Recap: 900 hear David Barton in Harrisonburg

The journey used to be a handful of people trying to chip away at the Wall of Government. With the help of Barack Obama and the Democrats, America is awakening to a need to stand up, be heard, and make a difference. Republicans, conservative Democrats, Independents, Tea Party, Constitution, Ron Paul, and other conservatives have risen up against more and more government spending and overreaching to say, "No more!"

David Barton has been one of those voices for years educating Americans on our Christian heritage through Wallbuilders, speaking at home school conventions and church conventions and gatherings throughout the country. In addition, he has been called on for his Ameican history experience including the current Texas textbook case where he served on the committee that decided the historical content. His presence has grown more since he began appearing on Glenn Beck's Friday television program on Fox News, helping to educate America about the founders and their purpose for this country.

His presence in the Shenandoah Valley earlier this week was nothing short of spectaculator. Over 900 heard his message at a sold-out dinner, at a mid-day lunch, and at a pastors meeting. His knowledge of American history is stunning.

Dean Welty, Director of the Valley Family Forum, sent out the following update about the dinner. Great evening, great fellowship, great friendships. A tip of our hats to Dean and Janet for their leadership.

David Barton held more than 900 guests spellbound at the Forum’s 9th annual Shenandoah Valley “Salute to the Family” last Monday with a strong case for Biblical principles and the faith of our Founding Fathers as primary influences on the shaping of American government. He concluded that America was and still is a Christian nation -- and perhaps even in the early stages of a Third Great Awakening. Laus Deo!

A Celebration of Our Christian Heritage
The theme for this year’s Salute was “A Celebration of Our Christian Heritage”, and Barton drew from over 100,000 original documents at WallBuilders to present evidence at three different events that America was established on Judeo-Christian principles by strong Christian leaders. (For details about David Barton, go to www.wallbuilders.com.)

The Lunch
With the dinner already SOLD OUT, 320 luncheon guests heard Barton describe the “Keys to Good Government – According to the Founding Fathers”. His central message was that “the key to good government is found in the quality of the people who rule (and) that … this nation can be blessed only in so far as we place God-fearing and moral individuals into office.”

The Pastors’ Roundtable
More than 70 pastors and ministry leaders later packed the Allegheny Room for Barton’s presentation on “The Role of Pastors and Christians in Civil Government”. He described the role of the revolutionary era church in training civic leaders and influencing public policy as a model for Christians to once again become salt and light in every arena of society – including the public square. He also cited recent victories in the Texas school board battles to restore truth to school history books as a great example for this model.

The Dinner
Barton ended the day in a packed ballroom with nearly 550 guests to make the case that America was founded as a Christian nation – and remains so yet today. He drew from a range of quotes by the Founding Fathers and in founding documents, all of which demonstrate that America was established on a firm foundation of Biblical principles and Christian beliefs.

The Wilberforce Award
The Forum was especially pleased to present its very first Wilberforce award to Rita Dunaway for her leadership in regulating sexually oriented businesses (SOB’s) in Harrisonburg, in protecting religious freedoms in the workplace for people like Luis Padilla, and in formulating new pro-life legislation for the Virginia General Assembly.

Supporting Cast
“Gen. George Washington”, rebel fifer Greg Hernandez, the Galloway Music Family, pianist Miriam Clark, and The Faithful Men all set a new standard of excellence for an enjoyable evening that included many pastors, legislators, remarks from President Victoria Cobb of The Family Foundation, and delightful program leadership from WHSV-TV’s Kay Norred and Dr. John Sloop, pastor of the First Presbyterian church on Court Square in Harrisonburg.

In God We Trust
At each main event, we encouraged guests to apply for the new “In God We Trust” license plate that will be considered by the General Assembly next year – if we can get the needed 350 completed applications on file before that time. If you have not yet applied, you can download the form at http://www.ingodwetrust.com and send it to the address shown.

Thank You! At the end of the day, however, the success of the Celebration came down to over 900 people who have a passion for God and Country, and who want to help America return to the firm foundation of “religion and morality” on which this nation has prospered for 400 years. We are deeply grateful for your participation, for your prayers, and for your generous support.

The conservative movement continues to gather steam....

Dean has had Ed Meese, Roy Moore, and others for his dinner speakers. Who in the world will he find next year? After David Barton, they will have big shoes to fill!

"Celebration of Our Christian Heritage" ... David Barton wows 500 with non-PC history lesson

Texas resident David Barton was the keynote speaker at Monday's Valley Family Forum sold-out dinner, "A Celebration of Our Christian Heritage," at James Madison University.

