During a late Saturday morning, parishioners gathered in front of the Edgehill United Methodist Church. They listened as Rev. Eric Mayle, the church's pastor, stood in front of a microphone, his 2-week-old daughter wrapped to his chest as he spoke. Behind him, the Methodist symbol of a cross and flame was posted on a wall. Sunday service hadn't come early: He was rallying them to vote.
On Oct. 24, in collaboration with Greater Bethel AME Church and Nashville Organized for Hope and Action (NOAH), a progressive faith-led activist group, Edgehill UMC held "Souls to the Polls," an event that included multiple pro-democracy speeches from religious leaders and a march to a nearby polling location. NOAH says county data shows Precinct 17-3, a zone inside
Edgehill that includes most of Reservoir Park, had the second-lowest voter turnout in the city (16%) during the 2022 midterms.
Edgehill UMC has extensive roots within Nashville's community activist network. When it was founded in 1966 by Rev. Bill Barnes, an influential civil rights leader, it became one of the first racially integrated churches in the city. The church's progressive slant applies to gender and sexuality as well. Underneath a pride flag hung at the entrance, a sign reads "Welcome. Everyone has a place at this table."
With just over a week until Election Day, candidates from both sides of the aisle are looking to appeal to religious voters. That includes Christians, who make up around 63% of the city's population according to the Pew Research Center. Evangelicals, historically known as an active voting bloc, make up 45% of the state's population, one of the highest in the country. In an Oct. 23 Facebook post, Republican U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn said Tennessee would become "the most Christian conservative state in the country" if she wins the governor's race. Jerri Green, a Memphis City Councilmember and Blackburn's Democratic opponent in the race, has made multiple public appearances at Baptist churches over the past few months.
In speaking to his congregation, Mayle said the right to vote could not be taken for granted, highlighting Republican-led redistricting efforts that have renewed voter turnout efforts in Tennessee. Fears of federal interference have also risen as the U.S. Department of Justice opened unprecedented lawsuits in California and Alaska. A New York Times/Sienna poll conducted in mid-October found that 50% of voters fear Republicans may try to overturn the November elections through "illegal means."
"We must not grow weary. We must continue this race that has been set before us. Whether we see the impact or not, we are sowing seeds," Mayle told the crowd. "We are being faithful. We are using our voice."
Kelli X, the pastor of The Village Church in Madison, emphasized the importance of voting in elections at every level. Data provided by NOAH showed consistently lower voter turnout throughout Nashville during the 2022 midterms compared to the 2024 presidential election, matching historical nationwide trends.
"This is a wonderful time to (vote), because I think so often we only think about the presidential election, but we know that every single elected official affects something ... in our lives, and in particular, those that are our representatives that are closest to us have the biggest effect on us," Kelli X said. "So let us go and use our voice."
The group then walked down to an early voting location at the former Scarritt College for Christian Workers, where Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a speech during the 1957 Conference on Christian Faith and Human Relations. Parishioners marched for about half a mile, singing as they held signs encouraging others to vote. Along the way, Mayle carried his 4-year-old son his back.
"If you keep being good, you can have half a donut," he told his son.
When the group arrived, Mike Hodge watched from underneath a tree as parishioners entered to cast their vote. Hodge, the Staff-Parish Relations Chair at Edgehill UMC and a longtime community organizer, sees the relationship between religion and civic activism like most congregants there do: intertwined.
"Jesus, in his own job description in Luke 4:18, said he was about freeing the oppressed, liberating those who are captives and feeding the hungry. That's really the core of our faith: Loving God and loving your neighbor," Hodge told the Tennessean. "Too often we stop with the first part ... One way of loving your neighbor is to make sure they can participate in government (so) they can speak up for themselves."
Early voting ends on Oct. 29 at 7 p.m., and polling locations can be found on Nashville Metro Government's website.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville pastors lead march to the polls
