Archive for the ‘Archive’ Category

Tomorrow, the Joshua Expedition will bring to Faith and Action’s ministry center a host of 8^th graders from Dallas, Texas. One of the primary talking points we will share with the young students is how Christianity influenced the development of the United States of America. Additionally, we will share with the students about the work of missionaries working on Capitol Hill who both share and embody the Gospel.

The contingent of young people coming to the ministry center calls to attention what Faith and Action president Rob Schenck sees as one of his most vital missions: transferring to future generations this vision of a Christian witness in the center of life and work on Capitol Hill. Well aware that Rev. Schenck is turning 53, friends and supporters of the Washington minister and missionary often ask him, “how long are you going to do this?” To this question, Rev. Schenck regularly responds with vigor: “20 more years, at least, God willing!” Yet, that the question is relevant is not lost on the minds and hearts of Faith and Action’s leadership team.

In order to transfer Faith and Action’s mission to future generations, we have been actively presenting young people with the opportunity to participate in our  internship program. But in addition to the internship program, Faith and Action also values the opportunity to receive visiting young people at the ministry center, for it provides a unique opportunity for them to see Capitol Hill from a perspective that is likely to make a lasting impression on them for years to come.

Another important reason for welcoming young students to the Faith and Action ministry center is that people who rise to office generally start on their trajectory towards that goal when they are in their teenage years. It is a rarity that someone reaches a major political position without having given considerable thought or prayer to his or her aspiration or calling from an early age. We have made it a goal to expand these young people’s vision for public service. This expansion of vision involves how God can use them both now and in the future. Other specific guidance we like to give young people is help with decisions about what courses they should take in college and graduate school, and what jobs they need in order to keep on track with their vocational path within the civic sphere.

And, in catering to this week’s visiting 8^th graders, we plan to meet them where they are as particularly young teenagers who are mainly excited to be in Washington DC! Because our nation’s capital is very big and complex to this age group, we try to make their time with us informative and entertaining, without overwhelming them with information that would be too much for them to process. Perhaps the most eye-opening thing for a young person to hear is that “you could be President of the United States one day.” The implications of self-governance provide some of the great pillars of our country, and realizing the magnitude of some of these truths is often the highlight of an 8^th grader’s visit to the Faith and Action ministry center.

On October 13^th, all 535 members of congress will be personally invited to hear a new voice in the continuing debate over abortion. Faith and Action is co-sponsoring a new event coming to Washington called “Voices from the Womb.” With the help of the modern technology of sonography, officials on Capitol Hill will have the opportunity to hear the sound of life from the womb, and to be encouraged to more intimately identify with the countless sufferers.

“Voices from the Womb” will take place in real time; it will not be an edited production that is merely a recorded video being replayed. The images of the pre-born children will be projected in 3-D on large screens. On the backside of each screen will be the sonography technicians and the pregnant women. There will be women with babies from each trimester—the first, second, and third.

The technical term to describe the use of sonography to visualize the preborn is “obstetric sonography” (or, ultrasonography). A standard part of prenatal care, obstetric sonography allows us to see how the life of the baby is progressing in the mother’s womb. Sonography technicians place a handheld device called a “transducer” on the abdomen area of the pregnant woman. The incredible 3D images produced by sonography will allow government officials—and many others—to see and hear firsthand the beating heart of a 10-week pre-born child, and it will also allow them to witness the beauty of an 18 week old child with a clearly formed face, fingers, and toes.

 The event will primarily take an educational tone and approach. Up until now, for too many of our national leaders the unborn child has been a theoretical subject of conversation about the sanctity of life, abortion, and pregnancy. With “Voices from the Womb,” however, the life of the unborn child will be the central story, presenter, and speaker. By shifting the conversation in this way, we hope the “voice” of the babies will have a profound impact on our leaders. The message and goal of “Voices from the Womb” is very clear: It is for our public policy makers to “listen to these voices from the womb and let us all work together to end the violence of abortion and embrace justice for all.”

