Prepare Your Elevator Pitch. Practice with Your Group.
Every advocacy meeting should end with one clear, specific request. Members of Congress and their staff should leave knowing exactly what you are asking them to do.
Your ask should be:
Specific – Name the bill, policy, or issue.
Direct – Clearly state what you want them to do.
Brief – Keep it to one primary request.
Action-Oriented – Ask for a commitment whenever possible.
Examples:
Will you support legislation that protects SNAP and strengthens food security?
Will you oppose cuts to Medicaid and protect access to affordable health care?
Will you support investments in affordable housing for Nevada families?
Will you protect funding for refugee resettlement and humanitarian assistance?
Will you support policies that conserve and protect Nevada’s public lands for future generations?
Practice Your Elevator Pitch
In one minute or less, be prepared to answer:
Who are you?
Why does this issue matter to you as a person of faith?
What is the impact on your community?
What specific action are you asking the member of Congress to take?
Remember: Be respectful, be direct, and don’t be afraid to ask for a commitment. If they cannot answer immediately, ask when you can follow up with their office. Strong advocacy begins with clear, faithful, and confident conversations.
A successful advocacy visit is just the beginning of building a lasting relationship with your elected officials and their staff. The most effective advocates stay engaged long after the meeting ends.
Within 48 Hours
Send a thank-you email to the member of Congress and the staff person you met with.
Share any information or resources you promised during the meeting.
Include any personal stories, reports, or local data that reinforce your message.
Stay Connected
Follow your congressional office on social media.
Connect with the staff member on LinkedIn, when appropriate.
Watch for newsletters, town halls, and community events.
Continue the Conversation
Respond when action alerts are issued.
Share updates about how the issue is affecting your congregation or community.
Invite your member of Congress or their staff to visit your ministry, food pantry, affordable housing project, or community outreach program.
Relationships Matter Members of Congress meet with thousands of people every year. The advocates they remember are those who consistently show up, communicate respectfully, and become trusted local resources.
Advocacy is not about one meeting—it’s about becoming a faithful, credible voice for your community over time.
Remember
Thank. Share. Connect. Follow Up. Repeat.
Long-term relationships are far more influential than one-time meetings. Faithful advocacy is a ministry of persistence, presence, and hope.
Food security is about more than groceries. It is about dignity, health, and ensuring every neighbor has enough to eat.
Recent data from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities show that more than 4.5 million Americans—an 11% decline in SNAP participation, lost food assistance between July 2025 and April 2026 as changes to federal law were implemented. More than 700,000 children have lost SNAP in the states where data are currently available, and those numbers continue to grow.
Here in Nevada, these changes matter.
Approximately 433,000 Nevadans rely on SNAP to help put food on the table.
Federal data indicate that SNAP participation in Nevada has declined by more than 10% since July 2025.
Earlier this year, state officials warned that as many as 46,000 Nevadans could be affected by new work requirements, increasing pressure on food banks and community organizations.
Churches, food pantries, and organizations like Three Square faithfully respond to hunger every day. But they were never meant to replace a nutrition program that serves hundreds of thousands of Nevadans.
As Lutherans, we believe caring for our neighbor means both feeding those who are hungry today and advocating for policies that reduce hunger tomorrow.
Ending hunger is not simply an act of charity, it is an act of justice.
Voting is one way people of faith care for their neighbors and seek the common good. A new ELCA Election Engagement Toolkit offers congregations practical, nonpartisan ways to encourage civic participation, protect access to the ballot, and bring a faithful presence to election season.
Designed for congregations, ministry leaders, and individuals, the 20-page toolkit helps Lutherans engage faithfully in our democracy without telling anyone how to vote. Instead, it provides practical ideas for encouraging informed participation, reducing barriers to voting, and strengthening trust in our election process.
