How megapastor Adam Hamilton could break the GOP’s hold on Kansas

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LEAWOOD, Kansas (RNS) — When the Rev. Adam Hamilton returned to Resurrection United Methodist Church last month, the megachurch pastor stood onstage looking almost sheepish. It was his first time preaching there in months, or roughly since he announced he was running for U.S. Senate in Kansas back in April.

But as the pastor peered out at the hundreds gathered in one of the church’s three worship spaces, he made a point to thank his congregation for their prayers — whether or not they plan to vote for him.

“There are times when you feel pretty lonely doing this thing that I’m doing, that we’re not talking about here at church,” Hamilton said in his light Kansas drawl — a thinly veiled reference to a provision in the U.S. tax code that bars nonprofits, including churches, from endorsing political candidates. The room laughed knowingly.

The pastor, 62, then bounded offstage and practically sprinted down the roughly quarter-mile hallway toward the church’s main sanctuary, pausing to shake hands with congregants along the way. Within minutes, he was facing thousands in the pews, standing…