HARRISBURG, Pa. — From her office overlooking State Street, Reverend Anna Layman Knox witnesses the hustle and bustle of the political scene every day, thanks to her noisy neighbor, the State Capitol Building.
"My office looks right out on State Street and so I hear every voice and every position possible,” she shared, adding that those echoes get louder during an election year.
“There are every manner of protest kind of walking up and down State Street," Layman Knox said.
Rather than seeing the noise as a disruption, she encourages the discourse.
"I love that this is a place where people can come and speak their truth," Layman Knox remarked.
Especially now that, from the same office window she can see Grace United Methodist Church’s latest expansion project, a Peace Pole.
“The peace pole says, ‘May peace prevail on Earth’ in six different languages. We really hope this will be something that everyone in all their beauty and diversity can find where they can see and read in their own language," Layman Knox expressed. "They have a place of belonging here in the city and the heart of God,”
This message resonates particularly strongly during this heated election season, as voter anxiety is still growing ahead of the vote on Nov. 5.
Renette Bell has been a Pennsylvania resident for 30 years but still has family in Haiti. She shared that as an immigrant, the political climate brings her additional stress during an election year.
"It’s just a lot, especially with the immigration part of it and hearing a lot of things that could happen," Bell stated.
Meanwhile, Paul Walsh shared that his apprehension about the election is not with the result but rather, the aftermath.
"We always have that lingering doubt that someone is going to get angry and take it out on everyone innocent, and we hope and pray that that doesn’t happen," he stated, indicating the fear that often follows contentious elections.
Layman Knox says as election day approaches, finding faith within the community can help relieve those anxieties.
"Fear is created in isolation, and so when we come together as a community and cultivate these safe and sacred spaces, fear dissipates," she said.
While most churches are separate from government bodies, Layman Knox says there is a longstanding connection between Grace United Methodist and the political world.
"There's a long history here of the intersection of faith and justice and faith and politics," she explained.
Layman Knox says that's because when the Capitol Building burned down in 1897, the church acted as its home for two years.
The relationship between the two buildings is a combination of church and state that is still helping the community today.