Senator-Elect Adam Hamilton Says He'll Keep Pastoring His Kansas Megachurch Part-Time

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One of the most influential progressive pastors in America is headed to the U.S. Senate, and he isn't leaving his pulpit. As reported by The Christian Post, Adam Hamilton, senior pastor of Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, will remain the church's senior pastor after winning a Senate seat on November 3.

The Christian Post notes Hamilton is the first Democrat elected to represent Kansas in the Senate in nearly a century. His church is one of the largest congregations in the United Methodist Church, and Hamilton is described as a theological progressive and the author of around 30 books.

According to a question-and-answer page on the church's website, Hamilton's status will shift from full-time to quarter-time. He will preach an estimated 12 to 18 weekends a year, including Christmas and Easter, and will continue to set vision for the executive team and mentor the church's pastors. Members will vote at a church conference to reset his pay to no more than the Senate's limit on outside earned income, which the church lists as $33,855 a year. Hamilton, 62, is still slated to retire as senior pastor in the fall of 2030.

The church says his roles as pastor and senator "will be distinct" and that political questions must be directed to his Senate office. He is scheduled to be sworn in on January 3.

A Bible Believing Response

I want to be fair here. A Christian serving in government is not the problem. Joseph served Pharaoh, Daniel served in Babylon, and Nehemiah was the king's cupbearer. God uses believers in public office.

But a pastor is not a part-time figurehead. Peter told elders, "Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof" (1 Peter 5:2). Paul told the Ephesian elders to "take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock" (Acts 20:28). Hebrews says pastors "watch for your souls, as they that must give account" (Hebrews 13:17). You cannot watch for souls in Kansas while you are casting votes in Washington. Preaching a dozen or so weekends a year and "casting vision" is a CEO model, not a shepherd model.

The apostles faced a similar choice in Acts 6. They refused to be pulled away from the main work and said, "we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word" (Acts 6:4). Paul warned Timothy that "no man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life" (2 Timothy 2:4).

There is also the bigger issue. Hamilton is, as The Christian Post puts it, a theological progressive. A man who handles the Word of God carries a heavy responsibility: "be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation" (James 3:1). Churches don't need pastors with bigger platforms. They need pastors who will "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season" (2 Timothy 4:2), and who will stay with the sheep.

Sources: The Christian Post and Church of the Resurrection.

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