On July 9^th Rev. Allen Church will be installed as the new pastor of the Manassas Reformed Presbyterian Church in Manassas, Virginia. He is filling the pulpit of the Rev. Dr. Edwin P. Elliott, Jr., who was a dear friend, wonderful colleague, and mentor to Faith and Action president Rob Schenck. Dr. Elliott passed away two years ago and now Dr. Church will fill his pulpit. The transition is particularly meaningful given the close relationship Dr. Church has with Faith and Action.

Dr. Church is one of the founding members of the National Clergy Council Executive Committee. The Committee is comprised of a body of pastors that Faith and Action consistently relies on to carry out our mission on Capitol Hill. In our nation’s capital there is still a vestigial respect for the pastor-members of this committee. Pastors shake hands with hundreds of people each week, and have a unique grasp of the pulse of the people, so to speak. This vantage point is certainly of interest to politicians. Of course, on the whole, though, members of congress have respect for religious institutions and the role of churches in our society, because they generally recognize the necessary religious sources of America’s secular humanism.

Regardless of the true reasoning, delegations of religious leaders have clout, and they help Faith and Action gain access and an audience with law-makers. Because Dr. Church has invaluable experience regarding this relationship between pastoral delegations and politicians, he is uniquely equipped to take on the responsibility of the pastoral role at Manassas Reformed Presbyterian Church. Especially since, merely 30 miles away from Washington DC, Dr. Church and his flock are in close proximity to Faith and Action’s ministries. That Dr. Church has already pledged full support is an encouraging report, because he has already proven himself an invaluable source of wise, spiritual counsel.

By: Nicholas Olson

With the beginning of July comes that time of year when Americans converge together as family and friends to celebrate a common heritage – or inheritance – as free inhabitants of the United States of America – a freedom instituted by the Declaration of Independence. Specifically, on the 4^th of July, Americans together celebrate the unique civil liberties we enjoy as a people. On this distinctively civic holiday, every American has much to be thankful for – and, indeed, good cause to feel a sense of patriotism.

Of course, a love for one’s country involves a healthy self-criticism of one’s country, and, thus, a keen recognition of its moral goods and ills – both of which every country has to varying degrees. The 4^th of July is certainly not a Biblical holiday in the sense that Christ’s birth and triumphant resurrection are celebrated, because no country this side of the New Kingdom is worthy of unbridled praise. Yet, while the Declaration of Independence is not an inspired document, it certainly contains inspiring ideas. And, together, people both religious and irreligious must continue their relatively short, peaceful history of conversation about how these national moral goods can be justified for the sake of maintenance.

Faith and Action affirms especially three significant ideas contained in the Declaration of Independence: (1) All people are equal in value in terms of worth. We as a people have inherent value on the basis of being human; (2) this value status is conveyed to us from outside of ourselves. It is not a status that must be grasped from within one’s self so as to be attained. Rather, we together – no person excluded – experience our inherent worth as a kind of givenness that comes from a transcendent source; and, thus, (3) the Declaration acknowledges the Creator, for the Creator endows us with the volitional and permanently given value of being human – a value which is immutable and enduring.

While commonly expressed to the near point of cliché, “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” entail only the beginning of the American’s personal rights. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are “among” the rights we are endowed with as human beings; hence, they are merely the starting point of the conversation regarding our contractual rights – and inherent obligations – as a united people living life together on a common land and under a common law.

On July 4^th, we remember the independent freedom we have enjoyed as a country and the liberties this has provided for each person; we remember the countless sacrifices made by our founding forefathers, our military men and women, and the innumerable families who have handled their gift of freedom with a faithful steward’s sense of responsibility. Yet, perhaps most of all, we must remember that if any of the “big ideas” mentioned above – our essential philosophy as a country comprised of people who are endowed with worth by a transcendent Creator – are taken for granted, forgotten, or eclipsed, then a nation of free individuals self-enslaved to an irresponsible self-absorption cannot stand under the weight of its own chains.

Creatures without a transcendent Creator have no firm sense of obligation to one another, because they would have no derivative, inherent worth that is discriminated qualitatively higher from anything else. Thus, it might be quipped that freedom without responsibility rings like a clanging cymbal – an enslaving disharmony, indeed.

Let freedom ring melodiously.