"I am grateful to Almighty God for the blessings which, through Jesus Christ Our Lord, He had conferred on my beloved country...." - Charles Carroll, last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence

David Barton is one of the premiere historians on American history, someone who tirelessly travels the country educating Americans about our Christian heritage against a negative sea of liberal misinformation. Through his website, Wallbuilders, he provides the tools necessary to learn, and his materials were part of my home school curriculum over the years.

Monday night Valley folks were fortunate to have him as the keynote speaker for the annual Valley Family Forum dinner in Harrisonburg, an event that sold out more than a month ago. The reason it was sold out was simple: David Barton knows his history and he has an entertaining way of passing it along to his audiences.

A regular on the home school circuit over the years, he has now become a regular on Glenn Beck's Fox News television show, appearing weekly for the Friday "Founding Fathers" series. He is able to offer his expertise as well as provide artifact books and documents that he has collected over the years.

On one recent Glenn Beck show, Mr. Barton had the first Bible printed in the United States ... a Bible printed by the U.S. Congress for use in the schools.

What?

Yep ... a Bible printed by the government to be used in the schools. Responding is what Mr. Barton does best as he provides rebuttal to the liberal pablum that is dished out on a daily basis from the public schools to higher education to the mainstream media and, now, the current White House administration.

With a power point presentation providing insight into documents, pictures and information about the Founders, and quotations from many Declaration of Independence signers as well as a number of not-so-famous ones, the 45-minute talk seemed more like 10 minutes.

David Barton provided enough information in that 45 minutes to write 10 posts about his talk. The crowd was captivated and left wanting more after it was over.


Many folks were there. Besides Dean and Janet Welty, others included Sen. Mark Obenshain and his wife Suzanne, Sen. Emmett Hanger, Chaz Evans-Haywood, Marsha Garst, Lowell Barb, Steve Waters, Del. Bob Marshall, Victoria Cobb from the Family Foundation, Larry Roller, Luis Padilla, David and Sherry Huffman, Tommy and Donna Moser, Tony Wilt, Greg the Fifer, "George Washington," and many others. The delegates, usually in attendance, were at a House of Delegates retreat.

At our two tables were friends Suzanne Curran (portraying Mrs. Mullenburg), Frank and Nancy Summers, my neighbors Richard and Ellen, Tara Bowman, SWAC Husband, and some of those from our ladies conservative book club including Debbie Summers, Peggy Bell and her husband Don, Marcia and Dave, Ginger, and Debbie Harper.


Photos by SWAC Girl
Lynn Mitchell
24 May 2010

Candidate Forum Friday: Tony Wilt & Carolyn Frank

Three candidates are running for the special election on June 15 to fill an empty seat left when Del. Matt Lohr was tapped by the McDonnell administration. However, only two candidates will face off since the Democrat decided to skip the forum.

Sponsored by the Valley Family Forum, here is the announcement:

You are invited and encouraged to attend a Candidates’ Forum at 7:00 p.m., this Friday, May 28, with independent Carolyn Frank and Republican Tony Wilt. The event will be held at the Cornerstone Church on Lake Shenandoah.

Along with Democrat Kai Degner, they are campaigning to represent the people of the 26th District in the Virginia House of Delegates, a seat that was formerly held by Matt Lohr. The special election for this seat will be held on June 15.

Degner Rejects Invitation
Unfortunately, Degner has just informed us that he will not participate in this or any other event sponsored by the Forum. That flies in the face of a public challenge he issued earlier this month for “the greatest number of opportunities possible to hear the positions of the candidates.”

Our Purpose
The Forum is a non-partisan organization whose goal is to help provide Valley voters with essential information on what the candidates believe and how they would plan to vote on key issues, especially those regarding faith, family, and freedom that come up regularly in the General Assembly. It goes without saying that voters need that information before the election rather than being kept in the dark until afterward, when it is too late.

The Program
We will use the same two-part format that we used last October with candidates Gene Hart (D) and Matt Lohr (R), and that Rick Warren introduced with John McCain and Barack Obama in 2008.

The first part will consist of general questions to each candidate separately. The second part will focus on more specific issues and bills that are likely to come up in the House of Delegates next year.

The event is open to everyone, whether they live in the 26th District or not, so we can share the information with others who may not be able to attend. Members of the media are also invited.

If you need additional information, please call Forum coordinator Rita Dunaway at 438-9543 or write to rita.dunaway@gmail.com.

See you there!

David Barton coming to Harrisonburg

David Barton of Wallbuilders.com will be the special guest speaker at the Valley Family Forum luncheon at James Madison University on Monday, May 24.

Headlining "A Celebration of Our Christian Heritage," the lunch will be held from 12:00-1:30 p.m. and costs $25 per person. Reservation deadline is Tuesday, May 18.

