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While our parishioners are brought together by their shared Christian beliefs founded on the Holy Bible, they are also individuals free to exercise their democratic rights however they wish. The political beliefs of individual parishioners should not be taken as a representation of the Church\u2019s views. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":6611,"menu_order":1,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"resource-type":[429],"class_list":["post-12024","resource","type-resource","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","resource-type-pbcc-articles"],"acf":{"content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"module_section","row":[{"column_gap":"","column":[{"module":[{"acf_fc_layout":"rich_media_block","image":false,"header":{"":null,"title":"","heading_level":"h2","header_styles":{"":null,"background_colour":"","background_image":false,"text_colour":"black"},"make_separator":false},"content":"
\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Plymouth Brethren Christian Church does not make, and has never made,\u00a0political donations and does not support political parties or individual candidates.\u00a0Nor has\u00a0the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church\u00a0ever organised or coordinated any political volunteerism or donations\u00a0of any type in any location.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n We are a faith-based community with\u00a055,000 members across the globe. While our parishioners\u00a0are brought together by their shared Christian beliefs founded on the Holy Bible,\u00a0they are\u00a0also\u00a0individuals free to exercise their democratic rights however they wish.\u00a0The political beliefs of individual parishioners should not be taken as a representation of the Church\u2019s views.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The decision to vote\u00a0or abstain\u00a0on religious grounds\u00a0is a personal choice.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n There is a religious basis for abstaining from voting that can be found in Romans 13\u00a0which states, amongst other things, that \u201cFor there is no authority except from\u00a0God; and those that exist are set up by God\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0Traditionally,\u00a0this\u00a0meant many of the Plymouth Brethren faith chose not to vote.\u00a0Even in Australia where it is compulsory to vote there is the\u00a0option\u00a0to abstain for religious reasons.\u00a0But it was never a rule and never a test of fellowship.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n However, over the past few decades, practices and norms in our\u00a0Church have evolved\u00a0\u2013 just like\u00a0many other religious groups. One of the changes our\u00a0Church has\u00a0observed\u00a0is\u00a0<\/span>more\u00a0of our\u00a0members\u00a0these days\u00a0choose to vote<\/span><\/a>,\u00a0form and\u00a0express\u00a0political beliefs and opinions, and volunteer for political parties.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It is important that this democratic right be respected, while the right of those to abstain on religious grounds\u00a0remains\u00a0protected.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Like anyone else in society, if individual\u00a0Church\u00a0members take an interest in politics and decide to support an individual politician or campaign, this is at their own\u00a0discretion,\u00a0and they do not\u00a0represent\u00a0the Church\u2019s views\u00a0when doing so.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In this video\u00a0clip taken from the\u00a0<\/span>Behind the Plymouth Brethren podcast<\/span><\/a>, you can hear from members themselves talking about politics,\u00a0voting\u00a0and volunteering.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nDo\u00a0members of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church vote?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n