Watchmen On the Wall - FRC

About Watchmen on the Wall

Allow me to introduce you to "Watchmen on the Wall," our ministry to pastors. Why would Family Research Council invest in pastors? After all, FRC is a Washington, DC based non-profit ministry that is focused on shaping public policy and informed civic activism. Good question.

Simply put, we believe that the problems we face in our communities and our nation are not just political and cultural, they are spiritual in nature (Eph. 6:10-13). Consequently, these problems ultimately require a spiritual solution administered by spiritual leadership. That is why we are championing pastors to transform America.

What are we hoping pastors will do? Simply this: 1) Pray for our nation, 2) Preach the whole counsel of God without apology, and 3) Partner with other pastors who will lead their churches to become the salt and light Jesus spoke about and make a positive difference in their communities, state, and our nation.

As you walk out your calling as a pastor, we want to serve you, stand with you, and be an encouragement to you, just as the Bible teaches:

"Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work." - 1 Thess. 5:12-13a.

I sincerely hope you will prayerfully consider joining with Watchmen Pastors all across America as we stand for Faith, Family, and Freedom.

Tony Perkins
President, Family Research Council

Learn more about becoming a Watchmen Pastor

 

 

 

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What is a Watchman Pastor?
A.We get the name from Isaiah 62:6: " I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the LORD, give yourselves no rest." We believe that a Watchman Pastor is called to do the following:
  • Watch what is going on in the culture.
  • Pray for the wisdom to engage biblically, courageously, and winsomely.
  • Sound the Alarm from the pulpit.
  • Take a bold stand with others to defend and advance faith, family, and freedom.
Q. How do I become a "Watchman Pastor?"
A. Click on Join the Fight, provide your info, and we will begin to encourage and equip you. If you want to go to the next level, make the commitment to Pray, Preach, and Partner, which involves starting a Watchmen Pastors network of at least three others. Click on Count Me In, and we will give you access to the Watchmen Insider and all those resources.
 
Q. How do I go about finding pastors to start a network?
A. Start where Jesus started: Pray. Luke tells us that He spent the whole night in prayer before He picked His apostles (6:12 -16). The Lord will guide you. Invite the ones that the Lord leads you to for a meeting, pray together, use the resources we provide you, develop ways to impact your community, and work together to transform it in Jesus name.
 
Q. Should we network with pastors of our own denomination/fellowship or should we try to connect with others?
A. Do both. We realize that getting pastors to build "bridges" with other pastors from different traditions and denominations can be quite difficult, but most Bible-believing pastors would agree that the Church of Jesus Christ is in dire need of revival and that America needs a radical turning toward God. There is too much common ground and too great a need not to link arms together.
 
Q. Is this one of those "ecumenical" efforts designed to get pastors to drop their doctrinal and denominational distinctives?
A. No. Pastor Alec Rowlands, who founded Sound the Alarm in Washington state after attending the first Watchmen on the Wall briefing, has nearly 1,500 pastors in his network, representing a wide range of denominational and non-denominational churches. While they are one in their mission to pray and join together for united action, the pastors relate to one another without compromising the identity, vision or mission of their various and diverse individual churches.
 
Q. Are you asking pastors to submit to another pastor's spiritual authority in these networks?
A. No. What we are asking is that pastors enter into a relationship with fellow pastors for concerted prayer mutual-encouragement, and unity of purpose in bringing godly influence to public policy and government. The initiating pastor often has the benefit of experiencing a Watchmen Briefing and has something to impart to those who have not attended.
 
Q. Is the host pastor automatically going to become the spokesmen for the pastors (and by extension, their churches) in the network?
A. No. As Pastor Bob Emrich, who founded the Maine Jeremiah Project, states to pastors in Maine: "We are not trying to be your voice, we only want to help you develop your own voice."
 
Q. Will these networks of pastors be under the direction of FRC and carry the name of FRC?
A. No. FRC sees its role to come along side of local pastors and serve them. We are here to affirm our nation's need for its spiritual leaders, encourage those spiritual leaders and equip them with the best information available on the key issues of our day. We want to help, but we are not called to equip the saints for the work of the ministry -- the spiritual leaders are called to that role.
 
Q. What about the "Separation of Church and State?"
A. This is a misleading argument repeatedly trumpeted by secularists who denounce biblical morality and truth. As you probably know this often repeated mantra appears no where in our founding documents or governing documents. However, let us be clear, no one, especially bible believing Christians are calling for a state church. We do not believe any Church should rule over the State or the State over any Church, they were both created by God to fulfill separate but interrelated purposes. What is really meant by this phrase is a separation of God from government or Christians from the public square. This we unapologetically reject. We believe that since God ordained government (Rom. 13:1), He would want His people to influence it. After all, government is one of the spheres we should impact in our role as "the salt of the earth" and "the light of the world" (Matt. 5:13, 16). Active engagement is also a legitimate contemporary application for Christians in America of what the Lord Jesus called for when He commanded: "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's" (Matt. 22:21).
 
Q. Are you asking us to get involved in Partisan Politics?
A. Absolutely not. The call to become a Watchman pastor and form a Watchmen network is something with far more eternal significance. A recent poll from the Culture and Media Institute shows that 74% of Americans believe our nation is in moral decline but only 36% believe we should live by God's principles of right and wrong. There is recognition of a problem but an inability to see the solution. We realize that the church must respond with repentance and experience revival if we are to lead a reversal of the moral decline in America . Therefore the Watchmen network is first and foremost a call to prayer. It is second of all a call to actively influence every area of society, including government, as the salt and the light (Matt. 5:13 -16). We must pray for revival and work for public policy that reflects biblical truth and support godly government, but we must not sell our souls to any political party or politician.