PreserveLiberty.com 1 Welcome to Public Awareness Ministries’ Training: Coalition Building and...

PreserveLiberty.com 1

Welcome to Public Awareness Ministries’ Training:

Coalition Building and Local Voter Guide Production

Please make sure that you have a copy of the training materials.


Welcome to…

I. Public Awareness Ministries review and Biblical ideas about government

II. Why produce local voter guides?

III. Coalition building

IV. Local voter guide production

V. Part of a nationwide “standing army”


Public Awareness Ministries

1. A 501c3 educational organization serving since 2001, that is working to: Build a standing army that is “prayed-up” and “trained-up” to protect life, marriage and America’s Biblical foundation in a loving, Christlike way.

I.


Public Awareness Ministries

Serving pastors and churches since 2001 A 501c3 educational organization PreserveLiberty.com website with free non-

partisan educational resources Strongly aligned with local, state, and

national groups


Public Awareness Ministries' Mission and Key Pillars

1. Protecting life

2. Preserving Biblical marriage

3. Protecting America’s Biblical foundation (the source of our liberty)

Build a standing army that is “prayed-up” and “trained-up” to protect life, marriage and America’s Biblical foundation in a loving, Christlike way


Biblical ideas about government:

1. Obey governing authorities and laws (Rom. 13:1, I Peter 2:13, 14)

2. Seek knowledge and wisdom (Prov. 2:2, 3, 5; Hosea 4:6)

3. Pray for those in authority (I Tim. 2:1-2)

4. Select God-honoring leaders (Ex. 18:21, II Sam. 23:3)

5. Resist tyrants and laws that violate Scripture (Dan. 3 & 6, Acts 4 & 5)

C

C-

A

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If we can select God-fearing, pro-life, pro-family leaders, shouldn’t we?

By our vote we decide who will be in authority over our schools, cities, states, and nation!


Consider and ponder…

Since we have a choice, why consent to be ruled by anti-life, anti-family leaders?

By our vote we loan our sovereignty to elected representatives…


Blessings flow to people of all faiths when God and His principles are honored and obeyed in our nation…

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD (Ps. 33:12).

Righteousness exalts a nation… (Prov. 14:34).

When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice… (Prov. 29:2).


Prayer and work together is key

The Nehemiah model for re-building the city involves both prayer and work

• Praying together for all in authority (Mt. 18: 19, 20; I Tim 2:1-4; Js. 5:16)

• Working together doing His business till He returns, including selecting God-fearing leaders (Lk. 19:13, Ex. 18:21)


Why produce local voter guides?

A. Local offices impact our lives daily

B. We can impact local elections

C. We know the least about local candidates

D. Local leaders move up (state/fed)

II.


Local Voter Guides •School Board

•City Council

•Judges

•County Supervisors

•Sheriff / Police Chief

•Water, college, park Boards

Exod. 23:29,30; Mt. 10:16 “taking territory little by little” “wise as serpents”


We need local voter guides…

On Election Day, do you know who you’ll vote for:

1. President?

2. School Board?

We can have God-fearing leaders at the federal and state levels as we consistently select God-fearing leaders locally… (Could this be called the “Sarah Palin” case study, where quality candidates rise from local to state to federal?)


According to Pacific Justice Institute and Alliance Defense Fund

Over 80% of the attacks on Christian religious and civil liberty can come from local government…

Consider that people of faith CAN have a significant impact on local races (100’s of votes can decide the outcome)


Decisions made by local officials

School board: 1. Use of public monies? School bonds?

2. Abortion for minors without notification?

3. “Sex ed” v. abstinence curriculum?

4. Evolution v. intelligent design?

5. Graduation ceremonies?

6. Other?


Decisions made by local officials

City council: 1. Use of public funds? Municipal bonds?

2. Religious expression on public property?

3. Church site or expansion permitted?

4. Eminent domain – personal property?

5. Which commercial establishments are allowed?

6. Other?


We can impact local elections For example, in November 2004, the

“swing seat” which would have given Christians a majority on the Roseville School Board could have been won with 1,200 more votes for a pro-life, pro-family candidate.

Could the local churches have impacted this election?


How effectively have people of faith in California and elsewhere been impacting state and federal elections?

Nov. 2004 – 154 state and federal seats inc CA – not one positive change

Nov. 2005 (CA Special Election) – we didn’t pass one reform initiative including pro-life Prop 73…

Nov. 2008 – what more do we need to say?


Coalition Building

III. As we pray together consistently inviting local churches to prayer one hour a month (prayer together for our leaders and nation), and work together** to advance Biblical principles and selecting God-honoring leaders, trust relationships develop.

