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Faith on the Floor: House Members Honor April as Faith Month

April 20, 2023

“Why is Pride Month celebrated in June yearly, but practicing Christians don’t have their own month to celebrate their faith?” thought Penny Nance, CEO and president of Concerned Women for America as her Peloton bike asked if she would like to participate in a “Pride Ride” to celebrate LGBT identity.

In April 2022, her wish came true when Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) and Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill.) submitted a proclamation into the federal register declaring April “Faith Month.”

“Join Concerned Women for America as we make April ‘Faith Month’ — and raise your Christian flag in honor of faith and freedom.” Nance said, announcing the launch of her new campaign.

Sandwiched between Black History Month in February and Pride Month in June, Faith Month has garnered most attention from evangelical Christians. Carving out the month to celebrate the gospel, several Christian organizations are giving it attention, including CWA and Family Research Council.

The nationwide initiative continues to be spearheaded by CWA’s legislative action committee. Thankfully for Nance, the push has a large pool of supporters on which to draw since Christians continue to comprise the majority of the adult population in the United States, 63%, according to a recent Pew Research Center study from 2021.

“We are proud of our faith, of our Judeo-Christian heritage, and are calling on Americans to show their support. April is the month when millions will be celebrating the holiest time of the year through Holy Week, Easter, and Passover, and it is an opportune time to show how important our faith is to our daily lives.” Nance stated.

This week, several members of the House of Representatives led by Miller answered Nance’s call to openly proclaim their faith. Some of the participating members included Reps. Diana Harshbarger (R-Tenn.), Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.), Rick Allen (R-Ga.), Bob Good (R-Va.), Russ Fulcher (R-Idaho) and others. Congressman Mike Johnson (R) of Louisiana took the opportunity to discuss the separation of church and state. Having successfully litigated religious liberty cases for nearly 20 years, Johnson described the separation of church and state as “one of the most misunderstood subjects in our entire culture.”

“… Jefferson clearly did not mean that metaphorical wall was to keep religion from influencing issues of civil government. To the contrary, it was meant to keep the federal government from impeding the religious practice of citizens,” he explained.

Many of the representatives cited the faith of the Founding Fathers as precedence for their actions, including Rep. Good.

“That is why those very Founders, those signers of the Declaration, many of them, are the ones who started the practice of opening Congress every day in prayer. A practice we continue today,” he said after similarly dismissing common perceptions of the separation of church and state.

“You know, it doesn’t matter what Bob Good believes; Bob Good has no more right to the truth or corner on truth than anyone else does. But it does matter what the Bible says,” said he insisted, citing Romans 5:8. Good went on to give his personal testimony of coming to Christ.

Rep. Miller took the opportunity to reaffirm her commitment to America’s Judeo-Christian values and freedom of religion.

“I will always proudly stand up for faith and for our families, in congress,” she told the House, calling on others to join in prayer and celebration.

After leading the charge in the House, Miller appeared as a guest on “Washington Watch with Tony Perkins” the following evening.

“I love to go back to my district and give people the good news that there are a lot of believers in Congress,” she told Perkins.

“…[I]f we want to see our country flourish, we need to uphold the foundations of faith and family. … April is Celebrate Faith Month, and our First Amendment right to exercise our faith is joined by multiple members who talked about the importance about how our founding, our government was founded on these principles.”