Pastor bridges law and faith
Atlanta minister defines advocacy as natural extension of Christian witness, not partisan politics
ATLANTA — The Rev. Rebekah LeMon never abandoned her legal training when she entered ministry. Instead, she discovered that advocacy — the core skill of any lawyer — is also a fundamental calling for people of faith.
“Advocacy is not a tricky word for lawyers. It is the job, right?” LeMon told host the Rev. Dr. Katie Givens Kime on Day1’s podcast, which posted Jan. 26. LeMon explained how vox, the root for “voice,” is in the word “advocate.” “You are literally ‘voicing,’” she said, adding that as a lawyer, “you are speaking for someone, and that is what you’re preparing to do.”
LeMon, senior pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, brought her legal background into conversation with her pastoral vocation during the episode, which featured her sermon “Be Humble Walking,” based on Micah 6:1-8.
The attorney-turned-minister acknowledged that while advocacy comes naturally in legal settings, it often creates discomfort in congregations. “Advocacy becomes a little trickier for church people sometimes,” she said, attributing this hesitation partly to “the deep rootedness of partisanship in our world right now that people associate advocacy with taking a partisan position.”
Over seven years ago, her call led LeMon to join the board of Presbyterians for a Better Georgia, an organization designed to give people of faith practical tools for civic engagement while breaking down partisan walls. “The goal of our systems and the goal of our legislative process are for the good of all, right? It is not meant to create benefit for some and lack or punishment for others,” she said.
LeMon identified a troubling disconnect in how Christians approach need. “So many people of faith would feel totally comfortable helping a person, right? We’ve read Matthew 25, we understand that people need — if they are hungry, we’re to feed them; if they are thirsty, we’re to give them drink; if they’re estranged, we’re to welcome them,” she said. “Somehow that feels comfortable if there’s a person in front of you and a material thing you can give them. But the systemic expression of that, which is let us change the system that is keeping people from having access to housing, or that is preserving food deserts, or that is alienating people from their home spaces, which are exactly the same things listed in Matthew 25, somehow the system level really scares people or makes them think they’re going to offend somebody.”
Advocacy, she argued, simply extends individual acts of mercy to address root causes. “We’re doing it in these really beautiful and important ways for humans we know. And the logical step is, let’s do it for humans we don’t know yet, and let’s change the system so our expression of fulfilling the command of Matthew 25 is not limited to one person at a time,” LeMon said. “That's what advocacy is really — you're trying to change the thing that causes the need to begin with.”
Presbyterians for a Better Georgia facilitates this work by taking positions on legislation and partnering with other nonprofits to amplify collective voices, particularly around housing, homelessness, and health care for all Georgians, LeMon said. “All Georgians, not one party or another.”
The organization provides what LeMon called “a fertile training ground for breaking down some of this partisanship stuff that's overlaying all of our lives right now,” requiring participants to work with people who may have voted differently or see issues from different angles.
“I’ve never heard advocacy described quite that way,” Kime responded, “and to hear it in a moment now when there’s such muddle about what it means to be faithful and to act in the civic sphere, right? In a moment when, like, oh, that’s so dangerous.”
In her sermon “Be Humble Walking,” Lemon reflected on Micah’s call to “do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with your God.” She emphasized that humility is not humiliation but rather “a way of being as you stick with God for the journey of a lifetime.” Noting that “our Lord was a walker,” moving from town to town throughout his ministry, Lemon framed Christian discipleship as walking alongside God rather than positioning ourselves defensively with “arms crossed, ready to self-defend.”
Addressing contemporary challenges to truth and humility, LeMon said, “In a world that settles for truthiness ... let us acknowledge we have so much to learn ... so much to change.”
The full Day1 episode is available now at day1.org, with video clips on YouTube Shorts. The sermon will air worldwide on Day1 radio broadcasts on Sunday, Feb. 1.
Presbyterians for a Better Georgia will host online advocacy training Feb. 12 and an in-person Lobby Day at the Georgia State Capitol on March 18. Register at p4bg.org/events. Contact [email protected] to learn more about involving your church or mid council in state level advocacy.
PC(USA)’s Office of Public Witness has developed “Holy Discontentment,” a resource for individuals and churches interested in local, state and national advocacy. The resource was made possible through the contributions of the Young Adult Volunteers working with the Office of Public Witness.
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