**Public Awareness Ministries provides providing free resources and training to help…


Coalition building: Prayer and work together is key

The Nehemiah model for re-building the city involves both prayer and work – work groups that have a strong component of prayer tend to endure while work groups alone tend to come and go.

Let’s talk more about coalition building…


Coalition building

1. Determine the size (“footprint”) of the area

you would like to serve

Questions to consider:

• What is the size of our work group?

• What offices do I want to impact? (school

board, city council, county supervisors, judges)


Coalition building – expanding your team

2. Seek lists of churches and organizations in your area:

• Internet lists Yellow pages lists

• Conservative groups Seniors groups

• Service and business organizations

• Students


Coalition building (continued)

3. Determine the number of churches and

organizations you would like to invite to join in prayer

• e.g., citywide prayer one hour a month every first Saturday… inviting God’s presence and help, AND building unity.

(more)



4. Divide the number of churches and

organizations by the number of work group members to determine how many organizations each work group member will contact

5. Call the churches to invite a “prayer point person” to join you for prayer one hour a month

(more)



6. Commit to calling interested churches just

once a month to encourage the point person to join you for prayer

7. Keep a database of the churches that are “friendly” toward advancing Biblical principles in our culture, laws, and leadership…


Resources to help – PreserveLiberty.com


Resources to help – monthly prayer guides


Resources to help – Biblical principles of gov’t


Resources to help – Prayer/work group webpages


Resources to help – prayer group sign-up page


Resources – calendar of prayer and training events


Resources to help – schedule of tele-trainings


Resources – including local voter guide “how-to”


Local Voter Guide Production

A. Identify a local voter guide work group

B. Build coalitions with other churches

C. Determine the geographical area and races you want to cover

D. Secure funding to produce voter guide

E. Learn candidate filing deadlines (more)

IV.


Local Voter Guide Production (continued)

F. Prepare candidate survey (beginning with Public Awareness Ministries’ template)

G. Distribute survey to candidates

H. Collect and compile candidate responses

I. Distribute voter guides to churches

J. Stay in touch with the people…


A. Identify a local voter guide work group

2. Where possible, identify “specialists” with talents including:

• Fund raising Desktop publishing• Mail merge/ WP Working with printer• Leading volunteers Phone skills

1. Identify people who would like to see this local voter guide through from start to finish (4 to 5 months duration)


B. Build coalitions with other churches (advance work)

1. Invite a point person from churches in your city to join your prayer network group. Build inter-denominational relationships based on prayer together.

2. Once you know when you’ll be producing your local voter guides, advise the local churches and ask how many they’d like (e.g., half the number of adult members)


C. Determine the geographical area and races you want to cover

1. Determine the churches you want to serve with your local voter guide

2. Determine the races you would like to impact (judges, city council, school board, and county supervisors are a good start)

It’s helpful to obtain the list of all open offices from the registrar of voters well in advance to review and pray about…


D. Secure funding to produce your local voter guide

1. Consider voluntary “love offerings” every time your group meets to build up a petty cash fund

2. Speak with local Christian printers you know to see if they can print your voter guide for free or at a discounted rate (e.g., “Printed for free by ABC printers” is effective advertising for them!)


E. Learn candidate filing deadlines

1. Contact your county registrar of voters to learn the filing deadline for candidates

2. Plan to “mail merge” the candidate names and addresses with the candidate survey as soon as candidate names become available


F. Prepare candidate survey (beginning with Public Awareness Ministries’ template)

1. Questions should be short/simple

2. Questions should be broad beyond just Biblical issues (this is an IRS requirement)

3. Questions should include local issues important to people in your city

(There are template “candidate surveys” available at PreserveLiberty.com) (more)


F. Prepare candidate survey (continued)

4. Providing information to churches throughout the year helps keep pro-life, pro-family information classified as “educational” rather than “advocacy” (i.e., the “lobbying,” the category within which church spending should not exceed 5% of budget)


G. Distribute surveys to candidates

1. Mail merge your candidate survey with the candidate name and address data

2. Mail the one-page survey to candidates that they can complete, sign, and return with a deadline date on it (send with a stamped, addressed return envelope)

3. Prepare the local voter guide work group to follow up with every candidate who has received a survey


H. Collect and compile candidate responses

1. Call every candidate to whom you mailed a survey inviting them to complete, sign, and return the survey (which gets their name in front of the voters in a positive manner)

2. Put candidate responses into MS Word or PageMaker format

(more)


H. Collect and compile candidate responses (continued)

3. Convene a work group to proofread --keep the candidate surveys!

4. Once the deadline for candidates to complete your survey has passed, and voter guide has been proofread, submit it to someone with desktop publishing expertise to finalize, then proofread carefully again

