Valley Family Forum at the Augusta County Fair

The Valley Family Forum booth has been popular with many at the Augusta County Fair as they promote family values and encourage others to become involved:

The Valley is a special place. Our fundamental values are based on Biblical principles and reflect the vision of our founding fathers. We do our best to practice our faith, provide for our families, and defend our freedoms.

However, the strong principles that make the Valley and our country so special are at risk. There is a sustained effort to devalue human life, redefine family values and standards of decency, undermine marriage and parental authority, and remove expressions of faith from the public arena.

We are deeply concerned about these threats to our values and to our families. We want to help turn the tide, but we often feel alone. That is why we have founded the Valley Family Forum.

We are a group of Valley residents who are committed to renewing the spiritual, moral, and cultural vision of our founding fathers. We are joining together to defend faith, family, and freedom in our homes and in our communities. We help fight for pro-family policies in the Valley, in Richmond, and in Washington DC. And together, we can make a difference -- one voice, one person, one vote at a time.

We take much of what we have for granted but without warriors like Dean Welty, Kurt Michael, and other volunteers willing to step to the plate to defend those principles, we could lose it all.

Locally those principles have included:

- The fight to save Weekday Religious Education (WRE) in 2005 when the Staunton City School Board wanted to remove this 60+ year tradition from public schools. Kurt Michael worked with then-WRE President Jack Hinton and local churches to turn out over 500 people to the school board meeting with dozens of folks from the community speaking on behalf of WRE.

- Passage of the Marriage Amendment in 2006 when Kurt Michael coordinated 30 area churches to pass out literature and materials and recruit volunteers to help in the effort to keep marriage between one man and one woman.

- Approval of adult zoning ordinances in 2006 (Harrisonburg spearheaded by Dean Welty), 2007 (Staunton spearheaded by Andrea Oakes and Kurt Michael), and 2008 (Augusta County spearheaded by Kurt Michael) to prevent adult businesses from locating next to schools, playgrounds, churches, and other family-oriented places.

The Valley Family Forum, Family Foundation, and Focus on the Family are all part of the work to keep our communities pro-family friendly.