The Times: Restoring Culture

The Times
Written By Center for Christian Virtue

“What is good in our culture that we can promote, protect, and celebrate?
What is missing in our culture that we can creatively contribute?
What is evil in our culture that we can stop?
What is broken in our culture that we can restore?”

from Restoring All Things: God's Audacious Plan to Change the
World Through Everyday People by John Stonestreet and Warren Cole Smith

Church Ambassador Network Executive Director Chris Lightfoot at Prayer at the Statehouse on May 16.

Cultural Commentaries

  • Celebrating What Is Good - There has been a concerted effort on the part of a small, but growing, movement within the entertainment industry to tell stories that highlight the beautiful impact God’s people can have when they are willing to pick up the shovel of service in their communities. Sound of Hope tells the story of one church in Texas that had a burden for children in foster care from their community and decided to do something about it. Consider reserving a theater near you to host a private private showing and encourage your church family to invite their friends and neighbors!

  • Creating What Is Missing - We have had a number of pastors ask us to help them assist their congregations in navigating today's culture through a biblical worldview. Because of this, we are planning a 2025 launch of The Tom Minnery Fellowship for Cultural Engagement in partnership with George Barna and the Cultural Research Center. You will be hearing more about this in the months to come and we are very excited about the resource this will be for pastors in local churches throughout Ohio and eventually the nation!

  • Ending What Is Evil - Activists from Celina, Ohio, staged a protest at the Celina County Courthouse where they openly admitted that they want to be able to perform in front of children and to encourage them to become drag queens. Sam Shim, a former Worthington School Board member, also spoke at the protest insinuating that parents are the real threat. Center for Christian Virtue (CCV) has backed House Bill 245 (HB245) to bring a stop to obscene adult entertainment in public spaces and “family friendly” community events.

  • Restoring What Is Broken - CCV is tackling the educational and literacy crisis plaguing our cities head on. With the help of CCV and the Ohio Christian Education Network (OCEN), a group of churches joined efforts to plant Westside Christian School in 2022 in the Hilltop neighborhood of Columbus. This year, 75 percent of Westside’s 3rd graders passed the state's reading assessment. This is in stark contrast to the nearest Columbus Public school which had a 6 percent passage rate. In addition, the host church, Memorial Baptist, has seen its youth and AWANA programs almost triple in attendance since the school opened on its campus. Now, we are extending the invitation to other churches to join us in starting a school on their campus so that together we can solve the problem of young people being unable to read God's Word for themselves. For more information, visit ocen.org/school-planting/ and let us know how we can help.

Upcoming Events

Partner Ministry Updates

Center for Christian Virtue Policy Director David Mahan and Legislative Liaison Nilani Jawahar at the National March for Life in Washington DC

Church Ambassador Network is part of Center for Christian Virtue (CCV) and its affiliated ministries, which seek to impact public policy, education, and the Ohio marketplace with the truth of the Gospel. Check out these updates from our ministry partners!

Policy 

  • HB183 and HB 245: Single Sex Bathroom Bill and Bill to Protect Children from Obscene Websites

The CCV Policy team is pushing to get HB 183 and HB 245 passed out of the House before the legislators recess for the summer. Both HB 183 and HB 245 are key bills that deal with indecent exposure, aiming to protect the privacy of women and girls in bathrooms, changing facilities, and overnight accommodations, as well as protect children from being exposed to obscene adult entertainment in public spaces. Contact the office of Speaker Jason Stephens today at Rep93@ohiohouse.gov to ask him to bring these bills to the House floor for a vote!

Christian Business Partnership  

  • Explore these 5 Keys to Success in Business from Faith Driven Entrepreneurship and discover action steps to build a healthy balance throughout many areas of life.

Ohio Christian Education Network (OCEN) 

  • The Ohio Christian Education Network's goal is to make a Christian school education financially and geographically accessible to every student in Ohio. Our partnership with churches to open new schools in their church facilities is helping to solve geographic accessibility by opening new schools all across the state over the next five years. For the 2024-25 school year, we are addressing financial accessibility by awarding over 2,500 scholarships totaling over $3 million to our member schools. If you would like to learn more about either of these initiatives, you can visit OCEN's school planting page or the OCEN Scholarship Granting Organization.

Pray for Our Leaders

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. – 1 Timothy 2:1-2 (ESV)

Church Ambassador Network Christian Engagement Ambassador Ruth Edmonds at the Ohio March for Life

Join us in honoring 1 Timothy 2:1-2 by praying for your district lawmakers. You can also click on the link on their page and send them an email to let them know your church prayed for them this month. 

If you would like to have a printed bookmark to help you remember to pray for your leaders, please reach out to Chris at chrislightfoot@ccv.org.

If you have prayer requests, please send them to Ruth at ruthedmonds@ccv.org.

Resources

Church Ambassador Network Pastor Ambassador Eric Tober introducing CCV's Vital Signs report at Prayer at the Statehouse

If you believe other pastors in your network would benefit from receiving The Times, please send us their name and email address and we will get them connected!

Pastor Testimony

"I’ve been actively participating with CCV for the past couple of years now and I can say without a doubt that the work and efforts of this organization are essential to the protection of family values and virtue.  Their support of godly virtues and family in the realms of church and politics is unwavering and strong.  They truly are the ‘tip of the spear’ in regards to fighting for Life and Family!" – Pastor Jason King, New Life Christian Center

Closing Thoughts

"Instead of obliterating the distinction between the Kingdom and the world, or on the other hand withdrawing from the world into a sort of modernized intellectual monasticism, let us go forth joyfully, enthusiastically to make the world subject to God." – J. Gresham Machen, Christianity and Culture

A number of churches have decided to support CCV and the Church Ambassador Network financially through their budget. To set up a recurring monthly donation to CCV, please visit CCV.org/Donate and make sure to click the check box at the end of the form, above the comments field, before submitting your gift. 

We would be honored if you chose to invest a portion of God’s resources into our effort to serve and support churches in Ohio with resources to help them carry out the Great Commission in the spirit of The Greatest Commandments in our current cultural context. 

Center for Christian Virtue

As Ohio’s largest Christian public policy organization, Center for Christian Virtue seeks the good of our neighbors by advocating for public policy that reflects the truth of the Gospel.

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