When Rev. Sen. Raphael Warnock addressed an overflow crowd at the Tabernacle on Sunday, he delivered a sermon steeped in both faith and politics. For the pastor and Democratic Senator from Georgia, the two are inextricable.
“It is my faith that leads me into public service, and it is the foundation upon which I do the things that I do,” he told the Gazette during an interview a few days after the service.
Senator Warnock made history in 2020 when he became the first African American to represent Georgia in the Senate. He is also the senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church, the spiritual home of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
His appearance at the Tabernacle came a week ahead of the start of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, which runs from August 19 to 22.
Senator Warnock first preached on the Vineyard in 2009, at the invitation of Rev. Cathlin Baker, pastor of the First Congregational Church of West Tisbury. The two are old friends, having met three decades ago at Union Seminary. He has preached here most every summer since, the service moving to the Tabernacle in 2021, to accommodate the larger crowds he draws since becoming Senator.
Sunday’s service was a collaboration between the First Congregational Church of West Tisbury, Union Chapel and the Martha’s Vineyard Camp Meeting Association. Senator Warnock’s sermon was entitled “But the People Wanted a King.” He said the theme addressed a “basic insecurity” that leads people to expediency.
“Human beings, in their essential nature . . . we want a sure thing,” he told the audience at the Tabernacle. “We want to go back to a place we know, even if that place isn’t very good.”
He urged listeners to reject the impulses of hubris, materialism and idolatry that are at odds with the bedrock values of a Christian faith. He warned that “imbibing the Kool Aid of the culture” simply medicates what only faith can truly heal.
But the sermon’s biblical architecture was also designed to reflect the American political moment, a Presidential election year in an intensely polarized environment.
“Democracy is on the ballot and freedom hangs in the balance,” he told the crowd.
When Senator Warnock sat down with the Gazette, he remarked again on the diverse crowd assembled at the Tabernacle. At the service, he asked everyone to look around at the “Kingdom of God.”
“I preach every Sunday to a very diverse, gathered congregation,” he said, referring to his home church in Atlanta. “The gathering we saw on Sunday at the Tabernacle, in terms of its demographic diversity, looks about like my congregation.”
Sunday’s service examined the desire for quick solutions, both personally and politically, as a “spiritual problem.” He said to effectively approach challenges such as climate change, immigration and a post-industrial economy requires wrestling with, rather than dismissing, the complexities.
“These are not simple problems,” he told the Gazette. “They are solvable, but they are complex. In the midst of that, there is this impulse people have for a simplistic answer, and there’s always some demagogue who’s more than willing to offer one.”
He said he’s grateful for his party’s renewed energy following President Joe Biden’s departure from the race last month.
“It’s inspiring,” he said. “There was some hand-wringing going on a few weeks ago and I understand that. There’s so much at stake.”
Carrying the dual roles of pastor and senator means constantly absorbing the emotions and uncertainties of his congregants and constituents. He said that self-care is key, something he can embrace when on the Vineyard, although even here he said he must remain “intentional” about safeguarding his time or risk being pulled in too many directions.
Lobster rolls at Nancy’s, coffee at Mocha Mott’s, beach visits and downtime with friends are all on the daily schedule — but at the top of the list is spending time with his children, Chloe (8) and Caleb (5).
“It’s important to me to guard my children’s time with their father,” he said. “I get to write and pass legislation... [but] as cool and fulfilling as that is, the most important work I can do is leave two well-adjusted, well-balanced, compassionate, faith-filled human beings on this planet.”
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