There’s a lot of history I don’t prefer to repeat...
Understood, but this particular bit of history appears to not be problematic either constitutionally or culturally. In fact, America in the 1800’s, one of the most glorious examples of a free society in human history, was fueled during that time by the great spiritual vitality of the Christian churches around the country. The Leftist heresy of “separation of church and state”, not found in the Constitution, had not yet taken hold, and politics, pastors, and churches mixed very well as a testing ground to aid in vetting and electing solid, virtuous leaders.