Christian Committees of Correspondence: Countering the Political Doldrums
By Gavin Quill
Published August 1992
In this season of political conventions, we are deluged by news reports of the frenzied activities of the two major parties as they jockey to promote their “change agendas” for America’s future.
But what choices for change do we really have?
Many Americans feel they have little choice. That’s why 50% don’t even bother to vote, and why many others were so eager to embrace Ross Perot long before he gave any clear indication of exactly what he stood for.
The lack of meaningful choices is particularly acute for Bible believing Christians whose interests are arguably less represented by the major parties than are those of most other American communities. Though once the driving force behind the conception, birth and early development of this great nation, in this century Christians have allowed themselves to be slowly marginalized to the point where they are often treated as second class citizens when they seek a voice in government.
The gradual loss of our fundamental Christian civil liberties has taken decades. We should not expect it to be restored overnight. That means we should not be looking for some Christianized version of a Ross Perot to single-handedly reverse our cultural and political decline with one election victory. Real change can only come from long-term hard work at the grass-roots level. This requires education, mobilization and participation on the part of the entire Christian community.
Thankfully, a number of organizations have risen up in recent years to begin the arduous task of re-educating Christians concerning their biblical and constitutional rights and responsibilities. One of the most visionary of these is the Plymouth Rock Foundation with its revolutionary offshoot known as the Christian Committees of Correspondence.
These Committees or “ComCor’s” are groups of committed Christians in hundreds of towns and cities across the country, who are concerned about the decline of the American republic, and who desire to rebuild the biblical foundations of this nation. They join together to learn the true Christian history of the United States, to study scriptural principles of government, economics and education, and to apply those principles to both their personal lives and public affairs.
This is accomplished through prayer, education, communications, and community service under the umbrella of the local church. These activities train ComCor members to articulate and actively demonstrate the biblical precepts of self and civil government as they pertain to contemporary issues of community, cultural and political concern.
Committees of Correspondence are not really a new idea. They were actually pioneered by our Founding Fathers as they laid the groundwork for our national independence. The first committee was formed in Boston on November 2, 1772. Its membership included such dedicated Christian patriots as Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and Paul Revere. Other Committees quickly spread throughout the thirteen colonies, uniting them first in thought and later in revolutionary action. From these small groups sprang the philosophies, policies and statesmen which eventually produced the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and a new nation.
Although there are literally hundreds of political action groups (in addition to the major parties) vying for our support, only a handful of them are self-consciously and comprehensively Christian. A fundamental tenet of the ComCor’s is to make the Christian community and society as a whole, “less susceptible to the manipulation of demagogues; less likely to let themselves be ‘used’ by those who hide ungodly panaceas behind a facade of false promises and calculated slogans.”
Yet how much of the time and resources of the Christian community have been co-opted to serve the purposes of politicians of both the left and the right, who are out top build their own kingdoms without reference to the will of the Creator.
It seems sometimes that half of Christ’s kingdom is enthusiastically fighting for justice, truth and righteousness, but are unwittingly taking orders from the commanders of the enemy’s armies. Meanwhile, the other half of Christ’s soldiers, fearing the deception which has befallen the first half, seem to believe that they have been ordered into a full cultural retreat until the King himself arrives with the angelic calvary.
The Christian Committees of Correspondence see themselves as Jesus’ stewards. They refuse to be “unequally yoked with those who question the inerrancy of God’s Word or those who deny the crown rights of Christ Jesus as both Savior and King.” At the same time, as stewards, they accept the scriptural responsibility to labor towards redeeming every aspect of our culture and our civic institutions for the glory of our Lord.
Membership in the Plymouth Rock Foundation’s “Pilgrim Family” and in the Christian Committees of Correspondence “crosses denominational lines, spans all socio-economic strata, and includes all professions and trades.” The ComCors are unique in that they are self-governing. “There are no top-down edicts: no ‘headquarters’ policy pronouncements.”
As a truly grass-roots network, they serve as excellent models of the biblical principle of unity with diversity, and the value of every individual believer as a necessary contributor to the holy cause which has been entrusted to us. May it be that in our generation these Committees of Correspondence might be used to spark an even greater Christian revolution than the one produced by their forebears two centuries ago.
For more information write to: The Christian Committees of Correspondence, Fisk Mill, Box 577, Marlborough, NH 03455.
You will receive their Community Action/Leadership kit, along with information on how to join a local Com Cor or to start your own. Annual membership in the Plymouth Rock Foundation is $25.
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God's Law and Society (DVD)
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