vote by mail.   

Mobilize America offers a one-stop-shop to help you get out the vote!

 TurnOut Sunday

Turn Out Sunday / Lawyers and Collars toolkitWatch two inspiring videos (and share with your congregation!) and learn how you can support voter turnout, safeguard polling areas and ensure that every vote is counted.

Joy to the Polls 

Gather your musicians and join the Joy to the Polls Music De-Escalation Plan! A fun way to spread some joy, keep folks in long voting lines feeling good and do some community outreach/PR - all at the same time!

Voting Rights for All

Vote.org and whenweallvote.org, offer non-partisan resources about voter registration and the how-tos of voting.

Voters of color will find Color of Change's resources on votingwhileblack.comwevotewecount.org has resources for multiple communities. 

LGBTQ Voters can find resources at The Task Force's Queer the Vote and the Human Rights Campaign's Voting Center.

#ELCAVotes

Tools for talking with American citizens eligible to vote who are living with a disability.

And/or see: The Autism Self Advocacy Network's (ASAN) online toolkit, which walks a person through the process of registering, getting a mail-in ballot, and more.

Download the toolkit's chapter, “All About Voting” (PDF) and/or the Easy Read toolkit called Your Vote Counts: A Self-Advocate’s Guide to Voting in the U.S.

ASAN and the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law created a plain-language guide to voting rights for people with mental disabilities, including people under guardianship.

The Autism Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) has resources online that walk a person through the process of registering, getting a mail-in ballot, and more. All About Voting and Your Vote Counts: A Self-Advocate’s Guide to Voting in the U.S. may be the most helpful.

ASAN and the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law created a plain-language guide to voting rights for people with mental disabilities, including people under guardianship.

Judicatory & Interfaith Resources & Guidelines

Specifically from our faith communities:

     

UCC and ecumenical faith leaders speak out about voting

Rev. Sheri Prestemon's article: Where Faith and Politics Meet

Vigils & Litanies

Election Season Spiritual Care Package – Join The MovementThe UCC's Join the Movement created an Election Season Spiritual Care Package: Soul Nourishment in a Time of Life-Denying Rhetoric - free and downloadable - full of video, audio, and written prayers created and facilitated by diverse voices from around the nation.

Worship Resources for a National Election pdf & Word

Election Day community engagement & worship planning resources

   from A Sanctified Art; free and downloadable

Rev. Elsa Cook offers Pandemic Prayers for Proper 27, including prayers, confession and response music (from The Many).

Books

          The Court v. The Voters     Democracy Awakening by Heather Cox Richardson     End Time Politics: From the Moral Majority to QAnon     Faith on Trial               Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and  Fractured a Nation: Kobes Du Mez, Kristin: 9781631495731: Amazon.com: Books          A Great Disorder          Let My People Vote     Life After Doom     Our Time Is Now               Cover - Trump & The Maga Movement as Anti-Christ.jpg          Vote Jesus Christ          

Children, Tweens, & Teens

Stacey Abrams: Lift Every Voice - Warren, Sarah

citizenship - small.jpg     Chapter Books about Citizenship

Cultivating Care shows how adults can exemplify and foster the care young people crave to raise the next generation of civic-minded citizens. 

This report provides a data-driven understanding of what young people seek, believe in, and trust in civic life — and what (or whom) they don’t. It will shape how adults activate civic participation with emerging generations. 

Democracy depends on the next generation: this report charts a path forward.

AFA0724_Voting-Rights-1400x500px imageTo fight voter suppression, equip young people with the stories from history on organizing for voting rights.

Visit Civil Rights Teaching and Zinn Education Project for free downloadable lessons and other recommended resources.

View Booklist

 

How To Talk about Politics with Young PeopleHow To Talk about Politics with Young People

By   / 

Discussing social and political topics can be challenging, especially in light of widespread disillusionment and polarization. Springtide asked young people what adults can do to make young people feel like they can talk about these topics with the adults in their lives.