From Dean Welty, Director of Valley Family Forum:

Seats are still available for the "Celebration of Our Christian Heritage" luncheon with David Barton, which will be from 12:00 to 1:30 p.m., on Monday, May 24, at the JMU Festival Conference and Student Center. However, the deadline for reservations is Tuesday, May 18, so it is important to confirm your seats as soon as possible.

The Program
Barton will be speaking about "Keys to Good Government - According to Our Founding Fathers" -- principles that are just as important to us now as they were 223 years ago. Barton has been featured recently on FOX news with Glenn Beck, talking about the faith of our Founding Fathers.

"Gen. George Washington" will also be with us in full dress uniform, with colonial-era fifer Greg Hernandez and pianist Miriam Clark. WHSV-TV's Kay Norred will moderate the program, along with Pastor John Sloop, and Cong. Bob Goodlatte will join us as well.

Who Is David Barton?
Barton is the Founder and President of Wallbuilders and one of America's foremost authorities on our Christian heritage and the faith of our Founding Fathers. He is an award winning author, nationally acclaimed speaker, featured guest on numerous media outlets, and frequent advisor to legislators and educators. (For more information, go to www.wallbuilders.com.)

Reservations
You can reserve your table(s) or individual seats by writing to family@valleyfamilyforum.org or by calling (540) 438-8966. Seats are $25/person, or $200 for a table of eight. After confirming your reservations, send your check to the Valley Family Forum at 3465 Izaak Walton Dr., Harrisonburg, 22801. Business and individual sponsorships are also still available.

Can We Attend Both Lunch and Dinner?
The dinner is already sold out, but if you already have confirmed seats for it and would like to attend the lunch as well, you are more than welcome. The topic, the menu, and the program are all different, so you will be able to enjoy both. It's a great double-header.

It's a great opportunity to see David Barton and hear more about our American Christian heritage.

"A Celebration of Freedom" in Harrisonburg

The Valley Family Forum's "Celebration of Freedom" dinner is this Thursday, May 28, at 6:30 pm, at James Madison University with guest speaker Janet Parshall. Family Forum director Dean Welty said there is still room for those who wish to join in this celebration of our freedom.

From Dean:

Only five more days to our 8th annual Shenandoah Valley “Salute to the Family” dinner at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, May 28. It will be at the JMU Festival Conference and Student Center, and seats are going fast, so get your reservations in now if you have not yet done so.

The theme is freedom!

Why freedom? It’s simple. We have fought to defend our freedoms on foreign lands, and now we must fight to defend them at home from groups like the ACLU that want to purge all references to God from the public square. For the sake of our children and of the land that we love, we must not let that happen.

Our keynote speaker is Janet Parshall, a great champion of freedom as the host of a nationally syndicated radio talk show called “Janet Parshall’s America” and winner of the National Religious Broadcasters’ “On-Air Personality of the Year” award for 2008. She is also the narrator of a 14-part TV series called “Speechless: Silencing the Christians”. We will give away 30 copies of her best books as “door prizes” to some lucky guests.

In addition, we are delighted to welcome WHSV-TV executive producer Kay Norred for the first time as our program Emcee. Our co-host, The Family Foundation of Virginia, will also provide an update on the state of freedom in Virginia, and then we will honor some special champions of liberty. Finally, we are pleased to have “The Faithful Men” and pianist Miriam Clark back with us again to provide a great medley of inspiring musical selections.

Tables are filling up fast so it is important to get your reservations in now by return e-mail or by calling (540) 438-8966. Seats for the dinner are only $25 per person, and checks should be made out to the “Valley Family Forum” and sent to the Forum at 3465 Izaak Walton Dr., Harrisonburg, VA, 22801.

I sincerely hope you can join us for a great program, delicious food, inspiring music, and a wonderful evening with hundreds of like-minded friends. Working together, we can make a difference -- for faith, for family, and for freedom.

The Forum dinners are always patriotic, entertaining, and informative.

Capstone tonight ... last class in series with Valley Family Forum

As conservative writers from Virginia's political blogosphere spend today in Richmond at Bill Bolling's Bloggers Day, I am in the Valley baking Laura Bush's Texas Cowboy Cookies for a get-together tonight of fellow Capstone classmates.

Though I would love to have been at Lt. Governor Bolling's event, I knew we wouldn't be back to the Valley in time for my 6:45 class, the last one of a series that has been going on since January. The group of a dozen like-minded conservatives, under the direction of Dean Welty from the Valley Family Forum in Harrisonburg, has enjoyed reading the book, Why You Can't Stay Silent: A Biblical Mandate to Shape Our Culture, by Focus on the Family's Tom Minnery.

