Posted on 10/26/2009 4:01:29 AM PDT by republicangel
Prayer stopped for a few moments Sunday at 11 churches in Chesapeake and Portsmouth as pastors allowed time for a little bit of politicking between hymns of joy and sermons of salvation.
State Del. Lionell Spruill Sr. came to visit, bringing along Democratic candidate for governor Creigh Deeds and envelopes of tickets to one of the hottest political events in Hampton Roads this season.
Conducting what has become a tradition for Democrats running for high statewide posts, Spruill led Deeds on a five-hour whirlwind tour of Sunday services, with staff members and reporters in tow. At each stop, Deeds, a state senator from Bath County, had a chance to say a few words and to stand with Spruill, who enjoys strong support among the black church community in Hampton Roads.
Spruill has done similar tours with U.S. Sens. Jim Webb and Mark Warner during their campaigns, as well as with Gov. Timothy M. Kaine.
Timing is everything, Spruill said, adding that you can never forget that these are church services.
" As long as I come in before they're preaching, they just stop for us," he said.
Deeds acknowledged he was intruding.
"I'm humbled to be on the pulpit," he told the congregation at St. Mark Missionary Baptist Church in Portsmouth. "I know Sunday morning is not a time for politics. It's a time for worship."
He talked briefly about his agenda if he wins the Nov. 3 election but elicited the strongest reaction when describing how he was labeled a "nobody from nowhere" by a newspaper columnist after he was defeated in the 2005 race for attorney general.
"The implications of that sentence are pretty frightening," he said. "If a state senator, even a state senator from Bath County, who grew up in a trailer with not much of anything, is a nobody from nowhere, then there's a whole lot of nobodies and there's a whole lot of nowheres. Virginia needs a governor that is going to work for everybody."
He was applauded at several churches.
Spruill came bearing gifts of his own, giving each pastor one or more envelopes of tickets to the Deeds campaign rally Tuesday in Norfolk that features President Barack Obama.
Deeds, who trails Republican candidate Bob McDonnell in voter opinion polls, reminded his audiences that Obama's victory in Virginia a year ago was due to a 74 percent turnout.
"I need your help," he said.
Several of the ministers, all Baptists, praised Spruill and gently ribbed him about being a Methodist but avoided any outright endorsement of Deeds.
Some, such as the Rev. Kim Brown of Mount Lebanon Missionary Baptist Church in Chesapeake, urged their congregations to get involved in the election.
"I want you to understand that not voting is a sin," Brown told more than 1,000 attending his service. "God said give unto Caesar that which is Caesar's.... He's not just talking about taxes. He's talking about participating in government."
At New Galilee Baptist Church in Chesapeake, March Cromwell reminded his fellow parishioners that they have the power to make change.
"We can make history," Cromwell said. "One time we were picking cotton in November. This time we can pick a governor in November."
The Rev. Jake Manley Sr., leader of Bethany Baptist Church in Chesapeake, told Deeds that he would pray for him but added "my prayers will be short unless you're like Mark Warner."
Deeds nodded and smiled. But just to be sure, Manley asked for and received Deeds' personal cell phone number.
In a perfect world, these churches’ 501c3 status would be immediately reviewed and revoked.
Here is another article from the MSM wherein what’s left OUT of it tells you everything about the story.
This has started a vigorous debate on the paper’s website, too.
CHURCHES????? OMG!!
But separation of church and state is only for Christian principles, Christian values, and Christian morals.
I absolutely agree! The party that is constantly yelling about separation of church and state is campaigning in the pews. How disgusting. I really hope he loses big.
Agreed.
What a racist thing to say. /sarc
I must have fallen through a worm hole into another dimension. I could swear that when I went to bed last night that you could not campaign from the pulpit of a church. At least for that church to remain tax exempt you couldn’t.
I’m now thinking that must have been pre-hopenchange??
******”We can make history,” Cromwell said. “One time we were picking cotton in November. This time we can pick a governor in November.” *******
This tells me which churche’s he chose to visit.
Black Church’s.
Racist?? Yes. no doubt.
Democrats own the black vote and separation of Church and State only counts when they want it to.
When you rely on government instead of God for your daily bread, you don’t mind sitting through a political rally at church. The Man wants you to vote for him so he can give you stuff paid for by someone else’s taxes. It’s that mentality that makes up 80% of the Democrat base. The other 20% is the militant Left that hates America and Americans.
Deeds was struck by lightning 11 times?
As a pastor, let me just say how uncouth it is for these church leaders to stoop to something as mundane as politics on a Sunday morning, when they might be drawing their congregant’s attention to the Creator of the universe and His death on a cross to redeem His Church.
Losing their 501c3 status is actually the least of their worries.
Are black churches a reliable voting bloc for Democrats. I thought campaigning in a church was a violation of their tax exempt status, or am I racist?
Sorry, I don’t have time to comment more- must get to work this morning. :-)
yep, Massah Deeds goes to the slaves’ churches to make sure they will not leave the Rat plantation. Write the DOJ, investigate all Non-Profits, Churches, Think Tanks, Trust Funds and all other do gooder orgs!
Black churces are exempt. How many years have the Democrats been going in and nothing is done? Now, if it was a Republican, those churches would lose everything.
“Deeds on a five-hour whirlwind tour of Sunday services”
You don’t have a prayer, Creep.
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