Pastors and key church leaders urged to bring congregants to the legislature to push for marriage amendment
By L.A. Williams, Correspondent
Christian Action League of North Carolina
February 7, 2009
RALEIGH – Lawmakers who wonder if North Carolinians are serious about a Marriage Amendment may want to take a look outside their office windows March 3 as thousands are expected to fill Halifax Mall outside the State Capitol to rally in support of society’s most sacred institution.
North Carolinians who want their legislators to get the message that marriage matters should plan to attend the 11 a.m. event sponsored by Return America and designed to help persuade lawmakers to let Tar Heel voters decide whether our State Constitution should be amended to confirm the definition of marriage as between one man and one woman.
The Marriage Rally will feature remarks from David Gibbs III of the Christian Law Association and David Barton of WallBuilders.
Author of numerous books and an expert on historical and constitutional issues, Barton founded his pro-family organization to help Christians work at the grassroots level to strengthen their communities, states and nation, reminiscent of the Old Testament work of Nehemiah as he inspired the people to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem .
Gibbs earned his law degree from Duke University and takes on complex public policy issues on national news and talk shows and in his radio program, The Legal Alert. He is also the author of “Fighting for Dear Life,” in which he chronicles the story of Terri Schiavo. The Florida-based Christian Law Association is a ministry providing free legal assistance to Bible-believing churches and Christians under attack for practicing their faith.
Coordinator of the March 3 rally is Dr. Ron Baity, pastor of Berean Baptist Church and president of the Winston-Salem-based Return America. Baity is urging churches across the state to bring busloads of church members to the event to challenge lawmakers to take action.
Defense of marriage bills that would allow North Carolinians to vote on a constitutional amendment have been introduced in the General Assembly for several years, and despite bipartisan support have not been allowed a hearing. Until the definition of marriage – the union of one man and one woman – is added to our state constitution, North Carolina is one court ruling away from having same-sex marriage.
“Activist judges in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and California have overturned their state marriage laws because they only allowed marriage between a man and a woman. These judges have declared traditional marriage unconstitutional and ushered in same-sex ‘marriage,’ overriding the people’s wishes,” wrote Tami Fitzgerald, executive director of NC4Marriage, a coalition of voters, churches, ministry and policy leaders leading the fight. “This type of judicial activism could be coming to a court in North Carolina very soon.”
North Carolina is the only state in the South that has not passed a Marriage Protection Amendment. The 14 southern states that have adopted them have done so with an average of 74 percent of the vote of the people.
“We are confident that North Carolinians do not want gay marriage here and would vote to amend our constitution if just given the chance,” said the Rev. Mark Creech, executive director of the Christian Action League. “But first we must win over our lawmakers so that they can see the immediate need for a referendum.”
That’s why the Halifax Mall needs to be filled on March 3, he said, even more so than it was two years ago, on March 6, 2007, when thousands flooded in for the event, also sponsored by Return America.
Even before the upcoming rally, church goers across North Carolina may be exhorted to take a stand for marriage as NC4Marriage sponsors Marriage Sunday on Feb. 22.
The event is a call for pastors to set that Sunday aside to preach about God’s design for marriage and the scriptural admonitions regarding homosexuality and to take it a step further informing congregants about the NC4Marriage campaign to pass a Marriage Protection Amendment.
To learn more about these events, log on to www.nc4marriage.org or visit www.returnamerica.org.