As the U.S. presidential election divided neighbors and families last fall, Dorothy Shank felt the conviction of Jesus’ teaching in Luke 10 that the most important commandments are to love God and love neighbors.

Dismayed by the fraught political and social climate, she wondered how she could offer a different perspective. The phrase that came to her was, “Vote to Love Your Neighbor.”

Shank brought this idea to Ridgeway Mennonite Church in Harrisonburg, Va., and her congregation embraced it, ordering the first batch of yard signs and car magnets bearing those words on Sept. 16, 2024.

The message spread. Virginia Mennonite Conference shared about Vote to Love Your Neighbor online. The Martin Luther King Jr. Way Coalition of Harrisonburg invited Shank to participate in their event on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in January.

Signs have appeared at several demonstrations showing support for immigrant neighbors, the people of Gaza and Mennonite Action’s advocacy work. Ridgeway youth and sponsors sported Vote to Love Your Neighbor T-shirts in July at Mennonite Church USA’s convention in Greensboro, N.C.

The message invites people to pause and consider how everyday votes can be a witness of faith. Beyond elections, individuals and groups “vote” in daily actions and decisions — from which products to buy at which grocery store to simply getting to know the people living in the neighborhood.

Shank said that until you know your neighbors, you won’t know how best to love them.

“This project and message have affected me deeply on a personal level,” she said. “I think a lot about my friends, my neighbors and my church family and about how it is that I express my love. I try to come up with specific ways that I can show compassion to those around me.”

One woman from Ridgeway was inspired by the project to better know her neighbors. She now has regular gathering times in her neighborhood to build community and support.

While the message has been mostly well-received, the most-aired critique is over the use of the word “vote.” It implies action and gets people’s attention in a way “love your neighbor” doesn’t. Some criticize the message as too political and say churches should not stray into politics.

“We do think it is political, and we believe it always will be,” Shank said. “From Jesus’ birth to his death, his life and teachings created political issues. Similarly, our church fathers and mothers, the Anabaptists, were killed for their courage to redefine what it meant to follow Jesus.”

Though the 2024 presidential election cycle is over, the message of love remains relevant as society remains divided. At Ridgeway, the initiative opened the door for conversations about how the church responds to current events as members return over and over to Luke 10. Who is a neighbor? And how will they be loved?

More information about the Vote to Love Your Neighbor is at ridgewaymennonite.org/vote-to-love-your-neighbor.

Erin Conway is ministry associate at Ridgeway Mennonite Church.