Beloved Zion, as The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, we affirm that voting is a sacred act of stewardship, a way we honor God’s image in every person and protect the communities entrusted to our care. When we vote, we speak for those whose voices are too often pushed to the margins. When we organize, we strengthen the moral fabric of our democracy. And when we equip our clergy and laity with voting resources and advocacy toolkits, we empower our beloved Zion to stand boldly for justice, equity, and the common good.
In this season, we call our churches to teach, share, and mobilize: distribute voter‑education guides, host registration Sundays, and use our A.M.E. Zion toolkits to help every member understand what’s at stake, from voting rights to health care access, living wages, and the moral urgency of ending policies and conflicts that harm the most vulnerable.
Beloved, democracy is strongest when Zion shows up. Let us vote, let us advocate, and let us lead with conviction and compassion.
Why We Engage
A people formed by covenant, sent to love our neighbor
THE CALL, STATED PLAINLY
Project 100 is the call of our Zion to plant faithful engagement in one hundred congregations and the communities they serve — not one great gathering in one place, but a people at work in every neighborhood where a church stands. If your congregation does only one thing, let it be this: find the neighbor who has been forgotten, and go to them.
The Widow, the Orphan, the Stranger
The oldest teaching of our faith is also the plainest: care for the widow, the orphan, the child, and the stranger. Scripture returns to them again and again — not because they are the only ones who matter, but because they are the ones most easily forgotten. To do good, to seek justice, to defend the one who has no defender: this is the work faith has always asked of us. The question for the church today is not whether to care, but who these neighbors are now. They are still among us, under different names.
WHO THEY ARE TODAY
The widow — the elder who lives alone, the caregiver holding a household together by herself, the family that has lost the one who provided.
The orphan — the child in foster care, the young person aging out of the system, the student with no one to guide them.
The stranger — the immigrant and the refugee, the newcomer without a community, the returning citizen, the neighbor no one has yet welcomed.
These are the neighbors whose lives are most shaped by who governs, and who are most often left out when the decisions get made. To care for them is not only to feed and to visit — it is to make sure they are counted, registered, and carried to the ballot when the season comes.
Organize the Body
Call your class meeting, Christian Education ministry, Lay Council, missionary society, Sunday school, usher board, choir, young people, and elders into this work together. The body of Christ has many members, and every one is needed.
The math of faithfulness is simple: if ten members each invite twenty-five neighbors and ten say yes, you will have gathered one hundred people ready to serve. This is how a congregation becomes a movement of care.
Souls to the polls, beyond Sunday. The old tradition carried the faithful from the pew to the polls on Sunday; Project 100 carries it further, every day early voting is open.
• Run early-voting caravans — fill the church vans and carry your neighbors across every day of early voting, not Sunday alone.
• Never leave the elder, the first-time voter, or the neighbor without a ride behind. A seat in the van is a seat at the table of democracy.
• Meet people where they gather — ball games, cookouts, and community festivals.
• Build a fellowship of partners: any person or group ready to love the neighbor with you.
Canvassing: How to Go Door to Door
Going door to door is how the church tells its neighbors, one porch at a time, that they are seen and that the season to be counted has come. Keep it warm, brief, and always nonpartisan.
Before you go. Go in pairs, in daylight. Bring a nonpartisan script, a walk list, registration forms, and cards with the early-voting dates, the polling site, vote.gov, and the church ride number. Leave every candidate and party opinion at home.
At the door. Introduce yourself and your church. Say why you are there: “We’re helping neighbors make a plan to vote — whoever they support.” Then listen.
What to ask. Are you registered at your current address? Do you know your early-voting dates and site? Do you need a ride? Is there anyone else in the home who should be counted?
What to leave. A nonpartisan card with the dates, the site, vote.gov, and the ride number —never a candidate or party message.
Respect and safety. Honor every “no.” Never argue or pressure. Do not enter homes. Note accessibility and ride needs. Thank everyone.
After the walk. Record who needs follow-up — a ride, help registering, a reminder — and circle back before the deadline. Every door is for everyone; no litmus test.
A LINE TO PREACH
“The church that stops at the sanctuary door is only half a church. The Lord we praise on Sunday is served on Monday — in the feeding of the hungry, the visiting of the sick, the welcome of the stranger, and the neighbor carried to the ballot who would not have gone alone.”
Our covenant. No exceptions. FAITHFUL — we serve in the name of Christ, grounded in Scripture and answerable to God. NONPARTISAN — we serve people, not parties; no candidate’s name, no party’s name, from the pulpit or the porch. DIGNIFIED — we protect the vulnerable, honor the elder and the child, and welcome the stranger as we would welcome the Lord.
LOVE GOD. LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR. LEAVE NO ONE BEHIND.
Why the Midterm Matters
A nonpartisan word for the church · Election Day: November 3, 2026
THE FACTS, STATED PLAINLY
The midterms are November 3, 2026. This year the ballot decides all 435 U.S. House seats, 35 of the 100 Senate seats, and 39 governorships. In 2022, only about 46% of eligible voters cast ballots in the midterms, compared to 66% in the 2020 presidential election. Midterm elections often see lower turnout than presidential elections, which means your vote carries even more weight.
The Moral Case
1. The forgotten offices govern the neighbor. The seats people skip in the midterms are the ones closest to the widow, the child, and the stranger. Governors and state officials shape whether a hungry family is fed, whether the sick are covered, whether the school down the street is funded. A campaign about voting is never only about voting. It is about who answers for the least of these between now and the next presidential year.
2. Silence is a choice too. Say it plainly from the pulpit: to stay home is not to stay neutral. When the faithful sit out, they hand the decision to someone else and call it rest. Scripture does not let us love the neighbor in word and abandon them at the ballot. The vote is one of the instruments of that love.
3. This is why the caravan runs. Fewer than half will vote in a midterm, which means the elder you carry, the first-time voter you register, and the neighbor without a ride you seat in the church van, each one counts double against that low tide. In a low-turnout election, the church that shows up does not just add votes. It changes the weight of who gets heard.
A LINE TO PREACH
“The presidential year draws the crowd. The midterm reveals the faithful. In the year the world looks away, the church looks harder, because the widow, the orphan, and the stranger do not stop needing a government that answers to them just because the cameras have gone home.”
Remember our covenant: We serve people, not parties. This word urges the faithful to vote and tells them why it is a matter of faith. It never tells them how to vote. No candidate’s name, no party’s name, from the pulpit or the porch.
View Toolkit Here: https://amezion.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Project100_Toolkit_.pdf
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