Hands Off Our Vote!: Faithful Leadership for Democracy

This is not a normal election season, and clergy cannot lead as though it is.

This two-hour training will equip Chicago and Illinois clergy with practical tools to lead their congregations through Election Day, January 2027, and beyond amid escalating threats to our democracy.

Led by two Minnesota clergy leaders engaged in democracy defense and election protection, the training draws from lessons learned through direct action during Operation Metro Surge. Together, clergy will explore strategies they can adapt to their own congregations and communities to protect democracy, organize people into courageous action, and advance a caring economy and thriving multiracial democracy.

We defend democracy so we can use democracy to build what our people deserve.

Minister Bates' biography: Minister JaNaé Bates Imari is the Co-Executive Director for Faith in Minnesota (c4) and ISAIAH (c3) – multi-racial, multi-faith, state-wide vehicles for people and communities of faith, minority owned businesses, childcare centers, manufactured home parks and farming communities. Both ISAIAH and FiMN are dedicated to building a multiracial democracy by moving collectively and powerfully for racial and economic equity in the state of Minnesota. JaNaé and her organizations have most recently been recognized for the frontline organizing work during Operation Metro Surge and the Day of Truth and Freedom in the Twin Cities. JaNaé is the lead organizer and founder of the Black Clergy Power Table and the statewide Black Church Power Project. JaNaé specializes in integrating grassroots community organizing and narrative strategy in both Minnesota and across the U.S. JaNaé is a womanist theologian and Fulbright scholar. She has over two decades of experience in ministry, social justice, and communications. She additionally serves as an auxiliary minister at Camphor Memorial United Methodist Church in St. Paul’s historic Rondo neighborhood. 

Rev. Lippert's biography: Rev. Todd Lippert is an Organizer with ISAIAH MN, the lead Multi-Faith Organizer with Faith in Us, and an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ.  Todd has served local churches in rural areas in Wisconsin and Minnesota, and he served two terms in the Minnesota House of Representatives representing a rural and small town district in Southeast Minnesota.  Pastor Lippert has been organizing with clergy and congregations for justice since 2013, and he was at the center of the clergy response in Minnesota during Operation Metro Surge.  Todd co-led the sit-in action at the Target Corporation that led to a meeting with the Target CEO demanding they call for ICE to leave Minnesota, and he also was the lead clergy person on the team of 98 clergy that were arrested at the Minneapolis airport as they demanded Delta and Signature airlines to stop their cooperation with ICE.