wfn.org | NJ CANDIDATES SHARE CHURCH AFFILIATION

[RICH.SCHRAMM@ecunet.org]

AMERICAN BAPTIST NEWS SERVICE 
Office of Communication  
American Baptist Churches USA 
P.O. Box 851, Valley Forge, PA 19482-0851 
Phone: (610)768-2077 / Fax: (610)768-2320 
Web: www.abc-usa.org
Richard W. Schramm, Director 
 E-mail: richard.schramm@abc-usa.org

AMERICAN BAPTIST CHURCH IS HOME TO BOTH NEW JERSEY 
SENATORIAL CANDIDATES
 While the high-profile contest for a U.S. Senate seat 
in New Jersey between Republican Robert Franks and Democrat 
Jon Corzine has tended to focus on political differences it 
also has revealed a striking point of common ground--both 
men attend Christ Church in Summit, a congregation dually 
aligned with American Baptist Churches USA and the United 
Church of Christ.
 The race, reportedly the most expensive in the history 
of the Senate, has garnered national attention for, among 
other reasons, the unprecedented number of campaign dollars 
expended to promote each candidate's agenda.  A former Wall 
Street executive, Corzine alone is said to have spent more 
than $30 million of his own money during his primary 
campaign.  
 Immediately following the June primaries the Christ 
Church congregation found itself thrust into a media 
spotlight it may not have anticipated even several months 
earlier.  The church, which will celebrate its 125th 
anniversary next year and is one of the approximately 250 
congregations in the American Baptist Churches of New 
Jersey, is home to some 250 families and has an average 
Sunday attendance of about 220.  Through all the external 
attention, the church's pastor, the Rev. Charles Rush, has 
kept congregants focused on their mission and ministries, 
assuring them that "first and foremost my relationship to 
them is that I'm their minister."
 Both candidates live in communities close to Summit, a 
city of about 20,000 in Union County.  Corzine has been 
attending the church for ten years, Franks about three.  
Both have been described as moderate to liberal in political 
outlook, and they credit the church's cultural and 
theological diversity and its acceptance of differing 
opinions with providing them with a community of faith in 
which they can be comfortable.
 Both also give credit to Rush for his even-handed, 
bipartisan and pastoral approach.  "There is no sense of 
division [in the church].  It's a terrific church with a 
terrific pastor and both candidates recognize that," Steven 
Goldstein, Corzine's campaign co-manager, was quoted in the 
Newark Star-Ledger as saying.
 Rush in turn commends the character of each candidate 
and maintains that no matter which one is victorious in 
November the state will be well served:  "Both are 
idealists, men of great morals, and both are positive 
people.  These are men you hope your kids will grow up to 
become."
 "There can be a lot of integrity [in the political 
process]; I've seen it in action," he added, crediting both 
Corzine and Franks with showing consistent "genuine interest 
and concern." 
 Rush, who has gone to the extent of putting stickers 
for each candidate on the back of his sport utility vehicle, 
also was present to offer prayers as each launched his 
campaign. 
 He recalled a Communion Sunday last spring, when he 
was flanked by Corzine and Franks.  "I had both of them on 
either side of the Communion table during the Lord's Supper, 
a rich symbol of what we are all about.  At that moment I 
thought, we bring differences, but the point is we come 
together."

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