KENOSHA — Reverend Jonathan Barker led Grace Lutheran Church in Kenosha for nearly a decade. Last week, he resigned after preparing a sermon encouraging Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to run for president in 2028.
The timing came after a recent IRS statement suggesting churches could endorse candidates during services. Known as the Johnson Amendment, a law in place for more than 70 years, bars churches from endorsing political candidates, with violations risking their tax-exempt status.
Watch: Kenosha pastor resigns after drafting sermon on political endorsement
Conservatives celebrated the IRS reinterpretation as a green light, while many denominations continue to prohibit political endorsements to avoid dividing congregations.
Barker says he felt called to speak out on values like health care and protecting the planet. But his denomination, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), told him that the church does not allow pastors to endorse candidates from the pulpit.
The ELCA said:
“…this church, unlike some Christian churches, teaches that it is not the church’s role to endorse candidates or parties. I encouraged Pastor Barker to reconsider his proposed endorsement… Pastor Barker called me, verbally resigning from Grace Lutheran Church and from the ELCA roster.”
Barker says that after his resignation, he preached to nine people in a borrowed event space across town, far fewer than the congregants he would normally see. He says he has not left his faith and hopes to continue serving the community in other ways.
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