Marvin Winans breaks silence on Haley Stevens’ controversial church appearance with Mike Rogers

The Detroit pastor said he was unaware of the endorsement event outside his church and rejected claims that he cooperated with the Republican campaign.

Marvin Winans expected to see Abdul El-Sayed in the pews. Instead, Rep. Haley Stevens took a seat beside Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers, and the Detroit pastor says he did not understand what had happened until after service.

Speaking with ABC News’ Linsey Davis, the senior pastor of Perfecting Church pushed back on the idea that his congregation had been drawn into the Michigan Senate race. “We don’t endorse,” Winans said, explaining that Rogers had indicated he would visit a service, though not on which day, and that El-Sayed had also been invited and was expected to attend.

Stevens’ presence caught him off guard. The last he had heard, Winans said, she was backing El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee. When she sat next to Rogers, he admitted, “I thought she was on the wrong side because I was looking for Abdul to come.”

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Winans was emphatic that nothing political happened inside the sanctuary. No candidate held a microphone, he said, and he was the only person who spoke. Rogers was acknowledged along with several others seeking office, including a candidate in the Fifth District, a University of Michigan board contender and a Canton school board hopeful. Each simply stood and sat back down.

Only after the service ended did Winans learn a press conference had taken place outside. He said he then faced accusations that he knew about it or was cooperating with the campaign. “None of that,” he said. “I had no idea.”

Stevens’ endorsement of Rogers has drawn sharp rebukes from Democratic leaders, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who said the caucus would discuss next steps. Winans took a notably different tone. Asked how he felt about the endorsement following her church appearance, he said it did not bother him.

“This is America,” he said, adding that people should be free to choose without being demonized for it. In his view, Stevens’ decision amounts to a single vote, and voters who disagree are free to make a different choice.

He reiterated that Perfecting Church endorsed no one in the race. Whoever wins, he said, the congregation’s responsibility remains the same: praying for those in authority.

The episode adds another layer to an already tense contest in Michigan, where the open Senate seat could help decide control of the chamber and where Black voters in Detroit remain central to either party’s path.