We have participated in lively discussion and debates at our Wednesday night meetings, delved into the Bible, talked about social actions in Harrisonburg and the SWAC area (Weekday Religious Education, Marriage Amendment, Adult Ordinances, Support the Troops rallies, and more), and learned from one another's viewpoints in faith (Catholic, Methodist, Baptist, evangelical). The group even includes the former chairman of the Augusta County Republican Committee as well as the chairman of the Augusta County Constitution Party.

Tonight is our graduation and final meeting as a group (for now)... and so I'm baking cookies and finishing the final assignment. My thanks to Dean Welty and his lovely wife, Janet, for sharing their time and knowledge with us as we move forward working for the principles we believe in.

Michael Farris on "Valley Faith in Action"

A very familiar name in the home school community is Mike Farris. Friday he will join Valley Forum leader Dean Welty's "Valley Faith in Action" program to discuss "UN Pits Children's 'Rights' vs. Parents' Rights & U.S. Law." The program will be repeated Sunday, and will be shown on WAZT-TV.

Who is responsible for raising and educating your children? When you decide one thing, but your child wants something else, who makes the final decision? Can the UN do it for you? What happens when UN treaties, U.S. laws, and your parental beliefs collide? Who wins? And why does it matter to us anyway?

Our guest is Dr. Michael Farris, Founder, former President, and now Chancellor and Professor of Government at Patrick Henry College. Dr. Farris is also President of Parental Rights.org and chairman of the Home School Legal Defense Association which he founded in 1983 and that now includes over 80,000 families. He has been recognized by Education Week as one of the Top 100 Faces of Education in the 20th Century.

We’ll ask Dr. Farris why, as an educator and a parent, he is so concerned about the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child that the U.S. may try to ratify later this year. How could it possibly affect us and our ability to raise our children as we choose? And if it is such a threat both to parents and to U.S. sovereignty, what can we do to ensure that it does not get ratified?

If you would like additional information on the UNCRC and Dr. Farris’s objections to it, click here. You can also ask Cong. Bob Goodlatte to join 72 other members of Congress in support of a Parental Rights Amendment that would help protect parental rights against treaties like the UNCRC.

* * * *

“Valley Faith in Action” airs at 8:00 p.m. on Friday and again at 8:30 p.m. Sunday on WAZT-TV, which is Comcast Cable Channel 14 in the Harrisonburg area (the channel may be different in your area). It will also air on Monday at 8:30 a.m., and Wednesday midnight. If you miss those, you can watch it later online.

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.

Valley Family Forum barbecue overlooking Massanutten

Lake Shenandoah and the Massanutten Mountain range were the perfect backdrop for Friday night's Valley Family Forum barbecue at the home of Dean and Janet Welty, the directors of that group. Sitting on their deck overlooking the lake and mountains on a pleasant Shenandoah Valley summer evening, this group of active conservatives ranging in age from teenagers through retired folks gathered for the 7th annual event to fellowship and discuss upcoming events for the year. Look for more good things to come out of the Valley Family Forum over the upcoming months....

"For God & Country: Faith on the Battlefield"

Tune in tonight, May 25, at 8:00 PM on WAZT-TV and see “For God and Country: Faith on the Battlefield.” SWAC's own SSgt. Herb Harman will be featured.

Dean Welty with the Valley Family Forum writes...

Monday is Memorial Day, which has been observed nationally since 1868, right after the Civil War. It is an opportunity to honor the more than one million men and women in the Armed Forces who have given their lives for the freedoms we enjoy today. It is a sobering reminder that “Freedom is never free.”

Our guests will be Lt. Col. Jeff White and Staff Sergeant Herb Harman. They both take their faith and their call to arms seriously, soldiers who stand ready to defend our freedoms. And as a good friend regularly reminds me, “For those who have fought for it, freedom has a flavor the protected will never know.”

We will ask them what “God and Country” mean to them. Under what conditions is war justified? What does the Bible teach about war? Who and what are worth fighting, and dying, for? And what in their faith compels them to leave their families for the battlefield, and then sustains them on the field?

We will also be asking their wives, Jocelyn White and Jan Harman, about their concerns for their families when their husbands go to war. Mrs. White was once an Army officer herself, so we will ask how that compares to being a full time homemaker and home-school teacher to her three children. Her answer will surprise you!

God calls all of us to obedience in different ways, and we can be deeply grateful for those who continue to put themselves in harm’s way, “Brave men who stand ready to do acts of violence so we can sleep safe in our beds.” Memorial Day is a time to reflect, to be grateful to all our men and women who stand in the gap for us, and to pray for peace in America and around the world.

Jan told me the wives didn't talk much because the husbands has so much to tell ... it sounds like an interesting program ... just what you need to head into the Memorial Day weekend.