by Two of Georgia’s largest Black religious groups are formally joining together for the first time to mobilize Black voters in the battleground state ahead of November’s presidential election.
The two congregations, the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, plan to combine their resources and their more than 140,000 parishioners in the state for the get-out-the-vote program, which they will announce Monday at the Georgia Capitol.
Their efforts, which for now will focus only on Georgia, are aimed at revitalizing the black church as a powerful driver of voter turnout at a time when national polls point to lagging political energy among black Americans and a weakening enthusiasm for President Biden, who owes his rise to the White House in 2020 to your support.
The two churches have long lobbied broadly to expand and protect civil and voting rights across the country, but have generally not coordinated their messages or shared resources.
Now, however, their leaders, Bishops Reginald T. Jackson and Thomas L. Brown Sr., say they see what is at stake in this year’s election, as well as recently passed laws restricting voting rights and redraw electoral districts in Georgia, as compelling reasons to work toward a shared goal.
“This is serious and critical,” said Bishop Brown of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, which presides over its approximately 300 churches in Georgia. “We have to take the lead and we have to make sure our people are empowered and, particularly in rural Georgia, we have to make sure we are on the ground.”
He said at another time that “in the civil rights movement, at least in the late ’60s in particular,” there was more “solidarity among churches of all denominations.” He added: “I think we have declined after some of that progress was made.”
The push by churches, whose congregants lean heavily Democratic, comes as Biden struggles to rebuild his support among Black voters. In the 2020 election, Donald J. Trump won just 11 percent of the black vote in Georgia, according to exit polls. But in October, a New York Times poll found that Trump attracted 19 percent of these voters in the state.
“Given the importance of this election, and having heard across the country that black people are not motivated to vote, and that some black people have decided that they are not going to vote, we thought it was important to do something together formally,” Bishop said. Jackson, who presides over the more than 500 African Methodist Episcopal churches in Georgia.
The budget for the voting program is modest ($200,000 to $500,000), but church leaders say the goal is to provide the two churches with a single guiding voice.
Other black religious groups are also working to turn out voters this year.
The Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II of the Poor People’s Campaign, the economic justice coalition inspired by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., announced Thursday a voter participation campaign in 30 states that will begin next month. .
In December, the National Action Network and the Conference of National Black Churches announced a joint get-out-the-vote campaign that will also attempt to meet pressing needs, such as vaccination, in many communities.
For decades, black churches have played a critical role in turning out black voters, often fueling Democratic victories. In Georgia, they turned out in droves in 2020, helping Biden turn the state blue, and they did so again in the Senate races in 2021 and 2022, which Democrats also won.
In part, the cooperation between the two churches serves as a response to a well-established political network of predominantly white conservative evangelical churches in Georgia and beyond. Its congregants are a key Republican constituency that has helped shape the party’s political goals for decades. In Georgia, evangelical denominations represent more than 50 percent of all Christian churches, while the share of historically black churches is 16 percent. according to a study by the Pew Research Center.
“Unfortunately, over the last 30 or 40 years, the black church has not been as persistent or consistent in motivating and educating our community regarding the issues affecting it,” Bishop Jackson said. “And what’s happened, what’s really frustrating to me, is that white evangelicals have used that as an opportunity to lead many people into what we believe is a non-Christian mentality.”
During the 2020 election, Bishop Jackson spearheaded a program called Operation Voter Turnout, which focused on voter education, registration drives, assistance with absentee ballots, and a coordinated push for Sunday voting.
Now the lessons of that effort will spread among the congregations of both churches. Its program will include regular political listening sessions and voting workshops; create “personal election plans” for parishioners to cast their votes and persuade their families to do the same; and weekly voter registration efforts.
“Voter registration will be held every Sunday at our churches,” said Cheryl Davenport Dozier, who helps coordinate civic engagement efforts for the AME Church in Georgia. “And in rural communities still reeling from Covid, we continue to have reach.”
He added: “Sometimes up to 100 people show up and we will have voter registration forms there to reach people.” Although some of those running are homeless, he said, “they still have the right to vote.”
Bishop Brown said the listening sessions would be particularly important to help church leaders understand why some Black voters in the state feel apathetic.
“It’s one thing to read about apathy and discontent toward the Biden administration or whoever,” he said. “I think we need to have listening sessions where we can dialogue with people on the ground about what’s going on, what the dissatisfactions are, what the disappointments are, and address as much as possible with facts and resolution.”
In fact, leaders of both churches believe there is still time to revitalize one of Georgia’s most influential constituencies.
“Regardless of what they say, black people believe in the institutions that exist to protect our rights,” said the Rev. Willie J. Barber II, who also works on civic engagement efforts for the AME Church in Georgia and has the same name as Mr. Barber of the Poor People’s Campaign. “One of the concerns is that they feel like that could easily go away. And how are we going to prevent that from happening? How am I going to keep democracy alive so we can continue living?”
