No one, especially the watchdogs at the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, can justifiably or even remotely accuse some predominantly Caribbean churches of dabbling in partisan politics.

And while no Black religious minister is using the pulpit to urge worshippers to vote for U.S. Senator Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential standard-bearer, to be the next chief executive of the United States, they are finding ways to get an important message across. It is that the United States may be on the verge of electing its first Black chief executive and the people in the pews on Sundays and on the street are being reminded that they have the power to make that happen.

Some may call them code messages while others may suggest the ministers are speaking “in tongues” from the pulpit, just like what the Holy Bible said people often did when influenced by the Holy Ghost.

“We speak about change in these perilous financial times,” said Pastor Sam Simpson, a Baptist Minister in the Bronx. “We pray for positive change in Washington and we tell our people to hold on change is coming and that they should be part of that history-making event. We really can’t be accused of engaging in partisan politics and therefore lose our tax status as non-profit religious institutions. People are losing their homes, fearful of being out of a job tomorrow and they can speak about what has happened in the past eight years. We are preaching hope, patience and understanding as well as belief that, in the end, God’s guidance will influence the outcome. It’s not partisan politics in the slightest.”

Pastor Simpson, a prominent Baptist church leader who came to the United States from Jamaica decade ago, knows some hard facts of life. One is that as the presidential election draws near, people would be paying attention to what is said from the pulpit. He also knows that any breach of the law dealing with the way churches operate, especially prohibition against proselytizing for one politician over the other, could jeopardize the church’s 501C-3 status.

But any reference to “change” brings Senator Obama’s campaign theme about “change” into sharp focus. He is also well aware that the election of Senator Obama would usher in a period of political, economic and social change, something that the Democrat has been preaching on the campaign trail for more than a year.

So, if the Minister speaks about change and history, it’s highly unlikely that worshippers would think that U.S. Senator John McCain, the Republican Presidential candidate and a strong supporter of President George Bush, perhaps the most unpopular president in at least 70 years, would be the one to take the country forward.

The Rev. Alan Kirton, a former secretary-general of the Caribbean Conference of Churches but who is now the senior Pastor of St. Mark’s Methodist Church in Brooklyn, follows a similar course.

“We have to be very careful so we don’t jeopardize the church’s status but, yes, we talk to them about the Christ who transforms and about our need to be transformers,” said the Rev. Kirton, a Trinidadian. “We speak of the need to be supporters of those who are pursuing change for the better, better for the community and better for their families. We can’t come out and give any direct encouragement about whom to vote for. That would adversely affect the church.”

Canon Llewellyn Armstrong, who recently retired as Rector of Brooklyn’s Calvary/St. Cyprian’s Church but who preaches every Sunday at different Episcopal Churches in Brooklyn, understands the fine line priest must walk in their sermons.

“We have to avoid partisan political sermons,” he said. “We are not allowed to say vote for Senator Barack Obama or for Senator McCain. But I tell them that it is a civic duty to register to vote and to go to the polls and vote. I tell them that it is a moral responsibility to vote as well. It is expected of Christians to do that. By doing that it shows you are interested in what is going on around you and that you are interested to the point of using the democratic system to help make decisions for the well-being of society. That makes it a religious responsibility as well. I do not tell them who to vote for but I do tell them go out and vote.”

But his messages don’t stop there.

Even before Senator Obama became the Democratic nominee, Canon Armstrong spoke about the candidate from Illinois as a fresh young face on the national stage, one who inspires hope and who by his involvement raises the possibility, not simply to Blacks but to young people of all ethnic backgrounds, that they too can one day lead the most powerful country on earth.

“We are reaching the point of maturity in this country at which the color of people’s skins doesn’t really matter that much and his presence has opened up the vistas of young people in the educational arena, showing them that if they do better in school, especially young people of color to stay in school and perform well,” he said. “I have told them that and continue to say that because it’s true. It’s not politics but it is a fact. That’s the closest I have come to expressing a point of view about Obama.”

But what about Obama’s slogan on the importance of change?

The Episcopal priest speaks about change without linking it politically to Obama. After all, President George Bush can’t run again and change in the White House, he said, is part of life.

“There has to be change in presidents. That is a given. But yes, I do say that change is coming and one of the things that Barack Obama has been saying so consistently is that change is coming not only in Government, but in the psyche of the typical American,” said the priest. “He is saying let’s sit down and talk with people with whom we disagree, that is change. We can disagree without being disagreeable. That is a change in approach.”

That may be one of the most telling points. For Senator McCain has berated his Democratic rival for suggesting that the United States should sit down and talk to the government of Iran instead of trying to demonize its leaders.

The Rev. Laurel Scott, a Caribbean Methodist pastor of a church just outside Boston in Massachusetts, also avoids sending any direct messages to people about who they should vote for but she too speaks about change and the history making election on November 4th. “I don’t presume to be in a position to urge people to vote for or against any candidate in this election,” she said. “But yes, I do speak about change in Washington and elsewhere around the country.”

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that the emphasis on change means a departure from the status quo and that, in turn, brings images of Senator Obama directly to people’s minds. “We have to be mindful of our non-profit status and of the fact that many people in churches don’t particularly want ministers to tell them how to vote on Election Day,” said the pastor.