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Pastor Ashley Ellison’s Testimony about Engaging His Congregation in the Civic Arena

Pastor Ashley Ellison’s Testimony about Engaging His Congregation in the Civic Arena

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By Ashley Ellison

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Recently, I was contacted by Tim Barton of WallBuilders and asked to do what I could to help repeal an ordinance that had been passed by the Springfield, Missouri City Council in October 2014.

The Christian community in and around Springfield was needed to help repeal this new city ordinance that was granting special rights to homosexuals and transgender individuals. The issue was being placed on the ballot because Springfield residents gathered sufficient signatures to force a public referendum on the subject. It took the Christian community less than a month to collect twice the number of signatures required to submit the gay rights ordinance to a public vote.

I am pastor of a church just outside of Springfield and was amazed that such an ordinance would be passed in a city in which I and every member of our congregation do business. We also have church members who actually live in Springfield.

After much prayer, God led me to do all that I could to get the word out to everyone in our church and in our realm of influence. I met with some of my staff, and we began to coordinate a plan to do just that.

This was a nonpartisan issue which legally allowed us to share with our congregation information from a Biblical viewpoint regarding the ordinance. I started teaching our church about the content and potential consequences of the ordinance. My sermons centered around what we as Christians need to do when facing moral issues at the ballot box, and I used the Word of God to do so.

We joined forces with the campaign committee in Springfield, and our staff worked day and night organizing our efforts to let everyone in Springfield know the dangers of this ordinance.  We organized teams from our church to go door-to-door and strategically hang flyers in support of repealing the ordinance. Our heart was to do all that we could to get information into the hands of voters in the Springfield area, all the while encouraging our workers to be friendly and not to engage in arguments with anyone. We talked with anyone who wanted more information and distributed yard signs and flyers to those who were interested in joining our efforts. Our staff, as well as many members of our church, attended prayer meetings held to pray specifically for God’s hand in the city of Springfield and media events to stand with businesses from our area who were working to repeal the ordinance. We engaged in a social media effort to let everyone of our online friends know the Biblical viewpoint of this ordinance. We asked our people to do everything they could to keep this in front of everyone within their circle of influence. Our church members took every opportunity to impact voters through the use of social media.

Our best figures indicate that by distributing signs and flyers, talking to businesses, and using social media, we had personal influence with well over 6000 people. On Election Day, we stood at the polling locations answering questions and doing what we could to encourage people to see this ordinance from a Biblical point of view. Many people were receptive and took the voters guides we had available.

We encountered some supporters of the ordinance who, quite frankly, were rude and even ugly to our people (myself included) as they manned the polling locations. Standing up for what is right isn’t always easy, and we were prepared for opposition. My wife and I were passing out voters guides at one of the polling locations when the police arrived. It had been reported that we were intimidating voters. Prior to that police report, we had been standing next to two women who were passing out information in support of the ordinance. We had engaged in cordial and regular conversation with them, not attacking their viewpoint, answering questions when they asked, and avoiding any arguments on the subject. Thankfully, when the police arrived, these two women reported to them that we were not intimidating anyone and were nothing but friendly. The police officer stated that he expected that to be the case and left. Walking in love is vital if we are to have any real influence, and it certainly paid off in this case.

In the end, the ordinance was repealed by only 854 votes. There are 172,000 registered voters in Springfield, and just over 15,000 voted to repeal this ordinance. Had it not been for the effort of our congregation and certainly all other congregations working together, this ordinance may well have stayed in effect, doing great harm to the cause of Christ in this area while encouraging other cities to pass similar ordinances.

I want to encourage those reading this…you can make a difference! By standing on the frontline and battling for religious freedom, our church gained an appreciation for the democratic process on which this country was founded. The struggle and subsequent victory bound the hearts of our people together as we stood side-by-side putting hands and feet to our faith, completely relying on faith in our great God to go before and behind us in the battle. As people of God, we must take a stand in the public arena on the moral issues of our day. Through obedience and our refusal to bury our heads in the sand, God took a situation that was intended to harm our community, and turned it around for our good and His glory.

We can take this great country back to a Biblical view of morality and protect our religious freedoms! Our church is stronger and more unified on the back end of this fight than we were going into it. As a pastor, I can honestly say that fighting the good fight will always advance the kingdom of God in the end, and not just in the community. But by courageously fighting the good fight together, we grow the church in unity and in numbers. Thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ.

pastors Pastors Michelle and Ashley Ellison

Christian Ministries Church

 

  [box] Isaiah 10:1 Woe to those who enact evil statutes and to those who constantly record unjust decisions. Founders Bible article Proverbs 29:2, page 988. Excerpt form Rev. William Penn: “Government, like clock, go from the motion men give them; and as governments are made and moved by men, so by them they are ruined too…Let men be good and the government cannot be bad….But if men be bad, let the government be never so good, they will endeavor to warp and spoil it to their turn.”[/box]

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