Guest Editorial

By: Nick Olson

In recent weeks, the political world has been rocked by three major and separate sex scandals involving a former US governor, a current US congressman, and a well-known politician for the French socialist party. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Andrew Weiner, and Dominique Strauss-Kahn found themselves embroiled in a web of lies, deceit, and sexual misconduct.

In times of political scandal, it is both easy and common for Christians to have one of two equally problematic responses: apathy or judgmentalism. The first response, apathy, is characterized by indifference, and is fueled by an attitude that says politics are not worthwhile because the corruption will never change. The second common response, judgmentalism, is characterized by the temptation to drag the scandalized public figure in the ground from the impure motivation of self-righteousness.

Neither response to political scandal – apathy or judgmentalism – is Christ-like. Christian love and grace does not allow for indifference or self-righteous criticism. The gracious response calls us to forgive scandalized politicians because forgiveness is the appropriate response for those who have been eternally forgiven by God. Because we too have sinned, we are in no position to pridefully position ourselves above other sinners. However, from this position of humility, we must also sound the call for our politicians to display integrity through fidelity in their personal lives. If our elected officials cannot be faithful in their personal lives, then they force us to question their faithfulness to do what is right for the country and the world in the public spotlight.

Thus, the proper Christian response to these recent political scandals brings into focus three major issues to remember:

1. Scandals happen on both sides of the aisle. Neither right-leaning nor left-leaning Christians should use a political scandal as an opportunity for partisan politics. At bottom, it is simply dishonest.

2. God’s grace to us creates both humility and the desire for justice. They are two sides of the same coin. We cannot have one without the other. Seeking justice without humility breeds judgmentalism, while being humble without seeking justice breeds timid apathy.

3. We need to pray for our politicians. Pray that God’s hand would direct their lives. Pray that they would not separate the ethics which govern their public decision-making from the ethics which guide their private lives. It is a false dichotomy that cannot be sustained.

And, ultimately, we ought to pray for restoration in the lives of the politicians involved in scandal.

On this celebration of Memorial Day, Faith and Action  honors those soldiers who have sacrificed their lives for the sake of others. In doing so, they have uniquely expressed an important biblical concept: the act of laying down one’s life for friends. Any military servicemen or women who swear the oath and takes on the uniform and places themselves at risk of harm’s way expresses that tenet of the Gospel in a very concrete, demonstrative way.

Memorial Day was initially started as a way of recognition after the Civil War. However, throughout the 20^th Century and into the 21^st, many Americans have used the federal holiday to more generally remember fallen loved ones – though, officially, the country particularly recognizes deceased military members.

While Faith and Action stresses the importance of Christ’s mandate to lay down one’s life for friends, we also recognize the truth that not every cause is worthy of the call to self-sacrifice. Therefore, it is important that on Memorial Day – and every day of the year – we strive to sacrifice for just causes, and be wary of implicitly celebrating causes that may not have been worthwhile.

Faith and Action president Rob Schenck – who was named after his Uncle, Captain Robert Schenck – looks to his hero Dietrich Bonhoeffer as an example of a man who was willing to lay down his life for fellow believers, for his country, for his friends, and, ultimately, for the cause of Christ. He justly sought the end of an evil regime without sacrificing his devotion to Christ. Bonhoeffer’s courage is an example for all Americans to ponder as we honor are military men and women, and consider the causes we fight for – and how we fight them – in the future.

On Friday, September 10th, clergy from across the nation will unite in Washington, DC for the 2010 Religious Leaders Roundtable. The Roundtable is a forum that provides a unique opportunity for clergy to work together to help preserve the Judeo-Christian principles foundational to American civilization. The event will be held in conjunction with the 2010 March on DC Liberty XPO and Symposium.

According to the event

Rev. Rob Schenck of Faith and Action and Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition today held a prayer and anointing service at the hearing room where US Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan will appear before the US Senate Judiciary Committee beginning Monday, June 28.

At the entry point to the US Senate Hart Building Central Hearing Room, the two ministers read Bible verses, applied oil to the doorposts and lintel of the doorway and kneeled to recite the Lord