Marvin Winans Says Perfecting Church Did Not Endorse Mike Rogers After Haley Stevens’ Visit

Every election year, candidates visit Detroit’s churches on the Sunday before the vote. Pastors in the city have long welcomed such visitors, sometimes naming them from the pulpit while keeping the service focused on worship and preaching.

On Nov. 1, 2026, that custom became entangled with one of the more unusual moments of the campaign at Perfecting Church, led by Pastor Marvin Winans. A livestream of the service, held on Detroit’s east side, showed Rep. Haley Stevens seated beside Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers and his wife, Kristi Rogers, along with Stevens’ fiancé, attorney Jason Turkish. Stevens had lost the August Democratic primary to Abdul El-Sayed and had endorsed him in her concession statement.

Before his sermon, Winans told the congregation that several people seeking office were present and read a short list of names. Each candidate stood when called. Rogers was introduced first and received polite applause. When Winans read El-Sayed’s name, cheers rose across the sanctuary, although El-Sayed was not there. “Y’all clapping and he ain’t even here,” Winans said. The Democratic nominee was at Greater Emmanuel Institutional Church of God in Christ across town.

After the service, Stevens told reporters outside the church that she was backing Rogers, saying El-Sayed had made clear she was not wanted in his campaign. “I am endorsing Mike Rogers for the United States Senate,” she said. Several members of her staff, including her chief of staff of eight years, resigned in protest. Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Curtis Hertel Jr. said he would move to have her removed from the party, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said the caucus would discuss next steps.

In an interview with ABC News, Winans said Rogers had told him he would attend a service but had not said which Sunday. He said El-Sayed had also been invited and was expected. Winans said that, as far as he knew, Stevens was supporting El-Sayed, and when she sat beside Rogers he said, “I thought she was on the wrong side.” He said no candidate was handed a microphone and that he was the only one who spoke. Rogers was recognized alongside other office seekers, including a Fifth District candidate, a University of Michigan board candidate and a Canton school board hopeful, who each stood and sat down.

Winans said he learned of the press conference outside only after the service. He said he was then accused of having known about it or of working with the Rogers campaign. “I had no idea,” he said. In his statement to ABC News, he said, “We don’t endorse.”

Asked how he felt about Stevens’ endorsement, Winans said it did not bother him. “This is America,” he said. In his view, her decision was one vote, and voters who disagreed were free to choose differently without being demonized (Ephesians 4:15).

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