Abbie Barber regularly stands before the congregation at Valencia United Methodist Church as part of the youth choir, but taking the podium on a Sunday in October was a special occasion.
“I think it’s banging that I get to preach for you all,” she told the crowd.
Abbie delivered a youth sermon as part of a five-week Do Unto Others campaign leading up to the election. As the presidential race ramped up, even the 11-year-old could tell, the grown-ups were tense.
“Like, they were, like serious face,” she recalled. “And like they looked mad. I don't know why.”
In a way, the congregation’s campaign was counterprogramming to the political one. Teri Comp is one of the lay leaders along with Abbie’s dad, Mike. They first heard about the Do Unto Others movement during a leadership trip to the Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas. They knew right away they wanted to bring it home to Santa Clarita.
“When you get in the in the mindset of, you know, the election, you're thinking more about how you're different than how you're alike,” Comp said. “And we wanted to really just remind ourselves that we really do have a lot in common.”
An important message during a divisive time. Andy Mattick is the co-lead pastor of VUMC. He worries about just how deep the political divide has grown, even within families.
“There's such a sharp, deep division of opinion, process and position that people are outright hostile to one another,” he lamented.
He immediately embraced the idea of the campaign and the logo, which he said spells out the main point perfectly.
“With the Republican red and the Democrat blue, the larger part of who we are is a purple people who come together,” Mattick explained. “And that we're better together.”
The five-week worship series reflected on key themes such as kindness, humility and compassion. The signs were everywhere, outside, inside, on stickers and T-shirts, reminding people that doing unto others doesn’t come with caveats.
“No matter who we vote for, we can know what our heart is,” Mattick said, “and that's how we see others, how we treat others, to treat others the way we want to be treated.”
The focused series may have ended with election season but Comp says the need to find common ground continues.
“It’s everything, it really is,” she said. “It’s kind of what it’s all about.”
She loves that some of the signs remain around the church and the town. Abbie likes seeing them, but she doesn’t need them. She knows the lesson by heart.
“It doesn't matter who you are, you always have to be kind,” she said.
A philosophy that’s near and dear to her heart.