Proclaimer Blog
Ministers of the gospel and the EU referendum
There is an old 19th Century English (and Welsh) law called Spiritual Injury. It was introduced to stem the growing influence of (particularly) high church and Catholic churchmen who were telling their congregations how to vote, annoying the government of the time. It has recently resurfaced as, in part, the legislation under which my local mayor Lutfur Rahman was deposed. It’s – as far as I can see, and I’m no lawyer – a tricky piece of legislation, slippery almost. In one particular case, for example, there was a distinction drawn between endorsing a candidate and threatening sanctions if parishoners did not vote the appropriate way. Moreover, it’s all, one could argue, a big nonsense anyway with the existence of Lords Spiritual.
Nevertheless, it is a law, and ministers of the gospel should have a care. In the past I have belonged to a political party, but I dropped it when I became a minister, and I would not advertise which one. Nor do I think it’s right to announce from the pulpit our voting intentions, especially when it comes to the EU referendum. Whether or not we break the letter of the law, there is a real danger in doing so that we breach the spirit.
And is that what preaching is really for? One of the things we misunderstand is that preaching the word of God vests us in an expected authority that we don’t appreciate. In fact, our authority comes from the word preached and there is a world of difference between Adrian the preacher saying “thus says God’s word” and Adrian the preacher saying, “I think that….” But it’s a subtle difference for many people, if one at all, and we must be conscious of the effect we have on others. This is particularly true of the pastor pronouncing on social media.
I think the minister of the gospel does have a duty – but on an issue like this where Christian conscience could go either way it is to lay before congregations the Christian issues at stake – obedience to governments, duty of care to others, compassion, wise leadership, freedom to preach and so on, and then let people make informed choices, but not to tell people what those choices should be. “Oh, I’m not doing that,” you might say, but the reality is – whether you like it or not – that is precisely what you are doing, and that, legalities aside, is a kind of injury.