Please view the following message from Bishop Escobedo-Frank as we prepare for the upcoming election in the United States:

Transcript:

Hello everyone.

I am Bishop Dottie Escobedo-Frank from the California-Pacific Conference. I’m speaking to you, those of you in my conference, coming from a place of my heart during this time, this season that we are in.

We are just a few weeks away from an election happening in our country. And I’m quite aware that what happens here affects not just our own communities, but affects the world. And my heart has been heavy as I think about our role as Christians in this moment.

So how do we decide who to vote for? I’m not gonna tell you who to vote for, but I’m gonna tell you how I decide when I make these major decisions in my life.

First of all, I look at my scriptures and I try to figure out what scriptures are the ones that pull me forward in this moment. And the scriptures that I’m gonna lay before you today are our primary scriptures in our understanding of who God is and what God asks us to do as people who follow after Jesus Christ and follow after God.

The first scripture I’m bringing to you is from the First Testament, Micah 6:8. And the question is asked, “what does God require of us?” And the answer that’s given is to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God.

And then the next scripture that I want to remember is the scripture of Jesus’ words, because when I, as a follower of Jesus Christ, look at our scriptures, I always have to look through that lens of what Jesus is asking us.

And Jesus said to us in Matthew, “I was hungry and you fed me. I was thirsty, and he gave me something to drink. I was a stranger, and you welcomed me in. I was in prison and you visited me.” Now, if you read that whole scripture, you’ll see that Jesus says, this is what we are called to do. And Jesus also lets us know that when we don’t do that, there are grave consequences.

The last scripture I want to give you is Jesus’ words when Jesus said, um, all the commandments boil down to this, love God and love each other. So those are my primary scriptures when I look at this moment in our, in our history and our time in the United States.

We are at a crucial moment, I believe. And so I wanna encourage you to use your understanding, your faith, to pull your faith forward as you go to the voting polls. And to remember who God asked us to be. And vote your faith conscience, vote with your soul as you help us guide our country, and as you care for our world.

Thank you for the time that you will take to make sure we attend to the needs of our citizens and the needs of our world. And I’m praying for you. I’m praying that God speaks through you, through your presence, through your kindness to those around you and through your vote, as you vote your conscience.

Thank you for being there on the ground.