Leading up to Election Day, public radio stations across the state are exploring how Texans’ religious beliefs affect the way they’re thinking about voting in November and the greater role of government in general. Want to share a story? Send us a voice memo.
In the center of Marfa, just across the street from the county courthouse, stands a striking, red brick building which has housed the First United Methodist Church of Marfa for more than a century.
Church members in this West Texas town can remember a time when the pews were packed on Sundays. Nowadays, a good turnout means about a dozen people attend Sunday services.
Still, this small congregation remains a tight knit faith community. That’s possible, in part, because many here makes a conscious effort to keep their political views separate from their religious life, even during this year’s high stakes presidential election.
On a recent Sunday morning, six dedicated members gathered to sing hymns and listen to a sermon from Reverend Stephen White, who leads the church.
“We have an organ that hasn’t been used in many years,” White told Marfa Public Radio as he gestured around the church’s sanctuary, each detail showing evidence of the congregation’s declining numbers.
“We have a choir area in the back that you can see that unfortunately we don’t have a choir,” White said.
White describes himself as a centrist, but that is about all he’ll say on his political beliefs – he doesn’t think pastors should take partisan stances. In his experience, people will just leave a church if they don’t agree with something and he also doesn’t want to divide his already small congregation.
“Everybody’s talking nasty about politics and so I want to be careful. We need an alternative to that,” he said.
Asked about the upcoming election, White said he was feeling “nervous,” like a lot of people across the country right now.
“I really think that we are at a place as a nation that we’re trying to decide between very different visions of how our government should run in the future,” said White.
It’s not just the turmoil of the presidential election that he doesn’t want to comment on. In general, White doesn’t want to tell people what to believe, especially on hot button issues like abortion or immigration.
“It is more important for me to be someone safe they can come and talk to rather than to be, look this is how it should be,” he said.
The fact that Reverend White avoids focusing on political issues from the pulpit is fine – if not preferred – for church members like 86-year-old Doralene Lassiter.
Congregants “do not discuss politics, period,” said Lassiter, who has attended the First United Methodist Church of Marfa for over six decades.
Lassiter agrees that talking about politics could fracture the congregation, especially this election year. While Lassiter said she assumes most people here are conservative, she honestly doesn’t know for sure.
“I sometimes wonder what the others…how they are going to vote. But I wouldn’t dare offend them by asking them,” she said. “I’m not going to judge anybody even if I knew.”
Marfa Public Radio spoke with multiple members’ of the church and politics actually seem fairly mixed. Some people are better than others at not bringing up their opinions – but the “keep it to yourself” approach mostly keeps the peace.
This informal rule has also made the church a comfortable place for some of its other inhabitants. To help cover its expenses, the Methodist church rents out old Sunday school rooms as studio space for artists who live in Marfa, which is well known for its art scene, including fiber artist Pearl Hesselden.
Hesselden said she doesn’t really overlap with church goers besides Lassiter who helps manage the property.
“Every time I see her, we wave to each other and we say ‘hello,” she said. “I think if I had made my politics more visible or if she had made her politics more visible it would have been different.”
Hesselden describes herself as a leftist. She wasn’t raised religious, she’s pro-choice and wasn’t sure how a young woman with tattoos would be received at the church, but she has felt welcomed.
“I’m so grateful for it,” Hesselden said. “I’m really realizing how special it is to be in a church and not feel judged. That really feels unique.”
After the recent Sunday service, people lingered to chat and catch up with one another before heading home. The warm, laid back environment is exactly what Reverend White is striving for with this church.
“I would hope that this is a place where we can come down to a foundational level and address life from there,” he said. “We don’t need to be tearing each other up.”
As for Nov. 5, Lassiter said she’s ready for the election to be over and expects things at Marfa’s First United Methodist Church to stay the same, no matter what.
“Now, we may realize after the election who’s happy and who’s not,” she explained with a chuckle. “But nothing will ever be said about it.”
According to Lassiter, regardless of who’s elected president, she hopes the nation will be able to come together like her congregation does.
