Why Should Christians Care about City Council Members?

Amy Byler, Director of Veritas Mercy, tackles the question, “Why should Christians care about City Council Members?” The Candidates Forum will take place April 23rd at 6:30pm at the Veritas Short North building.

Here are some transcribed moments from the video:

Derek:  Tell me about the upcoming Candidates Forum.

Amy Byler: This is a bipartisan event where we’ve invited city council candidates in our city, Columbus, to come to Veritas as our guests and to engage in healthy conversations around risks that are associated with poverty, like human trafficking, homelessness, workforce development, and the lack of transportation.

Derek Nicol: Why should this matter to Christians?

Amy Byler: …For us at Veritas, we have this commitment to seek peace in our city, to seek out the welfare of our city. We see the prophet Jeremiah calling us to dwell in the land and care for it, so we take that call seriously. We want to be restorers and reconcilers. Often we do that through individual relationships…but when election years like this come around we, as believers, have this unique opportunity to speak into the system and help shape it by knowing who are leaders are, caring for them, and voting for them.

Derek Nicol: Is there anything more you want to say to Veritas, those who are considering going?”

Amy Byler: Perhaps you’ve never been to a forum before. You don’t really know who your candidates are for city council or know what city council does. I’d say those are good reasons to come. We know this is a unique event, but we think it’s important for the church to be standing up, having a voice for the voiceless, and caring about who our leaders are that shape the city we love. So, I’d ask that you care about that too. That you’d allow things like human trafficking, that break the heart of God, to break your heart, enough that you care about how our local leaders respond to it. Ultimately, we could help a lot of individuals, but people like city council members will have the power to help women coming out of human trafficking and individuals wrestling with homelessness.


Nick Nye

“The people of Veritas Church represent a variety of political positions yet the gospel of Jesus gives us the same conviction to love our neighbor. One way we can love our neighbor is to represent them.” – Nick Nye, Lead Pastor at Veritas Community Church

Amy Byler

“As a church, we’re committed to the welfare of our city. We want to be aware of who is advocating, as city council cadidates, for the voiceless in our city.” – Amy Byler, Director of Veritas Mercy