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by
Jim Ball
Founder and Chair, Evangelicals for Harris
For the Evangelicals for Harris team, the past 6 weeks have been an incredible but worthwhile sprint as we’ve sought to minister to the millions of Americans we have reached who are disenchanted with the toxic politics found across America, and give them new hope and restored faith in the goodness of their neighbors.
It was only with the Lord’s help that our team was able to accomplish the mad dash required to host a booth at the Democratic National Convention (DNC), organize our first EFH Zoom Call featuring 18 speakers, grow our pledges to support Harris-Walz to 250,000, and our Twitter following to over 25,000 people — all in just a few short weeks.
Together, we’ve built a community—a robust group of believers coming together to love our neighbors, care for the least of these, and shine our lights for our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ.
Our effort includes the 18 speakers from our first EFH Zoom Call, such as Jerushah Duford, Billy Graham’s granddaughter, and Adam Kinzinger, a former Congressman who was only one of two Republican members to serve on the January 6th Committee. (See a summary video of the call here.).
But Evangelicals For Harris also includes hundreds of thousands of everyday Americans who choose to live by joy, justice, and grace. These folks have offered a groundswell of support by commenting and sharing our content, signing our petitions to pray, pledge, and serve, and showing others what it truly means to live out our faith.
One of the most beautiful outcomes of our campaign is the testimony people have shared about how their faith has been restored.
Others are giving Christianity another look:
(Watch this video for many more positive responses.)
The momentum of our movement has not gone unnoticed. David Brody of the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) interviewed me, and their segment aired the morning of the final day of the convention when Vice President Harris accepted her party’s nomination for president.
Our video ads series also took off; the first of which Brody tweeted out as a breaking story and was picked up by Joe Scarborough and his team. Once Morning Joe tweeted it out and featured our ad on their program, media interest, social media, and podcasts exploded, with over 10 million views of our ad.
We went to Chicago and the DNC in a whirlwind of activity and attention, which only grew while we were there. The Drudge Report highlighted our second video ad—which we turned into merch.
Reporters from AP, The New York Times, NPR, RNS, the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Newsweek, and The New Yorker, among others, interviewed me and other EFH spokespeople. Our movement is growing as more become aware of our pro-family message in support of Vice President Harris and Gov. Walz.
Many people have expressed their appreciation for our campaign and thanked us for being at the convention. Others are going to let relatives and friends know about EFH. Our swag became so popular we began keeping some in reserve for special guests.
We had some healing conversations with those who have felt wounded by evangelicals in the past. To provide a small whimsical touch to our booth (and make us less scary) we had a small sign: “Free Prayers Available Upon Request.”
Another requesting prayer was part of the cleaning staff.
A special part of our message at the convention and in our media interviews has been the three actions we are asking people to take:
Pray,
Pledge,
Serve
In particular, we have been calling for our people to commit to doing acts of service in their communities and neighborhoods. Thus far we have had nearly 50,000 hours of service committed, and we’re shooting for 100,000. For us, the Christian life is one of service. We see a synergy of service with our efforts and those of Vice President Harris and Gov. Walz, who have dedicated their lives to service as well — public service.
During the convention I was able to bump into a wide variety of leaders and make them aware of Evangelicals For Harris, including: Deb Haaland, Secretary of the Interior; Gina McCarthy, former EPA Administrator and former 1st White House National Climate Advisor; Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE); Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI); Van Jones, CNN commentator; Former Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO); and Dan Balz, senior Washington Post political reporter (photos shown in the order listed).
Through it all we are creating a new space in public consciousness. For decades now people have known about the Religious Right and conservative evangelical alignment with the Republican party. Indeed, for many, “evangelical” and Republican have come to be synonymous. More recently progressive Christianity has asserted itself in election seasons. And so the public — and our own community — has known about the left and the right when it comes to the public square.
What’s changed is that now Evangelicals For Harris is providing a home for those in the center, especially those who have felt disaffected, alienated, and alone.
As you can see, we’ve been working and growing and raising awareness at a blistering pace. But with less than 50 days to go until the election, and early voting beginning soon in many places, we can’t let up.
So take action — pray, pledge, serve — and talk to others about our campaign. Share our website and Social Media posts. If all of us play our part we are going to win and have a new Harris-Walz Administration dedicated to service, especially for the vulnerable.