Christian Right Observer Weekly (Volume 3)
Christian Right Observer Weekly (Volume 3)
CROW's 7 stories on the Christian Right that you need read this week.
1. Eric Metaxas Premieres His New Film ‘Letter to the American Church’ at Churches Across the Country
Is Christian Nationalist Eric Metaxas’ debut documentary Letter to the American Church being screened at a church near you?
The film, based on Metaxas’ book of the same name, centers on the church rising up against purported Marxist ideology and links liberalism to Nazi Germany. TPUSA, TPUSA Faith, and GiveSendGo are all named on the official trailer. Christian Nationalists Charlie Kirk and Pastor Rob McCoy appear as interviewees.
Epoch Times, affiliated with the Falun Gong religious movement, will release streaming of the film on February 8. The film producers have scheduled a church tour in anticipation of the upcoming contentious Presidential election. Churches and movie theaters can sign up to screen the film. Local media and activists can view which churches are hosting on the official website.
On Flashpoint Live, Metaxas on stage with Kirk and NAR Apostle Che Ahn talked about his upcoming film and said “The Lord calls us to fight.” Ahn, in a 2020 interview, likened Metaxas to a marketplace Apostle to change culture. Both Ahn and Metaxas were part of engaging in the religious rhetoric leading up to January 6th. And Ahn is not the only NAR Apostle that Metaxas engages with regularly. Metaxas made multiple appearances including as host on Apostle Jim Garlow's World Prayer Network Prayer Calls in 2020 and 2021.
2. ‘Take Our Border Back’ Convoy Propelled by Religious Extremists Tied to Mike Flynn
A so-called “Take Our Border Back” convoy is underway to support Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s defiance of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling regarding the southern border. Several convoy organizers are religious extremists with ties to disgraced retired Lieutenant General Mike Flynn, a top proponent of the 2020 “Stop the Steal” movement, which was fueled by religious extremism as well. (Link to tweet.)
Convoy organizer Kim Yeater has a show – “Take Your Power Back” – that is sponsored by Flynn. She has said that her activism began with a dream from God in which she saw an explosion and God told her, “IT IS THE SHOT HEARD AROUND THE WORLD.” an apparent reference to the shot that sparked the American Revolution.
Per LinkedIn, Yeater volunteers for the (San Diego-based) Awaken megachurch. The megachurch has hosted Flynn’s Reawaken America Tour (RAT) …
3. House Speaker Mike Johnson invites extremist pastor Jack Hibbs to lead House prayer
On January 30, pastor Jack Hibbs (of Calvary Chapel in Chino Hills, California) delivered the opening prayer in the U.S. House of Representatives. Hibbs is a close associate of the Family Research Council (FRC), a Christian Right powerhouse whose president, Tony Perkins, has said that the House “Freedom Caucus” began in an FRC conference room in 2015.
Hibbs told Perkins that it was House Speaker Mike Johnson (a longtime friend of Perkins) who invited him to deliver the House prayer. (Link to tweet.)
The invitation was condemned by the Freedom From Religion Foundation in a blistering report that emphasized Hibbs’s overt hostility toward LGBTQ+ rights and the separation between church and state. (You can read Hibbs’s position on the separation issue here.)
The ties between Hibbs and FRC (and Johnson) provide further cause for concern because FRC has been designated as an anti-LGBTQ+ hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. FRC has also tweeted that “Abortion is never medically necessary to save the life of a mother.”
After delivering the House prayer, Hibbs spoke during the January 31 “National Gathering for Prayer and Repentance” in DC, along with Johnson. The event was organized by Perkins and Jim Garlow, an apostle in the “New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) dominionist movement, as we reported last week.
In addition to leading the House prayer, Hibbs and his congregants have helped elect several members to the Chino Hills school board, including school board president Sonja Shaw, who has appeared several times on Washington Watch, a daily program hosted by FRC.
4. Dran Reese is the California Christian Right Leader You've Never Heard Of
While everyone was paying attention to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and NAR Apostle Jim Garlow on the World Prayer Network Prayer Call, you may have missed the other Christian Dominionist on the call: Dran Reese. Reese is a former Skyliner who attended Garlow's California Skyline church. She has helped to put Garlow's Well Versed book in the hands of legislators and has presented at his conferences.
Reese heads half a dozen influential ministries including The Salt & Light Council and Biblical Voter. As of 2013, Liberty Counsel is purported to be the controlling ministry of Salt & Light. Reese speaks nationally as Salt & Light founder to orgs like theonomy seeking City Elders. She represents Salt & Light at Council for National Policy meetings. Salt & Light has local citizenship ministries all across the country, influencing their local communities.
NAR Apostle Che Ahn's California Harvest Rock Church even has a Salt & Light Ministry. Reese also is part of Ahn's Revive California PAC. They recently held an event to support California candidates where Reese spoke along with Kari Lake. Reese also helps to train local CA candidates and, with Rosemary Garlow, is influential with the CA Judeo Christian Caucus. Her other Christian Right national efforts include partnerships with Liberty Pastors and the Remnant Alliance.
5. Family Research Council Claims to Have 8,000 ‘Community Impact Teams’ in Churches Across America
The Family Research Council (FRC) is a Christian Right juggernaut whose president, Tony Perkins, is the immediate past president of the Council for National Policy, a Christian Right umbrella organization. FRC has a long-standing nationwide strategy that involves recruiting far right pastors and encouraging the formation of church based “Community Impact Teams” (aka “Culture Impact Teams” or “CITs”), which train participants to infiltrate local politics, especially school boards.
Several months ago, Perkins revealed in a videotaped conversation that FRC has about 8,000 CITs across the country.
FRC collaborates with like minded organizations, such as Truth and Liberty Coalition, whose board of directors includes Lance Wallnau, a self-described “Christian nationalist” and apostle in the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), a global network of Christian dominionist zealots who view politics as “spiritual warfare.”
6. New Documentary Examines Christian Right/NAR Ties to the Jan. 6th Insurrection
Matthew D. Taylor announced on his substack today the release of the new documentary “Spiritual Warriors: Decoding Christian Nationalism at the Capitol Riot.” Taylor writes, “This 25-minute documentary traces how nondenominational charismatic Christians — particularly as instigated by the networks of New Apostolic Reformation leaders — created the Christian nationalist religious fervor that we all witnessed that day.”
Taylor explains the back story and the role his research played in the production of the documentary in his post. You can subscribe to his newsletter HERE.
7. ‘White Lives Matter’ Extremist Sentenced for Firebombing LGBTQ-Friendly Church. He Thought He Was Doing ‘God’s Work’
Aimenn Penny, 20, thought he was doing “God’s work,” prosecutors said, when he threw Molotov cocktails at a church ahead of a planned drag queen story hour events – hoping to burn it to the ground. He was sentenced to 18 years in federal prison after pleading guilty in October to a “church arson hate crime.”
The unrepentant Penny was part of Ohio’s "White Lives Matter" group, which holds "racist, pro-Nazi, and homophobic views." Prosecutors also note that Penny had written a manifesto "full of twisted and false historical narratives, calls for war and violence, justifications for his actions, and the spewing of transphobic and anti-Semitic hatred."
“We hope this significant sentence sends a clear and resounding message that this type of hate-fueled attack against a church will not be tolerated in our country,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
Penny was apparently radicalized online (like so many other youth).