Pastor of Mega Church Says Endorse Jesus and Vote Romney
Pastor Jim Garlow addresses his congregation at Skyline Church in La Mesa. -- Roger Showley
RANCHO SAN DIEGO — Skyline Church Pastor Jim Garlow ended his Sunday sermon in La Mesa saying he'll vote for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, but left it to his congregation to make up their own minds.
"Some came to hear to hear an endorsement," Garlow said. "My endorsement will be Jesus. I'll tell you whom I'm going to vote for, but I don't think that makes it an endorsement. I'm going to vote for Mitt Romney, but I'm not telling you to."
He said Biblical principles should guide a voter's choice and, joined by radio talk show host Gina Loudon, he cited scripture that seem to comply more with Romney's views and the Republican platform than those of President Barack Obama and the Democrats.
"You sit alone with the spirit of God and let God tell you who to vote (for)," he said.
Garlow acted on what was called "Pulpit Freedom Sunday," when he said as many as 2,000 ministers nationally will take a position on the presidential election in defiance of an IRS rule that such political activism can prompt the loss of tax-exempt status. He said he was not worried for his church.
In attendance at the 11 a.m. service was Debbie Allen, San Diego chapter president of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
She said that Garlow and other religious leaders should be free to express their views, but their churches should not be exempted from taxation on their income or property.
"I'd say you give up any tax incentives -- that's an easy thing to do," she said, adding that she's a member of Congregation Beth Israel and bases her voting on secular, not religious, values.
Marlene Moore of Chula Vista, who attended the service, said she already was going to vote for Romney and other Republicans.
"I'm fine with hearing that," she said of Garlow's statement.
At the Skyline service, worshipers received a summary of liberal and conservative views on 24 issues, compiled by Wayne Gruden, a research professor at the Phoenix Seminary in Arizona and co-founder and past president of the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood.
In a statement on the Huffington Post website, Baptist minister C. Welton Gaddy of Louisiana, president of the Interfaith Alliance, said he will continue to keep his electoral views to himself.
"I will ask my fellow clergy to stop allowing themselves to be used as a political weapon by turning their pulpits into political stumps," Gaddy said.
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