progressive clergy – As ICE enforcement surges in Maine, a new wave of progressive religious activism is challenging the political dominance of Christian nationalism.
The small hamlet of Biddeford. Maine. was thrust into a national firestorm on July 13. 2026. when ICE agents shot and killed 25-year-old Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero. The Colombian immigrant. who held a work permit and had a pending asylum hearing. was sitting in his car at the corner of Hill and Pool Streets when agents mistakenly intercepted him and opened fire.
For Rev. David Corbett. an avuncular 75-year-old evangelical pastor and Republican candidate for York County sheriff. the tragedy is a symptom of political failure. Corbett, who carries a handgun and teaches criminal justice, blames Democratic state policies for obstructing ICE. He remains critical of DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin for a lack of transparency regarding an internal investigation led by Acting Director David Venturella. Should he win his election, Corbett plans to deputize his officers as ICE agents under the 287(g) program. To him, the path to order begins with aggressive border defense.
Yet, six miles away, a different theology is taking root. Rev. Dr. Lori Whittemore. who leads the historic Saco & Biddeford Unitarian Universalist Church. has transformed her ministry into a frontline of social justice. A board-certified chaplain who previously organized support for survivors of the 2023 Lewiston mass shooting. Whittemore spent the days following Durán’s death organizing volunteer clergy to provide solace at the site of the killing. Her work—and that of other religious progressives—represents a tectonic shift in a state historically known for its secularism and. in its northern reaches. evangelical conservatism.
This movement is not confined to Maine. Data from the Religion News Service shows at least 12 pastors and seminarians running for federal office as Democrats this year. outstripping the seven evangelical pastors running as Republicans. Figures like Presbyterian seminarian James Talarico in Texas and Methodist minister Adam Hamilton in Kansas are signaling a broader. if quiet. religious resurgence. Progressive leaders, including Bishop William Barber and Dr. Diana Butler Bass. are increasingly visible. operating in a landscape where PRRI surveys now show only one-third of Americans sympathize with Christian nationalism.
The contrast is stark on the ground. On May 15. 2026. a Turning Point USA “Make Heaven Crowded” event at a 3. 000-capacity venue in Portland drew only several hundred people. A simultaneous. progressive “Love Is The Point” gathering. which drew 350 attendees. was considered a success by organizers because it signaled a return to public activism for a demographic long silenced during the Trump years. Clergy in the state have begun acting as “human shields. ” lining up in prayer stoles and yarmulkes at shift changes at the American Roots apparel factory in Westbrook to protect immigrant workers from DHS surveillance.
These actions are driven by a fundamental change in the religious left’s approach to public policy. As Rev. Jennifer Butler of Faith in Democracy notes. the progressive movement is learning to embrace religious language to advocate for policy. reversing a trend that left the public square to the religious right for decades. In Oklahoma, Rev. Dr. Lori Walke has seen her Mayflower Congregational United Church of Christ grow by 40 members annually since 2021 by explicitly embracing LGBTQ+ inclusion and abortion access. She calls it the “great reshuffling. ” where individuals are abandoning churches that alienate their values for those that mirror their ethics.
For residents like Michelle. a Biddeford local who joined the volunteer cleanup at Durán’s memorial. the shift is personal. Once alienated from faith after struggling to secure last rites for her mother during the pandemic. she found herself swept up in the compassion shown by the diverse coalition of clergy and volunteers. Standing near the Victory Chapel Independent Holiness Pentecostal church—an institution she had passed for years without notice—she reconsidered her relationship with the church. As the community continues its vigils. the movement is finding that in the shadow of state-sanctioned violence. the most radical act may simply be the promise of community.
Christian nationalism Maine politics ICE progressive clergy religious activism Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero Lori Whittemore David Corbett