"Faith has always paired with action." First-term City-County Councilor Perkins talks religion and priorities

Indianapolis welcomed seven new city-county councilors this year. One of them is Dr. Carlos Perkins, pastor of the oldest Black church in the city, Bethel Cathedral AME Church.

WFYI’s Abriana Herron spoke with Councilor Perkins about the impact religion has on local politics and his priorities for his first year on the council.

Herron: So why did you run for the City-County Council?

Perkins: Our motivation to run for public office really started out of our work for advocacy and organizing. And as a result of our work with the Black Church Coalition, we felt that we not only can push from the outside, but we also can lead from the inside.

And so that's why I'm here and a month and a half into the job as a city-county councilor for District 6, and still with the priority of serving the community as our number one going forward.

Herron: Okay, so what are the specific issues you plan to address?

Perkins: Well, on the council, there were three issues that really undergirded our run. The first of which is around public safety, within public safety was the issue around mental health and crisis response. And we happen to say over the last eight months that the city, through public safety, has established a crisis response team, not only in the downtown community, but have expanded now over to the east side. We're really, really proud of that work.

And without a doubt for me, how we educate, what we afford for our young people, how we measure success, how our students are tested and afforded opportunities beyond the classroom. Those things are important to me.

And so we're excited about working to make sure that we are positively impacting education for all of our residents across not only District 6, but Marion County and Indianapolis.

Herron: And here in Indianapolis, we have one of the highest numbers of churches per capita in the country. And as pastor of the oldest Black church in our city, how do you believe religion shapes politics?

Perkins: Without a doubt. I've served as a faith leader for the last 22 years. I've been pastoring Bethel Cathedral for the past six years. I am the 44th pastor of a church that is 187 years young. Bethel Cathedral has always been an anchor institution. In the city of Indianapolis, we are the church of Madam CJ Walker, we're the church of the first elected black congressperson from the state of Indiana, that is the muscle of Bethel Cathedral.

Our faith has always paired with action. Our faith in action looks like work beyond the four walls of the church, our pastors, specifically through Bethel, have always been involved in community work. And so our call is to not only service individuals to our faith, through our ministry, but also in the public square.

And so that's what motivates me. That's what gives me joy. That's what allows me to wake up in the morning early and stay up late at night, that we are serving individuals that might not be able to speak up for themselves.

Herron: And what are some of the changes you hope to see during your first year as counselor?

Perkins: Oh, wow. That's major. A couple of things that we want to see, we want to double down on the work around public safety. It is our goal. It is our hope to work alongside the police to address some issues that came up, that have been within the police department that we want to make sure that we address going forward. I'm looking forward to working with my colleagues in the council to impact development, to impact education, to improve public safety.

We want to see public transportation be available to individuals that might not be able to purchase a car but need to get around not only downtown, but get around the city. I would love to see as one of my priorities for housing, that we look into a housing development project in District 6.

And so there's so many things that are on the agenda for our first year. But we will double down on public safety education and make sure that we are serving individuals that are coming in.

Herron: All right, thank you so much, Dr. Perkins.

Perkins: Thank you for the invitation.

Contact WFYI Morning Edition newscaster and reporter Abriana Herron at aherron@wfyi.org.