In the dimly lit sanctuary of a large brick church at the north end of Main Street, more than 100 people move to light Christian rock music. Children, recently resettled refugees from Burundi, are splayed out on the floor with coloring books. A man in jeans and a sweater stands nearby, swaying and holding his palms heavenward.
“What can wash away my sins,” the group sings. “Nothing but the blood of Jesus.”
Grace Fellowship in Nashua is part of a growing movement of evangelical Christians in New Hampshire, a group that includes nearly 1 in 5 Republican primary voters and that could play an important role in the state’s Jan. 8 election. Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor and an ordained Baptist minister, has preached in four New Hampshire churches, and is hoping to connect with religious conservatives.
Yet those who worship at Grace Fellowship and other New Hampshire churches point to many ways in which they differ from evangelicals outside New England, particularly in the South and Southwest, who are the backbone of the religious right in America and, in Iowa and South Carolina, provide a base of support for Huckabee.
Outside New England, evangelical megachurches are commonplace, attracting thousands or even tens of thousands. In New Hampshire, evangelical churches tend to be smaller – and more independent.
Read it all.
Boston Globe: In N.H. churches, candidates find a different breed of evangelical
In the dimly lit sanctuary of a large brick church at the north end of Main Street, more than 100 people move to light Christian rock music. Children, recently resettled refugees from Burundi, are splayed out on the floor with coloring books. A man in jeans and a sweater stands nearby, swaying and holding his palms heavenward.
“What can wash away my sins,” the group sings. “Nothing but the blood of Jesus.”
Grace Fellowship in Nashua is part of a growing movement of evangelical Christians in New Hampshire, a group that includes nearly 1 in 5 Republican primary voters and that could play an important role in the state’s Jan. 8 election. Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor and an ordained Baptist minister, has preached in four New Hampshire churches, and is hoping to connect with religious conservatives.
Yet those who worship at Grace Fellowship and other New Hampshire churches point to many ways in which they differ from evangelicals outside New England, particularly in the South and Southwest, who are the backbone of the religious right in America and, in Iowa and South Carolina, provide a base of support for Huckabee.
Outside New England, evangelical megachurches are commonplace, attracting thousands or even tens of thousands. In New Hampshire, evangelical churches tend to be smaller – and more independent.
Read it all.