120 Kansas Pastors Sign Letter Urging GOP Sen. Roger Marshall to Stop Attacking Opponent's Faith
120 ministers in Kansas have signed a letter to Sen. Roger Marshall objecting to remarks he made about his opponent, Adam Hamilton, who is a pastor himself. The letter was written by a Wichita pastor.
In total, 120 clergy from across Kansas added their names. The letter is addressed directly to Marshall and opens by establishing common ground. The signers write "as fellow disciples of Jesus," as Kansans, and as United Methodist clergy.
"When you attack Adam's pastoral ministry, his home congregation, and our denomination as a whole, you sow seeds of division and dissent. You tear at the fabric that is the body of Christ." They point out that their congregations contain people who will vote for Marshall and people who will vote for Hamilton, and that all of them come back to the same sanctuaries afterward.
Among the signers is Amy Lippoldt, senior pastor of Wichita First United Methodist Church, who wants Marshall to change how he talks about the church on the campaign trail. Lippoldt said she attended the state fair debate the previous Saturday, where she heard Marshall go after Hamilton's work as a pastor. In her view, the criticism didn't stop with Hamilton but reached United Methodists as a whole. "Christians attacking other Christians for their faith doesn't get us anywhere," she said.
According to Lippoldt, Marshall's remarks included labeling Hamilton a "woke megachurch pastor." She added that the senator has plenty of other issues he could be discussing instead.
Lippoldt said she wants her church to be a place where everyone feels welcome, and she doesn't want politics brought into it. She described letting differences lie as part of the Christian calling, and said the way people talk to one another, and about their disagreements, matters.
When Marshall was asked about the letter, he said he had not read it.
Beyond the 120 clergy in Kansas, another 315 clergy members nationwide have signed the letter in solidarity.
