Sen. Raphael Warnock’s impassioned sermon at the Tabernacle on Sunday married the story from the New Testament about the miracle of the loaves and fishes with present day firings of federal workers, cuts to Medicare and food aid and a large redistribution of wealth.
Rev. Sen. Raphael Warnock was the guest preacher at the Tabernacle on Sunday in a collaboration between the Martha’s Vineyard Camp Meeting Association, Union Chapel and the First Congregational Church of West Tisbury. The Festival of Worship in Word and Song was a faithful call to action and a message of perseverance in the face of the current political climate.
Senator Warnock’s impassioned sermon married the story from the New Testament about the miracle of the loaves and fishes with present day firings of federal workers, cuts to Medicare and food aid and a large redistribution of wealth.
Senator Warnock is both the junior senator from Georgia and the senior pastor of the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, the spiritual home of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He has preached on the Vineyard nearly every year since 2009, invited by the Rev. Cathlin Baker of the First Congregational Church. The two have been close friends since they were in seminary together in New York City.
Island faith leaders joined the senator on stage for worship.
Island faith leaders joined the senator on stage for worship.
He has preached at the Tabernacle for the last five years, ever since becoming a U.S. senator.
Senator Warnock began his sermon with some “breaking news,” after noticing that his five-year-old son, seated in the front row, had lost a tooth. He suggested to the audience that “the spirit” had already moved his son Caleb to the extent that his tooth fell out.
The moment refleced a service that mixed both seriousness and humor.
In between musical performances by Israel Houghton, Brian Courtney Williams and a Vineyard community choir, Senator Warnock walked down from the stage to the front row of the Tabernacle to deliver a message to the children, which included his son and daughter. He read from his new children’s book Leo’s Lunchbox, which also takes its theme from the miracle of the loaves and fishes and the feeding of the 5,000.
Senator Warnock leading the children's service.
Senator Warnock leading the children's service.
Interspersed with reading from the book, his storytelling took many asides as he addressed both the children seated around him and the hundreds of adults in attendance.
“We’re just making things up as we go, kind of like they do in the senate,” he said.
“And certainly in the White House,” he added, which drew a chorus of laughter from the crowd.
The theme of food insecurity resonated throughout the service, and a portion of the collection plate will support the Island Food Pantry. Noli Taylor, co-executive director of Island Grown Initiative, was invited onstage to speak to the crowd. Last year, IGI served over 6,000 Islanders, about one in four of the island’s year round population.
Tabernacle was packed for the afternoon service.
Tabernacle was packed for the afternoon service.
“The Vineyard is one of the most expensive places to live in this country, with sky-high food prices and scarce affordable housing,” Ms. Taylor said.
Senator Warnock pointed to additional dire statistics on a national level.
“Almost everybody’s health care premiums are going up this fall,” he added. “Whether you’re a Democrat or Republican or an Independent, this is what you did not vote for.”
Jesus himself believed in universal health care, Senator Warnock said in his sermon, criticizing the budget cuts and eligibility restrictions to Medicaid that the One Big Beautiful Bill will roll out over the next decade.
He condemned the expanded tax cuts of the Act, calling it “Robin Hood in reverse” and “socialism for the rich,” along with the maneuvering of the current administration.
“They’re attacking the democracy and trying to dismiss the democracy itself,” he added. “But we won’t let them."
He ended his sermon with a word of hope.
Here’s what I know, sisters and brothers,” Senator Warnock said. “Evil is well financed. Evil is well organized. Evil is persistent. But here’s what else I know about evil. Evil always goes too far, and because it goes too far it has within itself, the seeds of its own destruction.”
He also urged everyone to get involved and to use their voice and their vote.
“So we’re going to have a loaded voice in the future, and our participation in that future. And so don’t allow anybody to dismiss your voice,” he said.
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