After a Bitter Election, Churches Offer ‘Reconciliation’ Services to Heal, Unite
Following an election season filled with anger, division and even numerous cases of assault, is it possible to heal relationships damaged in the campaigns’ wake?
Several churches have come up with a way to help voters begin to heal and reconcile after the election, reported The News & Observer. Beginning Wednesday, churches nationwide will host “healing services,” for anyone, regardless of which candidate won the election.
A Space to Breathe
“By Wednesday, I think people will just need a space to be able to breathe, a space with some quiet,” said Rev. Shanna Steitz of Kansas City’s Community Christian Church. “All of this has just been so noisy, and this will give people a quiet, safe space away from all the words.”
The Rev. Adam Hamilton, pastor of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, KS, told the Associated Press, “There’s plenty of division in our country every year, but this year’s election is different.” Two of his church’s four campuses will serve as polling stations this year.
“Our families are divided,” he said. “We’re divided sometimes from our friends. Even when we’re in church here our politics are different. And I think we have to be reminded that there’s a bigger picture here.” Hamilton’s church will invite people to stop in after they vote and pray for the nation to heal itself.
Even when we’re in church here
our politics are different. And I think we have to be reminded that there’s a bigger picture here.”
Rev. Mark Beckwith, Episcopal bishop of Newark, New Jersey, will host an “Interfaith Service of Post-Election Reconciliation” at the diocese’s cathedral Wednesday. “There is no doubt that people are going to be angry and scared on Wednesday no matter how this turns out,” he said. “Within our congregations, people may be voting in different ways, and may be having some raw feelings with one another. Congregations will engage in the ancient practice of reconciliation in their churches, and I am inviting them to bring that spirit of reconciliation out into the world.”
The National Cathedral in Washington D.C. will also hold services after the election. The Cathedral’s website describes the services as opportunities to “pray together for reconciliation among one another and the nation. Come together with others to find common ground within our faith to move us forward as one body and one nation.”
An Ugly, Polarized Politics
Rennie Salata, pastor of Acton Methodist Church in Asheville, NC, expressed his concerns to the Citizen-Times. “I do think this is one of the ugliest elections ever,” he said. “I think it’s part of something that’s been brewing and around for quite a while — the polarization of our politics. I think we’ve finally come to a place where we’re not actually able to communicate with each other without yelling at each other, and I think this election really brought this out in a way nobody anticipated.”
Salata’s church is holding an Election Day communion service as a way to bring people together. “As a pastor, I really believe there is no rift from which we cannot be reconciled, but the work of reconciliation is hard and long and takes a lot of intention.”
Many other churches are hosting healing and reconciliation services as well. It is an opportunity to take time out of a busy day and relax, unite with God and others, and pray for renewed hope and healing for relationships and the nation.