(more)


H. Collect and compile candidate responses (continued)

5. Duplicate final voter guides based on numbers requested from the churches (smaller guides may be printed on 8 ½ by 11 paper to be folded and fit inside of church bulletins – larger guides may be printed on newsprint)

6. Print extras (for Christian bookstores, etc.)


I. Distribute voter guides to: - Churches - Organizations - Privately-owned businesses

1. Convene a work group to stuff envelopes with voter guides to mail or hand deliver to churches and other organizations (depending upon your available manpower)

(more)


I. Distribute voter guides (continued)

2. Mail or hand delivery voter guides (or a copy-able “master”) to your contact person at the church, organization, or business with cover letter

3. Distribute voter guides as early as possible (many people vote absentee)


J. Stay in touch with the people – relationships are key…

1. Contact interested churches once a month to invite them to prayer

2. Contact interested churches once a quarter with bulletin inserts about sanctity of life, protecting marriage, National Day of Prayer (NDP), etc.

3. Work with Public Awareness Ministries to host educational seminars for pastors or their designates


Example Key dates in California (are uniform across all California counties) E.g., late February – deadline for “petitions in

lieu” of fees (e.g., CA Assy: $1,108.80 or 1,500 signatures; Sac. Co. Sup.: $791.16 or 3,165 signatures)

E.g., mid March – candidacy filing deadline

First Tuesday in June – Primary election

E.g., mid August – candidacy filing deadline

First Tuesday in November – General election


Begin with the end in mind…

Consider the timeline information from your local county registrar of voters for guidance on when various phases of local voter guide production begin and end.

Since about 35%+ of voters vote by absentee ballot, they may have a ballot in their hands 30 days before Election Day. It’s important to complete our local voter guides as early as possible…


We have “dual” citizenship with dual responsibilities

Citizens of Heaven

• Praying together for all in authority (Mt. 18: 19, 20; I Tim 2:1-4; Js. 5:16; Phil. 3:20)

US Citizens

• Working together doing His business till He returns, including selecting God-fearing leaders (Lk. 19:13; Ex. 18:21)


It’s vital to identify and develop future leaders •School Board

•City Council

•Judges

•County Supervisors

•Sheriff / Police Chief

•Other assorted Board positions

Exod. 18:21; II Sam. 23:3“select God-honoring leaders”


Catch a vision of the power and unity of consistent united local prayer and work:

Imagine your state is working to pass a “Prop 8” marriage initiative: Would it help if there were hundreds of local prayer groups, each of which had 5-10 churches associated with it, that were praying (and working) together for the passage of the initiative? This is the “Standing Army” that’s “prayed-up” and “trained-up” to protect life, marriage, and America’s Biblical foundation in a loving way…


V.


Here’s a picture of 1,000’s of consistent united prayer and work (Nehemiah) groups…


Closing thoughts… Shall we lobby or replace bad leaders?

Are we on defense, or offense?

Are we sprinters, or marathoners?

Is the church a cruise or battleship?


In Summary: keeping things simple –There are just two buckets:

• Prayer together for our leaders and nation (Mt. 18:19-20; I Tim 2:1-4; II Chr. 7:14)

• Work together occupying on His behalf until He returns, including selecting God-honoring leaders, beginning locally (Lk. 19:13; Ex. 18:21)

PreserveLiberty.com 58PreserveLiberty.com 58

Public Awareness Ministries’ 3-step model review (P – E – W)

1. Pray together monthly, city-by-city, for our leaders and nation (I Tim. 2, II Chr. 7:14)

2. Equip with, and apply, Biblical basics of good government key to America (Ps. 11: 3, 111:4)

3. Work together to promote Biblical values and God-honoring leaders (Lk. 19:13, Ex. 18:21) beginning locally (e.g., voter registration, ballot initiatives, local voter guides)


Said another way: Liberty is a four-letter word

1. KNOW that civil government is God’s institution and greatly for our good if we…

2. PRAY together for our leaders and nation

3. WORK together to advance Biblical values and God-honoring leaders, starting locally

4. GIVE to help fund the war to protect life, marriage, America’s Biblical foundation

5. LOVE even those who are unkind to us


Public Awareness Ministries, 501c3

PreserveLiberty.com

Mark Matta: 916-716-1075

Building a standing army that’s “prayed-up” and “trained-up”

to protect life, marriage, and America’s Biblical foundation,

in a loving, Christlike way…

Date post:	12-Jan-2016
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PreserveLiberty.com 1 Welcome to Public Awareness Ministries’ Training: Coalition Building and...

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