Why I'm Speaking Up for Adam Hamilton
In more than twenty years of ministry I've never endorsed a candidate. Here's why Adam Hamilton is the exception, and how I'm making it as a citizen, not from the pulpit.
I don’t do this. Years ago I put a bumper sticker on my car for a candidate, and that was the extent of it. In more than twenty years of ministry I’ve never publicly endorsed anyone for office. I’m careful about it, and I’ve stayed quiet on purpose. Pastors carry a particular kind of trust, and I don’t take lightly the idea of spending it on a campaign. So I want you to know something. I’m speaking up for Adam Hamilton, who’s running for the U.S. Senate. This is the first time I’ve done this, and I’ve thought about it hard. Let me tell you why he’s the exception, and how I’m making it.
How I Know Him
I got my start in ministry as one of the associate pastors at the Church of the Resurrection, where Adam is the founding pastor. That’s where I learned a great deal of what I know about leading a congregation. In the years since, I’ve heard him teach at the Leadership Institute, where pastors from across the country gather to learn. I’ve been with him year after year at our annual conference. And I’ve served alongside him in the Great Plains delegation to Jurisdictional Conference. That’s the kind of setting where you see how a person handles disagreement, pressure, and the slow work of decisions that matter.
I’ve had the chance to watch how he leads, up close and over a long time. Adam’s running as a Democrat, though he’s independent-minded, and what draws me isn’t a party or a slogan. It’s the person I’ve come to know. Here’s what I mean.
What I’ve Seen in Him
He listens. Really listens, the kind where you can tell he’s taking you in rather than waiting for his turn to talk. I saw it again when his Kansas listening tour came through McPherson this spring, watching him give his full attention to the people who showed up to be heard. As far as I know, it’s how he’s always operated. And he doesn’t just listen, he takes what he hears seriously, staying open to learn and grow rather than acting like he already has every answer.
He leads with genuine integrity. The Adam you’d meet in public is the same one I’ve seen in leadership settings over the years. What he says lines up with who he is, and that consistency holds up under pressure, which is where it actually counts. The way he’s led over the years is the way of someone willing to tell people the truth even when a softer version would be easier.
He brings people together across real differences. For decades he’s led a congregation that spans the whole political spectrum, people who agree on very little politically sitting side by side week after week. He’s kept them at the same table without pretending the differences away. That’s hard work, and from what I’ve seen he’s good at it.
He treats every person as a neighbor, not an opponent. Disagreement doesn’t make someone his enemy. That conviction runs through his ministry and his writing, and I trust him to carry it into public service, where it’s in painfully short supply. We could use more people in public life who assume the best of the person across from them.
Washington right now rewards the opposite of all this, treating the other side as the enemy rather than the neighbor. Adam is a different kind of leader. That’s why I’m for him. I believe he’s the leadership Kansas needs in the U.S. Senate, and I think he has a real shot.
Speaking as a Citizen, Not from the Pulpit
Because I’m a pastor, let me be clear about how I’m saying this. I’m speaking as a citizen, on my own name, not as McPherson First and not from the pulpit. No church name, no church resources, my own time. The church I serve includes people who’ll vote every direction this fall, and every one of them is welcome here. That won’t change. My preaching stays neutral. As a pastor, I’ll encourage you to vote. I won’t tell you how, and I won’t start now.
I’ve watched a certain kind of faith show up in some of our elected officials lately. Loud, sure of itself, more interested in winning than serving, quick to claim God for one side. Adam’s approach to faith runs the other direction. It holds its convictions humbly, the faith of a servant rather than a crusader, and it honors the dignity of every person whatever they believe. That’s the kind of faith I trust in the public square, the kind that opens its hands rather than making a fist.
If you see it differently, I respect that. I care more about you than about winning the argument. I'm not asking you to agree with me, and I'm not asking anyone to sign onto a platform. I'm simply telling you what I see in a person I've come to trust, and why I'm willing to say it out loud. If you're still deciding, take a look at Adam yourself at hamiltonforkansas.com. Watch how he treats people who see things differently. That will tell you what you need to know.