The Candidates' Religious Beliefs and Church Affiliations

By: SW

We all know what church Obama attended for 20 years until he resigned recently. What about the church affiliations and religious beliefs of the 4 candidates?

John McCain

He is raised an Episcopalian, but has been attending the North Phoenix Baptist church which is affiliated with the Southern Baptist denomination. When asked about his religion, he answered,

"I was raised in an Episcopal church and attended high school at a high school called Episcopal High School. I have attended North Phoenix Baptist Church for many years, and the most important thing is that I'm a Christian. "

Recently when he was interviewed by Rick Warren, Pastor of the Saddleback church:

Warren: You publicly say you are a follower of Christ. What does that mean to you and how does faith work out in your life on a daily basis? What does it mean to you?McCain: Means I'm saved and forgiven and we're talking about the world. Our faith encompasses not just the United States of America but the world.


Barack Obama

In the same interview, Obama had the following usual long-winded response to Pastor Warren’s question:

Obama: As a starting point, it means I believe in that Jesus died for my sins and that I am redeemed through him. That is a source of strength and sustenance on a daily basis. I know that I don't walk alone, and I know that if I can get myself out of the way, that I can maybe carry out in some small way what he intends. And it means that those sins that I have on a fairly regular basis hopefully will be washed away. But what it also means, I think, is a sense of obligation to embrace not just words but through deeds the expectations that God has for us. And that means thinking about the least of these. It means acting - well, acting justly and loving mercy and walking humbly with our God. And that, I think trying to apply those lessons on a daily basis knowing that you are going to fall a little bit short each day and kind of trying to be able to take note and say, well, that didn't quite work out the way I think it should have but maybe I can get a little better. It gives me the confidence to try things including running for president where are you going to screw up once in a while.


Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin’s family was attending the Wasilla Assembly of God since 1999. According to reports, this is a Pentecostal or charismatic church, and the pastor (Ed Kalnins) preaches about the “end times” or “last days” a lot. Some left wingers are using this to attack Sarah Palin, or at least are using this to counter the argument that not only Obama has a church affiliation problem. But there is no evidence that this AG church preaches hateful messages like Jeremy Wright did.

But the thing that should be noted is that Sarah’s family switched to a more main stream, non-denominational and evangelical church, the Wasilia Bible Church since 2002. But that does not stop the left wing media from using Pastor Kalnins’ sermons to attack Palin.

Newsweek reporters visited the Wasilia Bible Church and its report seems reasonably fair and balanced (http://www.newsweek.com/id/156679 ) . This is how the article describes the church:

“Except for the national spotlight, Wasilla Bible Church resembles thousands of conservative evangelical churches across the country. Its statement of faith says its members believe that the Bible is the "inspired, inerrant word of God." It offers a half a dozen ministries devoted to children and families, including a chapter of MOPS, a popular nationwide support group for Christian mothers of preschoolers. The sermons of its ministers steer clear of politics and hot-button social issues and dwell instead on scripture. Its membership is largely conservative.”

Joe Biden

He is a Roman Catholic, yet his stance on abortion is not acceptable to the Catholics (He claims that he opposes abortion, but he also states that he will not impose his personal convictions on anyone). As a result he won’t draw many Catholic votes. In fact after he was nominated for VP he was banned from speaking at Catholic schools. The following was reported by LifeSiteNews.com on August 26, 2008 (http://sacredscoop.com/?p=1366 ):

In an interview with Bob Krebs, the Communications Director for the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington, to which Senator Joseph Biden belongs, Krebs confirmed that Biden’s Bishop will not permit the Senator even if elected Vice President of the United States of America to speak at Catholic schools.

When asked for the Bishop’s take on Senator Biden and his stand in favor of abortion, Krebs directed LifeSiteNews.com to Bishop Michael Saltarelli’s 2004 statement on ‘Catholics in Political Life’ which, said Krebs, “very plainly states Bishop’s position in this matter.”

In that document Bishop Saltarelli notes that, in line with the US Bishops Conference policy, “Our Catholic institutions will not honor Catholic politicians who take pro-abortion legislative positions or invite them to speak at our functions or schools.”

The same report points out that Biden is not forbidden from taking communion at his local parish of St. Joseph near his home in Delaware.