Pastors, Politicians & Fair-weather Friends

In the months prior to the October 2010 municipal election in Toronto, Ontario, I worked closely with our church's local city councillor, Frank Di Giorgio.  He sat in on our monthly Greenhills Community Association meetings and worked hard to promote neighbourhood issues that were important to us.  Yet when it came time for reelection, I dropped him like a hot potato in an effort to remain political impartial.  After all, that is what I was taught to do as a pastor.  Remain impartial when it comes to all things political. The problem was, I felt like crap for months afterwards.  Frank Di Giorgio had invested hours attending meetings, listening to our concerns, researching local issues, championing the things that mattered to us, and then, like a fair-weather friend, I had distanced myself from him when he needed my support.  It's the same kind of thing others people do to me as a pastor.  They come to me when they are in need but I never see them supporting the church when we need them.

Never again, I told myself.  If someone goes out of their way to meet with me, hear my concerns, work with me and the church for the good of the community and its people, than, as a pastor I would acknowledge his/her hard work, rather than distancing myself in the name of political neutrality.

This past weekend, I met with two of our local candidates for the upcoming Ontario provincial election in October 2011: Paul Ferreira (NDP) and Laura Albanese MPP (Lib). Both are passionate advocates for our community.  I consider both of them friends.  Yet I told each one separately, that in an effort to remain politically impartial, I had decided to support the local incumbent during the upcoming election campaign.  I also made the commitment to support the winner of the next election throughout their mandate and into their next election campaign (provided of course that they serve the community well). In other words, I will support them because of the work they have done on behalf of the community rather than because of the political party they represent.

And so I will support Laura Albanese MPP (Lib) during the upcoming election campaign because she has served our community well over the past 4 years.  And I will do the same for our city councillor Frank Di Giorgio as well as our newly elected federal member of parliament Mike Sullivan MP (NDP).  If they work for our community and serve us well, I will acknowledge their hard work come election time. I will not be a fair-weather friend.  Rather, I will strive to be a good Christian nigh dweller.