In attempting to equate the mission of the church with a mandate to get involved in politics, Nelson tried to tie politics with the ministry of Jesus. “Jesus’ mission statement at the beginning of his ministry was not a mission statement of ‘I’m going to bring everybody into a church.’ His mission statement was about releasing prisoners,” he said, claiming that Jesus sought to make a political statement with His ministry.

The turbulent waters of politics can often split churches and anger members, but one admittedly liberal Presbyterian Church (USA) official believes the denomination can navigate those waters with dialogue and engagement.

According to the OPW website, the goals of the Respectful Dialogue Initiative (RDI) include:
· Training a minimum of 200 Presbyterians from across the country each year to lead respectful and non-partisan community discussions on political issues;
· Encouraging active listening among RDI participants;
· Leading participants in deepening political conversations in their community for more informed voter participation;
· Building new political alliances among persons in local communities that are not solely defined by political parties; and
· Promoting the development and sharing of ideas without fear.

The Rev. J. Herbert Nelson II, director of the PCUSA Office of Public Witness (OPW), formerly called the PCUSA’s Washington Office, rolled out an initiative that may draw controversy but seemed to be well received by those attending a peacemaking conference at the PCUSA Big Tent event on July 1. The program was titled: “Restore Our Confidence to Speak Truth Freely while Loving Unashamedly.”

“The answer to our struggles is not on the right and it’s not on the left,” Nelson said. “It’s somewhere in the middle of a dialogue that’s based on engaged listening,” he added in introducing the public witness office’s Respectful Dialogue Initiative (RDI).

According to the OPW website, the program will “train Presbyterians to lead discussions in their communities about issues related to the 2012 elections.”

Nelson went on to say that since the government controls so much activity in peoples’ daily affairs, church members should be expected to speak out on issues like healthcare, education and federally-funded childcare.

“It’s almost ludicrous for folk who say they believe in Jesus Christ to say that we shouldn’t talk about these issues because they’re controversial,” Nelson said, adding that many fear that addressing political issues may break up churches.

“If these are the issues that will break up the church, we don’t have a church in the first place,” he said to a chorus of several “Amen’s.”

Nelson, a third-generation Presbyterian pastor, said that, although the RDI is supposed to focus on the political sphere, it could be useful in discussions about life in the PCUSA.

“Some [churches] will acknowledge that they have a liberal pastor … associates who are conservative … and congregations in the midst of all of that and yet we can’t talk politics,” Nelson said, wondering aloud how a church could form a community when many stand on what he called extremes in the political arena.