Lutherans in Walz’s Minnesota put potlucks before politics during divisive election season

“People are listening for their side of things, like, was that prayer conservative or liberal? People are always trying to decipher, ‘Oh, what’s pastor really saying’? Or, you know, ’Is she on my side or not?’” said the Rev. Elise Pokel of Transfiguration Lutheran Church in the suburb of Bloomington, which she estimates is evenly split politically. “And it’s like, well, I pledge my allegiance to Jesus.”