Area Faith Leaders Offer Message, Endorsement Of Biden-Harris
Durham, NC – Congressman David Price joined faith leaders this past week to publicly endorse their choice for the next President and Vice President of the country. The press conference was held in front of St. Joseph AME Church, located at 2521 Fayetteville Street.
Rev. Dr. Jay Augustine, Pastor of St. Joseph AME and national chaplain of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., along with Rev. James Gailliard, Pastor of Word Tabernacle Church (Rocky Mount) and an NC State legislator, and Rev. Mark-Anthony Middleton, Pastor of Abundant Hope Christian Church (Durham) and a Durham City Council member, joined Rep. Price. The coalition says they are “standing with Joe Biden because Joe Biden is standing for us.”
Dr. Augustine stated that although the press conference was held in front of the church, no church resources were used for the event. He also made it clear that the Pastors assembled stood there as private citizens who are Men of God…and registered voters.
Excerpts from statement by Congressman David Price
Joe has spoken movingly about his Catholic faith. How it has sustained him through terrible personal tragedies and how its social teaching has inspired him to attend to the least of these. Those whom the Trump Administration has left behind. That’s why Joe stresses that love your neighbor doesn’t just mean your blue State neighbor; doesn’t just mean your political base neighbor. It means love your neighbor; care about everyone; protect their health; protect their livelihood. That’s what a president is called to do. Even when you disagree with their politics or when they don’t look like you.”
“So we gather today to inform the importance of this election to the kind of community we wish to be. The battle as Kamala Harris says is for ‘the Soul of America.’ We understand this from a basis of faith and morality. We are finding common ground with people of all faiths or without the conventional faith background.
Common ground. Common ground and political convictions are absolutely on the line in this election. That discovery of common ground characterizes the Civil Rights Movement 60 years ago and it defines our movement today…to put Trumpism behind us and to link arms with Joe and Kamala, each other, and millions of Americans as we usher in a new day of liberty and justice for all.”
Excerpts from statement by Rev. Dr. Jay Augustine
“Faith has brought us thus far and faith will sustain us. We rely on faith like never before in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. We need a leader who has the quality of faith and who shows empathy and compassion for others. Instead, what we now have in Washington is someone who does not use faith. They use it as a prop. It’s a farce in the midst of what I will call the other pandemic; the pandemic of racism that has existed here in the United States of America. When our brothers and sisters were taking to the streets to peacefully protest in Washington, outside St. John’s Church, the current occupant of the White House decided to take a Bible and use it as a prop. He does not have faith. We need someone who exemplifies faith and who exemplifies the type of compassion for others that will bring people together rather than building walls of separation.
“Joe Biden is the right person to lead America with Kamala Harris at his side. I hope you will join me in early voting. I’m so delighted that St. Joseph Church went out on Sunday (Oct. 18) in mass numbers, organizing with other congregations as well as a Jewish synagogue, ensuring that from the interfaith perspective and from an interracial perspective, we would put our feet to the floor and vote and make sure our voices are heard. I encourage you to do so as well during this early voting period.”
“And during this early voting period, since we’re giving an endorsement, I want to be clear. I’m encouraging you to vote for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to serve as our country’s President and Vice President respectively. “
Excerpts from statement by Pastor James Gailliard
“We are in moments that we have never witnessed before. Moments that we never thought would actually come to a reality. And when we get into a moment, that is unchartered…untraveled…unfamiliar, the people that we pastor, the people that we undershepherd, they begin to be nervous. Nervous about their jobs. Nervous about the future. Nervous about what it means for their health. Nervous about what it means for the economy. And when that moment of anxiety hits, our faith and our values become more important than at any other time in our lives.”
“When our leaders make decisions that directly affect our lives; directly affect the lives of our congregations, it is essential that we nominate and that we vote into office people that share our level of faith as a compass for how they’re going to make decisions. Our faith would not shrug at the loss of over 220,000 people losing their life from a pandemic. Our faith requires that we seek the welfare of all people in our nation. The reality of it is that currently, we have a president that does not share our faith. Our faith is never in competition with science. Our faith does not ignore science. Our faith is not enamored with our own greatness and with an ego as we see with President Trump. Our faith does not ignore truth-telling and facts. Our faith does not endorse nor does our faith support Donald Trump who has consistently proven to have a lack of morality.”