Grounded in the ELCA social statement Faith and Civic Life: Seeking the Well-being of All, the toolkit reminds us that Christians are called “to pray, participate in, and advocate for civic life in the United States.” At the same time, it makes clear that congregational election engagement must always be transparent, legal, and strictly nonpartisan.
Start Where You Are
One of the toolkit’s greatest strengths is that it recognizes every congregation is different. Each section includes three levels of engagement, Beginning, Ready for More, and Challenging, allowing churches to start with simple actions and grow their ministry over time.
The toolkit offers practical guidance for:
Beginning conversations about faith, voting, and the common good.
Helping people check their voter registration and make a voting plan.
Hosting nonpartisan voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts.
Providing transportation, childcare, or other Election Day support.
Recruiting poll workers, poll observers, and poll chaplains.
Serving as a polling location when appropriate.
Sharing trustworthy election information and responding to misinformation.
Supporting election protection and de-escalation efforts.
Holding prayer vigils and other public expressions of faithful witness.
It also includes Bible studies, worship resources, legal guidance, and conversation tools to help congregations discuss political differences while remaining rooted in Christ’s call to love our neighbors.
Practical Ideas for Nevada Congregations
Here in Nevada, these ideas are especially timely.
Our state is one of the nation’s most closely watched electoral battlegrounds. Statewide elections are often decided by only a few thousand votes, and local elections frequently shape decisions about housing, health care, education, food security, public lands, and other issues that affect our neighbors every day.
Congregations can make a meaningful difference by:
Posting a “Prepared to Vote” checklist.
Helping members verify their voter registration.
Sharing accurate election information from the Nevada Secretary of State and county election officials.
Offering rides to polling locations or early voting sites.
Making election information available through food pantries, community meals, shelters, and other outreach ministries for neighbors who may face barriers to voting, including older adults, people with disabilities, Tribal communities, rural residents, and people experiencing homelessness.
The toolkit also introduces the ministry of poll chaplains, trained clergy and lay leaders who offer a calm, welcoming, nonpartisan presence at voting locations and help foster peaceful civic participation.
Truth Matters
The toolkit gives significant attention to misinformation and disinformation.
Churches are among the most trusted institutions in many communities. That trust carries a responsibility to share accurate information and point people toward reliable sources.
Sometimes faithful leadership is as simple as confirming the correct election date, registration deadline, polling location, or identification requirements. It can also mean building relationships with local election officials so questions can be answered with confidence and accuracy.
As Christians, our commitment to truth calls us to distinguish between honest mistakes, misunderstandings, and intentional falsehoods, and to ask whether what we share reflects our love for our neighbors.
Faithful, Not Partisan
The toolkit draws an important distinction: election engagement is not candidate endorsement.
ELCA congregations may encourage voting, provide nonpartisan voter education, host appropriately structured candidate forums, advocate for fair access to the ballot, and pray for our elected leaders and communities.
They may not use church resources to support or oppose candidates or political parties.
Our faith will not lead every Lutheran to the same political conclusions. But it does call all of us to seek the well-being of our neighbors, uphold human dignity, tell the truth, and participate faithfully in our shared civic life.
As election season approaches, perhaps the question is not whether churches should engage, but how we can do so in ways that reflect Christ’s love for our neighbors and strengthen the communities we share.
What’s one faithful step your congregation can take this election season?
Two issues continue to be top priorities for Nevadans: protecting our public lands and addressing the housing crisis.
Recent polling shows overwhelming support for keeping public lands in public hands, while communities across the state continue to seek practical solutions to make housing more affordable.
At LEAN, we’ve been following both conversations closely. We’ve examined the proposed federal housing legislation and continue to advocate for balanced solutions that include building more housing in existing communities, thoughtful rezoning, expanding housing options like ADUs and “missing middle” housing, and protecting the public lands that are central to Nevada’s identity.
As people of faith, we believe caring for our neighbors means both protecting God’s creation and ensuring everyone has access to a safe, affordable place to call home.
Lutheran Engagement and Advocacy in Nevada 