Your Congregation is Invited to Join WIVEC
Pray with Your Feet, Pray with Your Vote
Rev. Breanna Illéné, Director of Ecumenical Innovation and Justice Initiatives
As we move into 2024, we are already beginning to hear about elections. With both a spring and a fall election which include a presidential race, the election will be front and center this year. As people of faith, we may be asking, what does my faith have to do with voting? While there are strict rules for charitable nonprofits (including churches!), which are not allowed to tell people who to vote for or against, there are plenty of ways that faith communities CAN be involved in the election process. In fact, we often advocate that faith communities have a duty to be involved in advocacy and the public sphere.
One way that your congregation can be involved is through the Wisconsin Interfaith Voter Engagement Campaign (WIVEC). A project coordinated by the Wisconsin Council of Churches and Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice, WIVEC seeks to connect faith communities through civic engagement, specifically through voter engagement projects.
As a faith community, your congregation can encourage voting, host voter registration drives, do non-partisan voter outreach through events like postcard parties and canvassing, hold candidate forums (as long as all candidates are invited), and do voter education.
New this year, WIVEC has designated three levels to help congregations assess how they’d like to do voter engagement. Once your congregation signs up, we will reach out to provide resources. We are updating our list so even if your congregation has been part of WIVEC in the past, please still fill out the google form.
COMMUNICATE: Communicate about voting through your various channels (announcements, newsletters, social media, bulletins, etc). Click here for more ideas and resources.
ENERGIZE: Energize your congregants by offering events that focus on voting efforts (entry-level activities that connect with fellow congregants and services
focused on the congregation’s voting needs). Click here for more ideas and resources.
OUTREACH: Reach out beyond your congregation to the needs of the community at large (interfaith events and community needs). Click here for more ideas and resources.
WIVEC has an interfaith organizer, Rhonda Lindner, who is available to resource and help congregations think through how they can participate in voter engagement in their context. Feel free to reach out to her (or Rev. Breanna Illéné on the WCC staff or Rabbi Bonnie Margulis at WFVJ) with questions or to brainstorm projects.
| Sign Up Here |
