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08/11/06
National Clergy Council President
Rev. Rob Schenck (foreground) meets with the board of the Evangelical Church Alliance
earlier this week in Tennessee.
Faith and Action founder Rev. Rob Schenck has been appointed by the Evangelical
Church Alliance to chair a newly created committee on Church and Society. The
panel's focus will be on the important moral, theological and cultural issues
of the day. Schenck was selected for the position during a meeting of the ECA
board of directors in Gatlinburg, Tennessee held at the start of the organization's
annual conference. At the same meeting, Schenck was elected to serve a third term
on the ECA board of directors.
The ECA is America's oldest association of Evangelical clergy, missionaries
and military and institutional chaplains. Schenck holds his ministerial credentials
through the organization that has 2600 members. It was formed as the World's Faith
Missionary Association in 1887, to offer an alternative to the established denominations
by bringing ministers together around the essential doctrines of the Christian
faith. WFMA became the Evangelical Church Alliance in 1958.
The Evangelical Church Alliance is a diverse group of clergy whose common bond
is a belief in the Bible. In addition to well-known ministers, it counts among
its membership workers of the Campus Crusade for Christ as well as the largest
group of active duty military chaplains. ECA's simply stated mission is "to
spread the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." Many ministers credentialed
by ECA have denominational affiliations.
Schenck hosted a special dinner for attendees at the Gatlinburg gathering and
addressed the full conference with his report as a missionary to Capitol Hill.
His primary ministry is Faith and Action, a Christian outreach to elected and
appointed officials in Washington, D.C with headquarters located directly the
street from the U.S. Supreme Court on Capitol Hill. The mission of the organization,
supported by its more than 25,000 donors from all 50 states, is to "Challenge
Capitol Hill with Biblical Truth and Change the Nation One Policymaker at a Time."
Recently, Dr. Samuel S. Goebel, ECA President praised Schenck's Faith &
Action ministry writing, "I am challenged by the courage of Rob and [twin
bother] Paul Schenck and thankful for the unchanging message they deliver day
after day. I support these Brothers financially and prayerfully because I know
them to be deeply committed to the Gospel and determined not to compromise. They
are truly God's anointed messengers to the center of power."
The minister cheerfully accepts his role with the ECA saying, "Part of
my obligation and duty is to serve where I can. The ECA is a positive force for
missionary work." Schenck adds, "While it requires a lot of time and
attention, I'm pleased to serve."
Schenck also divides a portion of his time among several other organizations,
most notably the National Clergy Council. Following the ECA conference, Schenck
flew to Houston, TX to host a luncheon in conjunction with the group that is a
network of Christian leaders drawn from all traditions including Catholic, Evangelical,
Orthodox, and Protestant. Also included are members of religious orders and societies,
religious educators, journalists, lawyers, and heads of para-church organizations.
The NCC's goal is to bring classical Christian moral instruction into discourse
on public policy and communicate that message to government officials, lawmakers,
public policy analysts and the media. A topic discussed at the recent forum the
group conducted was the 30-year old detention camps in the North African country
of Algeria run by the POLISARIO Front, a Marxist-inspired terrorist organization
bent on toppling the neighboring government of Morocco. Morocco is America's nearest
African neighbor and among its strongest allies in the region. Schenck has been
leading a two-year historic exchange between U.S. Evangelical church leaders and
Moroccan Muslim leaders. He believes it is the first baby step towards complete
religious liberty in the Arab world.
Schenck also serves on the board of the Institute on Religion and Public Policy,
a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit, non-partisan, inter-religious organization
that seeks to shape the public participation in policy of the American community
of faith. The Institute aims to facilitate the expression of faith in the public
interest through program activities and research in the public policymaking process.
Additionally, the Institute seeks to promote cooperation and communication between
policymakers and faith-based organizations and charities to achieve an optimal
relationship on domestic and international public policy concerns.
Despite a travel schedule that frequently takes him across the country and
sometimes around the world, Schenck notes the importance of maintaining a balance
between family and ministry. He and his wife, Cheryl will celebrate 30 years of
marriage next April.
"I've always believed, preached and tried to live God first, family second,
ministry third. It's a battle to really live that out, but I constantly fight
to keep everything in perspective," he says. "Jesus said, 'What does
it profit a man to gain the whole world but lose his soul?' I don't think it's
heresy to also ask, What does it profit a man to gain souls but lose his family?"
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