— Tennessee Pastors Network Says Churches Must Become More Involved
with Pressing Issues, Especially as 2016 Election Looms —
Renowned researcher George Barna has been asking the important questions that impact society for decades. His most recent query found that the faithful want their pastors and churches to engage more with the most crucial issues of the day.
Barna conducted his newest study as the principal researcher for the American Culture and Faith Institute, which found that nearly two-thirds of spiritually active Christian conservatives want their churches to be more active in the upcoming election than they had been in the past couple of election cycles. And 67 percent said they want their churches to provide them with more information through biblical teachings on the issues that will take center stage in the 2016 election.
Coming off the successful “Stand in the Gap for Truth” Rally last week on Constitution Day, the Tennessee Pastors Network (TNPN, www.tnpastors.net) says the new study should be an indicator for pastors and churches that congregations are hungry for information on conversation-starting societal topics.
“Last week, thousands stood in Nashville, rallying for religious freedom and standing for truth on a multitude of other issues,” said TNPN President Dale Walker. “It is clear that Christians want to be a part of the conversation that will reshape the nation, and they want their churches to be part of that conversation as well. It’s time for churches to step up to the plate and become involved, talking about the tough topics that affect all of us every day—and will affect our children for years to come. If Christians can’t turn to the church for insight on the most difficult and pressing matters of our world, where can they turn?”
The issues Christians want to delve into further, Barna’s research found, include abortion, religious freedom and persecution, sexual identity issues and same-sex marriage, how to think about and respond to Israel, poverty and cultural restoration.
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.
###
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.