Electoral battles

Election Day near, Americans weigh divide, look for healing

The idea had never occurred to the Rev. Adam Hamilton at the conclusion of past presidential campaigns. But this Election Day, the megachurch he leads in the Kansas City suburbs will invite congregants, and anyone else who chooses, to stop in and pray for the nation to heal itself.

“There’s plenty of division in our country every year, but this year’s election is different,” said Hamilton, founding pastor of the 20,000-member United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, where two of four campuses will serve as polling stations. “Our families are divided. We’re divided sometimes from our friends. Even when we’re in church here our politics are different. And I think we have to be reminded that there’s a bigger picture here.”