(The Center Square) – As Protestant Christians celebrated the 508th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation on Friday, a movement for reformation and renewal has been growing in North Carolina led by the American Renewal Project and its founder, David Lane.
Lane has been involved in Christian political engagement for decades, launching multiple initiatives in battleground states. The first ARP event was launched in Texas with former Gov. Rick Perry in 2005. Since then, ARP has raised more than $20 million to educate and activate evangelical Christian voters, engaged with more than 120,000 pastors nationwide and contacted more than 23.5 million low- to mid- propensity evangelical voters, it says.
In North Carolina, ARP initiatives began in 2019 with then-North Carolina Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, a Republican, and roughly 40 pastors and spiritual leaders in the state.
ARP held its first luncheon with 49 pastors in Jamestown in January 2020. By October 2024, ARP completed its 42nd event in the state reaching several thousand.
The focus of the nonpartisan group is first and foremost spiritual, Lane told The Center Square. “The byproduct is political.”
Lane is encouraging American pastors to follow the footsteps of the Old Testament prophet Nehemiah, who with the support of the fifth century Persian King Artaxerxes, rallied exiled Israelites to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls after Babylonian exile. Nehemiah addressed socio-economic and political issues, including exploitation of the poor, and inspired a spiritual renewal that led to a reorienting of community and political life, according to biblical and historic texts. The ARP is encouraging pastors to do likewise: admonish biblical values in the pulpit to the pews, into the public square, at the ballot box and through civic engagement.
Its Nehemiah Project “is rallying pastors and parishioners to rebuild the moral and cultural walls of America.” One of its goals is to encourage pastors to preach “the whole counsel of God.” The other is to encourage 500 North Carolina pastors, spiritual leaders and congregants to run for elected office in 2026, 2028 and beyond.
“The fruit” of ARP’s vision in North Carolina “has been undeniable,” Lane told The Center Square. In 2021, 2,700 pastors and spiritual leaders attended 13 events statewide.
By 2022, 50 North Carolina pastors and church leaders ran for public office, including for local city council, county commissioner, school board and state representative seats. Among them, 25 won their primaries; 10 were elected in the general election.
Since 2020, nearly 5,000 pastors and spiritual leaders have participated in ARP events in North Carolina representing more than twenty Protestant denominations as well as Roman Catholics.
In September, a series of events were launched that go through the end of this year. The next event is in Jacksonville on Nov. 3 ahead of Election Day.
Over the next two years, ARP will be holding civic center events in each of North Carolina’s 14 congressional districts, with “one unchanging message,” Lane said. “Every church in America must have a pastor, elder, deacon, or congregant running for local office in 2026, 2028, and 2030 – and beyond – with Christians registered and voting in every election.”
At different events ARP has held, President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and other elected officials have delivered prerecorded messages to attendees.
At one event in Raleigh, President Trump told attendees ARP efforts have “inspired dozens of faith leaders to run for office and win elections and they’ve been winning them in droves. I will be cheering you on as you recruit 500 church members to run for office in 2026 and 2028.”
Lane has long encouraged Christians in America to vote, pointing to statistics that show many stay at home on Election Day. “If we stay home, candidates who oppose biblical values will win and then draft and pass legislation to codify into law their values,” Lane said. “We’re asking the living God to move into the public square of America.”
While winning elections is important, Lane argues, the goal is bigger.
“We all know that politicians are not going to save America, or that Wall Street or even our powerful military will,” Lane said. “If America is to be saved, Biblical values must reign supreme. They must be returned to the public square.”
