海角大神

The Rev. Jonathan Hopkins wishes every candidate for president would听grapple with a troubling truth about this city: Many working people aren鈥檛 making ends meet. Some are听still in their Walmart uniforms when they鈥檙e fed at the soup kitchen where he and his congregants听volunteer.

Now, with the Feb. 11 New Hampshire primary fast approaching, Mr. Hopkins is finding he doesn鈥檛 have听to wish quite so much. He鈥檚 part of a group of New Hampshire clergy who have been meeting with White House hopefuls, in an effort to听inject faith-based,听moral concerns into Democratic presidential politics. For the candidates, these Love 2020听events offer a chance to get听cozy with religious movers and shakers who, they hope, might sway some of the voters in their flocks.

Mr. Hopkins wants to know what each candidate will do to break the cycle of poverty for working听people. So far, he鈥檚 participated in sit-downs with Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, and Pete Buttigieg,听former mayor of South Bend, Indiana.

鈥淲e are asking questions that are not being asked of them in general,鈥� says Mr. Hopkins, pastor of听Concordia Lutheran Church in Concord.听It鈥檚 an arena where spirituality is explored 鈥� even with candidates like Senator Sanders, who describes himself as 鈥渘ot particularly religious.鈥�

鈥淏ernie, for sure, he鈥檚 got some spiritual depth,鈥� says Mr. Hopkins. 鈥淢aybe not religious depth, but spiritual depth. ... He said we all听should care about the least among us.鈥�

Sessions听with 11 Democratic candidates and one Republican (former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld) were all open to the press, according听to Love 2020 organizers.听But when Mr. Buttigieg sat down with the group in early听January at St. Paul鈥檚 Church in downtown Concord, campaign staffers insisted that this reporter wait听outside, despite having been invited to cover the event.听They gave no reason, saying only that听the meeting was private.

Mr. Buttigieg, an Episcopalian, is hardly shy about his 海角大神 faith, which he often invokes on the campaign trail as a moral guide for shaping policy positions.听鈥淲hat鈥檚 important to me is to make sure that I鈥檓 engaging with [faith leaders] and with those听that they guide and care for,鈥� he said after the meeting, as a black SUV waited to whisk him to a听Nashua town hall event. With recent polls showing a tight race in New Hampshire, the campaign was perhaps taking听no chances on a religion-charged gaffe.

Navigating the sensitive terrain where faith meets progressive politics is par for the course for听Love 2020, a project of the Granite State Organizing Project (GSOP), which brings together religious leaders,听community organizers, and labor unions to tackle issues such as immigration and economic justice. It鈥檚 an effort to connect clergy with candidates in a Democratic Party that鈥檚 increasingly secular and cautiously听experimenting to find where faith fits, if anywhere, in its political mix.

For candidates, courting clergy support is nothing new 鈥� not even here, in what is, according to听Gallup and the Pew Research Center, one of America鈥檚 least religious states. In 2008, then-candidate Barack Obama鈥檚 campaign team called on religious leaders individually, according to the Rev. Jason Wells, executive director of the New听Hampshire Council of Churches. Inspired by the outreach, Mr. Wells, who was听then a parish rector, volunteered for Mr. Obama by canvassing door to door in his time off.

This time around, campaigns don鈥檛 seem to be wooing faith leaders individually as they used to, Mr. Wells says.

Indeed, Love 2020 was born to fill a void, organizers say, amid a growing dearth of meaningful听dialogue with candidates. Campaigns are often most concerned with preventing unscripted soundbites, notes Arnie Alpert, co-director of the New Hampshire Program of听the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker-based activist organization. For example, when Senator Warren does her famous selfie line for photos, 鈥渉er staff people take your phone from you, and听then they take the 鈥榮elfie,鈥欌�� Mr. Alpert says with a laugh.听鈥淲hat that does is keep you from using your phone to actually record the听interaction.鈥�

Progressive faith leaders believe Love 2020 provides a meaningful听alternative 鈥� and they鈥檝e been working hard to secure a seat at the table in New Hampshire. They have raced,听sometimes with just a few hours鈥� notice, to meet with candidates in churches, barns, anywhere they听can get a brief audience with the person who might be their next president. They say they鈥檙e trying to reframe what faith-based political action can look听like.

鈥淲e do not talk about abortion, we do not talk about the traditional faith-based things,鈥� said听Eva Castillo, a Venezuelan immigrant who directs the New Hampshire Alliance of Immigrants and Refugees. 鈥淲e show them a different face of faith, you know? More open-minded, more equalizing.鈥�

All the major Democratic contenders, with the exception so far of former Vice President Joe Biden, have carved out time to meet听with the Love 2020 group of clerics, each of whom has a local following听and a measure of clout.

鈥淭his spotlight on our state gives听us a chance to influence the national dialogue,鈥� says听GSOP Executive Director Sarah Jane Knoy. 鈥淭o focus on our shared values and听our common humanity 鈥� because the current national dialogue is very divisive and, I think, really kind of听hateful.鈥�

For local religious leaders, Love 2020 also provides a platform to ask the kinds of values questions candidates don鈥檛 always hear elsewhere. In a video of the Buttigieg session, provided by Love 2020 organizers, the Rt. Rev.听Robert Hirschfeld, bishop of the Episcopal Church of New Hampshire, can be heard asking: 鈥淲hat鈥檚 in your soul? What鈥檚 in your heart that is going to听help us reknit together the torn social fabric?鈥�

Mr. Buttigieg responded that when he鈥檚 campaigning, his soul is 鈥渏ust out there for everyone to see.鈥�

鈥淭here is a crisis of belonging in our country that I think is propelling everything from the听brokenness of our politics to mental health issues鈥� including rising rates of suicide and drug addiction, he told the group. 鈥淗olding the American project together depends so much on whether we can create that听sense of belonging. ... It may well be the most important function of the presidency.鈥�

The clergy also minister to the candidates they meet, much as evangelical leaders have done when听laying hands on President Donald Trump and praying for him. Mr. Hirschfeld led Mr. Buttigieg and the assembled group听in prayer.

The Rev.听Sarah Rockwell of St. Andrew鈥檚 Church in Manchester offered another kind of spiritual support to Mr. Buttigieg, as he听navigates the pressures and personal tolls of running for president.听鈥淜eeping a marriage intact 鈥� it is not easy,鈥� Ms. Rockwell quietly said to the candidate as they left the听meeting room. 鈥淵ou are in my prayers, and so is he.鈥�

鈥淭hank you,鈥� Mr. Buttigieg said with a smile. 鈥淜eep the prayers coming.鈥�

Editor鈥檚 note:听An earlier version of this story included an incorrect date for the upcoming New Hampshire primary. It is Feb. 11.