“Right now as I speak, our pews are empty. As I talk to you, our choirs are silent. As we share this moment, our church doors are closed. The reality of it is…it is that way not because of a virus but because of a lack of leadership and a lack of morality in the presidency. That’s one side of the faith. The other side of the spectrum of faith is Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.”
They have put together a plan that is grounded by our faith; a plan that sees hurting people; a plan that is empathetic; a plan that includes the poorest among us; a plan that is embracing to all people; a plan that sees the value of public education, public health, infrastructure, and equity; a plan that really provides an opportunity for all of us. So here we are in the midst of early voting and the choice is very clear. Not only is the choice very clear at the top of the ballot, but the choice is also very clear for every candidate going down the ballot. It is clear that as people of faith, we have a clear choice with Joseph Biden and Kamala Harris. So I would encourage you to join the movement of the hundreds of thousands of people that are now voting early; the people that recognize that if we’re going to be the nation that God is so ordained, it’s going to require an element of faith.”
Excerpts from statement by Rev. Mark-Anthony Middleton
“Every four years someone inevitably will say this is the most important and consequential and historic election of our lifetime. So be it far from me to break tradition. This is the most important and consequential and historic election in our nation’s history. This time is different y’all.”
“As an undergrad at [NC] A&T, I organized and protested against the racist regime in South Africa. I railed against the policy of constructive engagement for South Africa. I protested against tax cuts and corporate bailouts. But at no time did I ever question the basic decency of the men in the Oval Office I disagreed with. I never went to bed thinking that my nation faced an existential crisis. That there was a threat to our very fabric as a nation. Even with policy disagreements. I never felt that way. I do now. This time is different.”
“You don’t need an advanced theological degree or a Ph.D. in political science. All you need are ears. Listen to the way the current occupant of the Oval Office talks about women out loud. Just listen to the way he talks about immigrants and talks about nations that are in the same shape that European nations were in after world War II when we initiated the Marshall Plan. Listen to the way he mocked a disabled person. The thing we tell our children not to do at school.”
“Now as pastors, we’re not here to send Joe Biden or Donald Trump to heaven or hell. We are here to send one of them to the Oval Office which we’re all qualified to opine on. Joe Biden talks about faith and actually goes to church. He carries his rosary around with him. When I look at Jesus’ life, which I do often, from a preponderance of the evidence point of view, whenever Jesus was around people tended to feel better and to have something to eat. I don’t know whether to put a ‘D’ on that or an ‘R’ on that but it just seemed like whenever this guy was around people got healed and people got fed. So I favor policies that will allow more people to eat and more people to feel better.”
“In 2010 Vice President Biden worked alongside President Obama to pass the Affordable Care Act which extended health insurance to 20 million people and protected the 100 million from being discriminated against for pre-existing conditions. And allow kids to stay on their parent’s insurance until the age of 26 and more. This is important for us here in North Carolina because 250,000 North Carolinians have contracted the covid virus. 4,000 have died. And while all this is going on, as a follower of Jesus, I am flabbergasted that right now, as we speak, the President is in court trying to strip the protections of the Affordable Care Act away while we are battling a pandemic. Healthcare is on the ballot this election.”
Joe Biden will build on the Affordable Care Act. He has a plan to defeat this virus which disproportionately affects black and brown communities. So for me, because I’ve listened; not because I’m a great theological mind or a great political scientist, but because I have listened and I have watched. And the choice could not be more clear for me and the stakes could not be any higher for the United States of America and for the entire world. We need a person of character, decency, faith, and action in the White House. Nearly two million North Carolinians have already voted. Let’s join them and make Joe Biden the next president of the United States of America and Kamala Harris the next Vice President of the United States of America.
For information on how to vote, visit I Will Vote NC.