Posts on Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission

The Southern Baptist Convention's North American Mission Board and Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission have announced a 40 Day Prayer Vigil for Spiritual Revival and National Renewal. Set to begin in late September, it is timed to conclude - wouldn't you know it - right on Election Day:

The 40/40 Prayer Vigil is set to begin Wednesday, Sept. 24, and conclude on the Sunday morning, Nov. 2, before Election Day. According to the website for the vigil, iLiveValues.com/prayer, the vigil begins with 37 days of daily prayer and concludes with a recommended 40 hours of around-the-clock intercession during the final three days of the initiative.

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It is not happenstance that the vigil ends just days before Election Day, the two Southern Baptist leaders confirmed.

"As Election Day approaches, we as Christians know we need to be committed to praying for the outcome and for those who will be elected to lead us," Hammond said. "But milestone moments like this in our history should remind us of the importance of asking God for spiritual awakening in our land."

"As Christians, we need God to give us wisdom as we select the next president of the United States," Land said. "People must realize that government at every level is a lagging social indicator," he added. "True and lasting change in our nation will come from spiritual renewal in the hearts of America's citizens, not from government programs."

As the AP reports:

Southern Baptists are organizing a nationwide prayer campaign to accompany their values-voter registration drive, seeking spiritual renewal for families and churches, and God's favor for public officials who are guided by the Bible.

The 40/40 Prayer Vigil for Spiritual Revival and National Renewal will run from Sept. 24 through Nov. 2, two days before the general election.

The daily prayers include requests for God's guidance in voting, for the election of more "godly Christians," for God to "help churches find ways to help Christians get to the polls" and for public officials to be protected "from the attacks of Satan."

The effort is a companion program to the iVoteValues registration campaign, which began in 2004 and is jointly led this year by Southern Baptists, the largest Protestant group in the country, and the Family Research Council, a conservative Washington-based advocacy group.

A few weeks ago, we wrote a post quoting a Washington Times article that reported that possible GOP presidential candidate Fred Thompson had contacted Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission “to say he wanted Mr. Land present at any campaign kickoff.”

Shortly thereafter, the kind folks at the ERLC alerted us to the fact that the newspaper had corrected its article to clarify that it was Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder who received the call from Thompson, not Land, which we duly noted.  

But now The Politico is reporting that Land and Thompson are indeed teaming up as Thompson attempts to kick his campaign into gear before the Council for National Policy: 

Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson acknowledges his coming-out speech in California last weekend didn't live up to expectations, advisers say, and he is planning a tighter and sharper message dubbed "Stump Speech 2.0" for a Saturday night event to be attended by key conservative leaders.

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Saturday's event will be a crucial audition in Northern Virginia, where Thompson will be the keynote speaker at a dinner of the Council for National Policy, an organization of conservative leaders. Organizers say he will be introduced by Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention, who is among the most important voices of evangelical Christians.

Land is currently enjoying his position as a leading religious right prognosticator on all things having to do with the current crop of Republican candidates and his carefully cultivated positioning as a “neutral” observer will probably take a hit once people realize that he is openly backing Thompson.