Religious leaders urge parishioners to vote

The Interfaith Alliance of Iowa is urging pastors, priests and other religious leaders to conduct worship services about the importance of voting. Reverend Rex Piercy of the United Methodist Church in Waukee says 164 Iowa congregations plan “Call to a Faithful Decision” services before election day.Interfaith Alliance chair Mark Davis of Clive says urges church leaders to focus their talk on the civic duty of voting, and refrain from endorsing candidates. He says legal and theological reasons dictate that the church leaders remain nonpartisan.Reverend Christopher Epting, the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Iowa, says people of faith should be well informed about the candidates and the issues. Epting says it’s their job to encourage people to vote, but not tell them who to vote for. He says religious leaders can be “political, but not partisan.”The Interfaith Alliance sent three-thousand letters to churches, synagogues, mosques and temples, warning faith-based institutions they might lose their tax-exempt status if voting guides endorsing particular candidates are distributed in their house of worship.