As Hearing Looms, Michigan Pastors Gather to Support God’s Design for Marriage

PHILADELPHIA—Yesterday in Michigan, more than 100 pastors gathered for a press conference in Detroit to stand in unity against challenges to a state amendment that defines marriage as between one man and one woman—an amendment that was passed by voters a decade ago.

Sam Rohrer, President of the American Pastors’ Network (APN, www.AmericanPastorsNetwork.net), says he is encouraged by the commitment to defend marriage by pastors in Michigan—and it’s a call that pastors around the country must answer.

“Slowly but surely, God’s definition of marriage is being re-written in every state of the Union,” said Rohrer, also President of Pennsylvania Pastors’ Network (PPN, www.PAPastors.net). “It is high time that pastors in ordained positions of authority and Christians generally stand up for the truth of God’s Word particularly in the matter of the family. To sit idle in times of moral disintegration will not only ensure God’s judgment but greater lawlessness. As the opponents of moral truth attempt to pull down God’s institution of family, the very foundation of our Republic—the Constitution and the Rule of Law—is undermined as the courts seek to overturn the very will of the people. For example, in Michigan, nearly two-thirds of voters passed an amendment to protect marriage, and now that is in jeopardy. We applaud, support and pray for the pastors standing up for marriage in Michigan.”

The state amendment protecting marriage in Michigan is being threatened, as the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan plans to conduct a hearing today on a challenge to the 2004 amendment that passed with the support of 59 percent of voters. The original amendment also bans the adoption of children by homosexuals.

Yesterday in Michigan, the pastors highlighted several key points about God’s design for marriage:

• God created marriage as a covenant between one man and one woman.

• God created marriage between one man and one woman to be the foundation for building a family.
• God created sexuality as an expression of unity between a man and a woman in the marriage covenant.
• God created the covenant of marriage between one man and one woman as a replication of the covenant between God and man.

In Pennsylvania, PPN is starting a similar project where pastors from around the state can come together to protect marriage. PPN’s new Marriage Defense Initiative is designed to not only protect marriage but to promote healthy, stable, traditional marriages, to advance and enhance the marriages of Pennsylvanians, to build up Pennsylvania families, and to uphold God’s biblical design of marriage, especially as marriage is attacked from all angles in society.

PPN’s goal is to have at least one pastor from each of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties be a leader in his or her local community and champion the Marriage Defense Initiative.

The American Pastors’ Network has a mission to identify, encourage, equip, educate and network pastors and church members to “Stand in the Gap for Truth” across the nation while providing Bible-based and Constitutionally consistent analysis and recommendations on matters of public policy.

APN is the largest, national network of pastors who believe in the authority of Scripture, who boldly preach the whole counsel of God with a disciplined application of a biblical worldview to public policy, and who are building a permanent infrastructure of biblically faithful pastors and lay leaders and mobilizing congregations to participate in the political process.

For more information on Pennsylvania Pastors’ Network, visit www.PAPastors.net or call 610.584.1225. For more information on American Pastors’ Network, visit www.AmericanPastorsNetwork.net.

The Pennsylvania Pastors’ Network is a group of biblically faithful clergy and church liaisons whose objective is to build a permanent infrastructure of like-minded clergy who affirm the authority of Scripture, take seriously Jesus’ command to be the “salt and light” to the culture, encourage informed Christian thinking about contemporary social issues; examine public policy issues without politicizing their pulpits and engage their congregations in taking part in our political process on a non-partisan basis.

The Pennsylvania Pastors’ Network is a state chapter affiliate of the American Pastors’ Network. The American Pastors’ Network is a Ministry Program Affiliate of Capstone Legacy Foundation (a 501 C3 non-profit organization).