Covenant News

Covenant Church Finds Faith and Politics Do Mix

BEDFORD, NH (January 5, 2000) - There are many who have benefited from being in the right place at the right time. However, in Bedford, New Hampshire, one Covenant church has proved how to be "the right place at the right time," thanks to a unique collaboration that has helped the church become somewhat of a household name in the political realm.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain, a senator from Arizona, was at Bethany Covenant Church for a town meeting attended by 400 people and some two dozen media representatives. Since then, photographs of the event have appeared in the Chicago Tribune, USA Today and U.S. News & World Report among others. The cross that adorns Bethany's sanctuary is clearly seen behind McCain in various photos. And for the church, anything that points people to the cross and what it represents is significant.

"We decided to host town hall meetings since presidential primaries are such a crucial part of our area," said Robert Bergquist, pastor of Bethany Covenant for six and a half years. "People here are real interested in politics because of the access we have to candidates," Bergquist continued. "We thought it would be a good thing to discuss the relationship between politics and faith - how we as Christians should approach the political life."

When Bethany Covenant Church decided to host various presidential candidates at their church four years ago, the goal was to help educate the public about who they were voting for and to explore in what ways religious faith guides the political agenda of those running for president. Bethany Covenant member Dr. Dale Kuehne, director of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at St. Anselm College in nearby Manchester and a licensed Covenant minister, made the political contacts on behalf of his school. As Kuehne invited candidates to St. Anselm, Bergquist invited them to Bethany Covenant.

"I believe in the deepest part of my being that the gospel has implications for the entirety of our lives," Kuehne said. " (John) Calvin said that politics was the highest of all civil callings, and it's really important for the church to participate in public life and civic life. Because civic life is so important," Kuehne observed, "the stakes are high and it gets pretty dirty. I think that has caused many churches to remove themselves from politics. I think that's a big mistake."

Kuehne explained that one goal was to encourage the congregation to become more involved in public life and civic life. "We've wanted to show the public that the church cares about our life together, and the trick is to be in the world and be transcendent - and we're doing a decent job. I think the credit for that goes to Bob (Bergquist). He's able to be supportive of the politicians and affirm them without endorsing them."

Three years ago, Alan Keyes, a Catholic conservative candidate, Texas Sen. Phil Gramm and Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar were guests at Bethany Covenant. They talked about how their faith Relates to politics and answered questions from the audience. Last fall, Bethany Covenant decided to host a series at the church called "Church and State: The Relationship Between Politics and Faith" and invited candidates to come and address that topic. Two came to speak to that subject. Gary Bauer attended October 11 and Robert Smith, a senator from New Hampshire who was a candidate for a short time, attended October 24. McCain was invited to Bethany Covenant and he accepted, and although the focus centered on his political agenda, the meeting in the church was well attended, especially considering it was a Wednesday morning event.

"With Sen. McCain, we had some context to work with (in asking him to attend) because a woman from our church, Kathy Flora, had been on his political campaign (as vice chair)," Bergquist said. "His being there was different than our other ones, however. It was more of a chance for him to state his views and get questions from the audience," Bergquist explained. "But, when we decided to make our facility available for McCain, we asked that we close our meeting with prayer, both for us as voters and for McCain and the responsibility he was undertaking. We wanted to say to our community that it was important to address the issues, and since we don't have a big town hall in Bedford, it was a great opportunity for us," Bergquist added.

Kuehne described the experience of having town meetings at Bethany as significant both for the town and for the congregation. He estimates three-fourths of those in attendance for McCain's town meeting were from outside the church membership, suggesting that the positive experience perceived by attendees made a positive statement for the church. "People walked out of there feeling that the political process had been elevated and that's amazing," Kuehne said. "I think they felt better about themselves and their country, and that's totally independent of what they felt about McCain."

Ironically, Bergquist noted that the nearby daily newspaper in Manchester and local television stations did not report on McCain's presence at Bethany Covenant. However, Bergquist said there was a group of fifth graders at a school who were studying politics, and McCain interacted well with the children. In fact, the students were in a photograph with McCain that was published in USA Today. Since the New Hampshire presidential primary is February 1, Bedford Covenant may be the site of another town meeting or two, and both Bergquist and Kuehne welcome the opportunity.

"I'm getting to be a political junkie now," said Bergquist, who recently met democratic presidential candidate Bill Bradley just prior to a Bradley television interview. "I've felt a sense of responsibility as a citizen to try and understand what the issues are, to get to know the candidates," Bergquist said. "I find that people take that seriously here, and I know a lot of people from the church who have appreciated that we've had the candidates here."

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