Dr. Richard Land, Sam Rohrer, Rep. Judd Matheny, Rafael Cruz, Bishop E.W. Jackson to Speak at Nashville Events on Constitution Day That Will Focus on States’ Rights, Marriage, Religious Liberty
A powerful lineup of speakers will motivate Tennesseans to stand for religious liberties and other issues crucial to Christians at the Tennessee Pastors Network (TNPN, www.tnpastors.net) “Stand in the Gap for Truth” Rally and Conference in Nashville on Sept. 17.
Starting at 11 a.m. on Constitution Day, the rally will take place at the Legislative Plaza, 301 6th Ave N in Nashville. Local pastors who are part of TNPN will partner with state legislators to host the event that will engage and empower Tennesseans to address issues such as conventional marriage and family, a lax immigration system, weak terrorism laws, education, health care, religious liberties protections and the blatant violation of the U.S. Constitution.
The rally, in response to many months of judicial and political decisions that have taken away states’ rights and stripped Americans of their religious liberties, will give Tennesseans a voice and equip them to call for change.
Following the “Stand in the Gap for Truth” Rally will be the Tennessee Pastors Network’s annual conference, which will welcome Bishop E.W. Jackson and Rafael Cruz, father of presidential hopeful Ted Cruz. For the evening event at Hillcrest Baptist Church, 621 Hartsville Pike in Lebanon, Tenn., dinner begins at 5 p.m. (space is limited and registration is necessary; information is available at www.tnpastors.net/events or by emailing patriotpastorstn@gmail.com). The conference, which is free on a first-come basis, will begin at 7 p.m. at the church, and rally speakers will be present to give an in-depth account of what Tennesseans can do to protect and speak up for the Volunteer State.
“We hope that thousands of Tennesseans will get out and let their voices be heard at this rally,” said TNPN President Dale Walker. “Come to the Capitol, stand for religious freedom and send a strong message with your presence. Throughout the day, residents will be encouraged and motivated to take action on the issues we can no longer ignore. And that evening, hundreds of pastors will come together for the Tennessee Pastors Network annual dinner and conference. What better way to wrap up Constitution Day than in the House of the Lord and hear from two heroes who have stood for religious freedom their entire lives—Rafael Cruz and Bishop E.W. Jackson.
“The Constitution Day rally is for religious freedom,” Walker continued, “in the heart and the shadow of the Capitol of Tennessee. There is an intense throbbing happening in the very heart of freedom-loving Tennesseans who are seeing their God-given rights trampled by those who are ignoring our precious U.S. Constitution and our own state Constitution. The vote and will of Tennesseans seems to no longer matter, and this is our chance as citizens to call for our state and federal elected leaders to fulfill their duty to the citizens, while reminding them whom they work for and whom they represent. This is a rally for the citizens of Tennessee who want to stand for First Amendment Rights and take back our stand for Judeo-Christian values in Tennessee.”
Top-name speakers at the rally will include:
- Dr. Richard Land, president of Southern Evangelical Seminary and past president of The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, the Southern Baptist Convention’s official entity assigned to address social, moral and ethical concerns. In 2005, Land was named as one of Time Magazine’s “25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America.” He was the 2013 Watchman Award recipient from the Family Research Council for his leadership on moral and cultural issues, in 2014, he was appointed as a Senior Research Fellow of the ERLC’s Research Institute, and in 2015, was in the top 15 of Newsmax’s “Top 100 Christian Leaders in America.”
- Sam Rohrer, former longtime legislator and president of the American Pastors Network (APN, www.americanpastorsnetwork.net
), of which TNPN is a chapter. The former candidate for Pennsylvania governor and U.S. Senate is the host of several APN radio programs, “Stand in the Gap Minute,” “Stand in the Gap Today” and “Stand in the Gap Weekend,” which are collectively heard on hundreds of stations throughout the country. APN is uniquely providing the structure and encouragement for pastors to speak biblical truth with a united voice into family, the church and civil government. - Rep. Judd Matheny (R-Tullahoma), who serves District 47, in Coffee and part of Warren counties. He is an eight-year veteran of the U.S. Army and the Tennessee Army National Guard and an eight-year veteran of state and local law enforcement. Matheny is a member of the House Health Committee, the House Insurance and Banking Committee and the House Health Subcommittee. He is chairman of the Coffee County Republican Party and a past chairman of the Davidson County Crimestoppers, as well as a member of the Tennessee Farm Bureau, National Rifle Association, Master Mason and Tullahoma Rotary.
- Bishop E.W. Jackson, president and founder of STAND (Staying True to America’s National Destiny), a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving Judeo-Christian values and bringing Americans together across racial and cultural lines. He is also the 2013 Republican Nominee for Lt. Governor of Virginia. After service with the U.S. Marines, Jackson was ordained a pastor in 1979 and consecrated a bishop in 1998. He is the author of “Ten Commandments to an Extraordinary Life” and is a senior fellow with the Family Research Council.
Matheny will lead the local legislators participating in the rally, and will address the crowd, as well as garner support for the event from other lawmakers. One goal of the rally, Matheny said, will be to help protect all Tennesseans and the state’s pastors, and communicate that an effort is under way to recapture their rights.
“Power in this country comes from the states,” Matheny said. “The states collectively enable the federal government to even exist. To continue to allow the federal government to operate outside the confines of the U.S. Constitution is unacceptable. Because our federal legislators are doing nothing to empower Tennessee to be governed by Tennesseans, the Tennessee General Assembly will step into that gap and take charge.”
TNPN is a state chapter of APN, the largest national network dedicated to equipping pastors to be a voice for truth in the public square. For more information on the rally or the conference, visit www.tnpastors.net.
TNPN and APN offer pastors numerous online resources that help clergy choose sermon topics and find information for other church ministries. With some free and some paid resources, topics include abortion, apologetics, creation, the culture war, economics, education, the environment, history, homosexuality, Islam and marriage, along with many others.
The Tennessee Pastors Network encourages pastors to bring together biblical and constitutional principles in their sermons and provides resources to pastors throughout the state. For more information on TNPN, visit its Facebook page or call (931) 267-0816.
TNPN is a group of biblically faithful clergy and church liaisons whose objective is to build a permanent infrastructure of like-minded clergy who affirm the authority of Scripture, take seriously Jesus’ command to be the “salt and light” to the culture, encourage informed Christian thinking about contemporary social issues, examine public policy issues without politicizing their pulpits and engage their congregations in taking part in the political process on a non-partisan basis.
The American Pastors Network is the largest, national network of pastors who believe in the authority of scripture; who boldly preach the whole counsel of God with a disciplined application of a biblical worldview to public policy; who are building a permanent infrastructure of biblically faithful pastors and lay leaders; and who are mobilizing congregations to participate in the political process on a non-partisan basis. For more information on APN, visit www.americanpastorsnetwork.net
The American Pastors Network is a Ministry Program Affiliate of Capstone Legacy Foundation (a 501(c)(3) non-profit Christian Public Community Foundation registered nationwide). APN’s daily short radio feature, “Stand in the Gap,” airs on more than 40 stations, and the American Family Radio Network airs the one-hour “Stand in the Gap Weekend” on 140 additional stations nationwide. A live one-hour program launched in 2015, “Stand in the Gap Today,” airs on several Pennsylvania radio stations.
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To interview Dale Walker from the Tennessee Pastors Network or a representative of the American Pastors Network, contact Deborah Hamilton at 215-815-7716 or 610-584-1096, ext. 102, or Beth Harrison at 610-584-1096, ext. 104, Media@HamiltonStrategies.com.