When news broke yesterday that Republican presidential candidate John McCain had named little-known Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska as his running mate, religion writers across the country and the curious in the blogosphere scrambled to figure out her denominational affiliation.

Palin was briefly touted as the first Pentecostal to run on a major party ticket. A spokesperson, however, told the Associated Press yesterday that although the 44-year-old mother of five grew up in the Assemblies of God, the largest organized Pentecostal denomination in the world with an estimated 57 million members, she does not consider herself a “Pentecostal.”

Her primary place of worship in Juneau, Alaska’s capital, is said to be the “Church on the Rock,” an independent congregation founded in January 2000. Palin’s spokesperson, however, said the governor also attends different churches.

The initial confusion surrounding Palin’s denominational identity, therefore, has a simple explanation: She doesn’t have one.

Instead, Palin appears to be part of that rapidly expanding galaxy of “post-denominational” Christianity, where elements of Evangelical and Pentecostal styles of faith and worship fuse into a myriad of unique local combinations, and where old denominational loyalties are essentially dead.

I feel much the same as Palin about my own faith, if these reports are true. Yet, in a politician, I am always a little wary of their desire to avoid all labels, as if the person wants to hide something, for good or ill; and, because the one thing labels achieve is to reveal ones core beliefs. Also, I have to wonder if there is a sense of embarassment at being identified with a group like evangelicals or Pentecostals because it makes the her ‘appear’ to be too into Jesus, a Jesus freak, too extreme in her beliefs, too committed to her faith.

As I said the avoidance of denominational labels doesn’t bother me, I am much the same. I am pursuaded that Palin has very strong core, pro-family, high ethical values. I only shared this to pose the question I am asking myself, to other people, why does she seem to want to avoid any label in this matter?

As to how this might impact Christian voters:

Finally, there’s a bit of political irony for Catholics. Given Palin’s strong pro-life credentials, it’s likely she will appeal to the most strongly “denominational” Catholics, those most devoted to traditional Catholic identity and teaching. Meanwhile, what one might call “post-denominational Catholics,” meaning those for whom religious branding carries less theological significance, may embrace Palin’s Democratic rival, Delaware Senator Joseph Biden, the lone Roman Catholic on either ticket, because of his progressive stands on social and political matters.

In other words, the denominationalists on the Catholic side will back the post-denominationalist, while the Catholic post-denominationalists will probably pick the candidate who bears the Catholic denominational label.

Please don’t read very much at all into MY comments, I like asking myself such questions as to the motives behind some of our actions and felt others might be interested in the description in this story of Palin’s faith, not in my private musings.

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