hurch leaders across Boston yesterday implored their congregations to vote their consciences tomorrow in the close presidential election.
The get-out-the-vote messages did not advocate either George W. Bush or Al Gore. Still, the clergymen reminded churchgoers of the importance of casting a ballot, and, more importantly, of choosing after reflection.
That the exhortations to vote came from the pulpit could sway many who had planned to stay home, some churchgoers said.
''People will remember, `Oh, Rev. Dubose said go out and vote,''' Francine Thames said of her pastor, the Rev. Willie Dubose Jr., at New Hope Baptist Church in the South End. ''There are lots of people who love him, and I know people will think about what he said and are going to go out and vote.''
A few blocks away at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, Cardinal Bernard F. Law urged parishioners to make an informed choice, rather than deciding in a ''Pavlovian'' fashion.
''People have a responsibility to vote,'' Law said, ''and they should vote their conscience.''
Reminders of the election were easy to find in houses of worship yesterday. Index cards about Massachusetts ballot Questions 4 and 6 were placed in a basket in the lobby of New Hope Baptist Church. Copies of The Pilot, the Archdiocese of Boston's newspaper, were stacked on a table at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross. The lead story said Catholics are key swing voters.
Some churchgoers said they would vote for Gore, who is an abortion-rights advocate, even though their faiths preach an antiabortion stance. Yesterday education and health care took top billing, even for people who have grown children, like Helen Witherspoon of Boston, who attends New Hope Baptist Church.
''I have a nephew at Boston Latin, and I feel if we're ever going to move up as a minority, education is so important,'' said Witherspoon, an African-American who said she is leaning toward voting for Gore.
Others said they wanted a chief executive who would uphold the dignity of the office. Brighton resident Alfred Mira said he plans to vote for Bush for that reason.
''I believe that he will defend and uphold the Constitution better than the other person will,'' said Mira, who attended Mass at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross yesterday. ''Sometimes we have a president that betrays that oath of office, and that is the most outrageous act of treason.''
Nobody interviewed yesterday said the recent revelation of Bush's arrest 24 years ago for drunken driving has any relevance to the election
In Boston's black churches, pastors reminded congregants of a time when African-Americans were disenfranchised. Not voting would be a ''waste'' of their forebearers' legacy, said the Rev. Gregory G. Groover, pastor of Charles Street AME Church.
''It's part of our mission, part of our mandate, and we embrace it as a sacred task to remind our people of their citizenship,'' Groover said after the service.
Elizabeth Davis, a Boston schoolteacher, said the message shouldn't be underestimated.
`Some people say voting doesn't count for anything,'' Davis said, ''but hearing it from their minister, I think that will have some bearing on them.''
