The FAMiLY LEADER Foundation this week celebrated its 1,000th pastor visit to the Iowa Capitol!
TFL’s Capitol Project began three years ago with the goal to restore the biblical relationship between ministers of God in the Church and the ministers of God in government (Romans 13:4-6). Though Scripture clearly teaches the Church and government have separate spheres, the Church’s voice, like the prophet Nathan speaking to King David in 2 Samuel 12, has a role to play in advising our government leaders.
The Capitol Project has never been about politics. It has always been about building relationships, sharing the gospel, and advancing the Kingdom of God, not the kingdoms of men.
What God has done with that aspiration – including facilitating 1,000 pastor visits at the Capitol in just three years – has been awe-inspiring.
“When we started this project, I just knew we were being faithful to what God had called us to do,” recalls Greg Baker, vice president of church engagement for The FAMiLY LEADER Foundation. “I could never have imagined the number of friendships I would build with pastors from all across the state, nor could I have imagined the large amount of spiritual impact we would have over such a short period of time. I cannot wait to see how the Lord uses the next thousand!”
In a gathering of pastors celebrating the 1,000th visit, Baker explained just how much has changed in three years.
“I’ve had more gospel conversations at the Capitol this year than in the last seven years combined,” Baker said.
Danny Carroll, a TFL family advocate who had served for years as a state representative, told pastors he used to imagine what it would be like to have just two pastors a day at the Capitol. With 1,000 visits in three years, the Capitol Project has far surpassed that average.
“I saw the Capitol filled with lobbyists for everything – agriculture, education, trucking,” Carroll recalled before the gathering of pastors, “but I asked myself, ‘Where’s the Church? Where are the men of God who know Scripture?’ Now, you’re there. How can the people of Iowa thank you enough?”
Several of the pastors also spoke about how the Capitol Project works and what it’s done for them.
“If there’s one thing we communicate to the folks at the Capitol,” said Pastor Dave Tyree of the Chariton Church of Christ, “it’s that we genuinely care about them, regardless of politics.”
“I used to feel intimidated in any big, government place,” said Pastor Richard Kaiser of the Dexter Assembly of God. “But today I’m chomping at the bit to get up there and share Scripture with my legislator. Yes, I’m going to talk to him about the Heartbeat Bill, but I want him to know I still love and care for him no matter how he votes.”
Pastor Ed Gregory of the Baptist Convention of Iowa shared how groundbreaking the Capitol Project has been, even to pastors inclined to speak to government: “Even if we pastors wanted to do this, we couldn’t do it without The FAMiLY LEADER Foundation.”
You can learn more about the Capitol Project and the fruit of its ministry by watching the video below:
