Join us in a conversation with Dr. Mark Harris, Vice President for the Association of Churches and Ministries at Family Research Council.
Tuesday, December 21, 2021, at 12 PM (ET)
Dial 667-776-9181 (no code needed)
The latest Pew Research survey shows that unbelief is increasing rapidly in America, with three in 10 saying they are nonreligious and fewer people than ever (63 percent) identifying as Christian.
While much of the erosion in Christian numbers has come from declining “mainstream” Protestant denominations, the trend is not healthy. As John Adams noted, our Constitution was made only for a “moral and religious people.” It won’t work for a society without ethical moorings.
From a hostile popular culture to what amounts to atheistic dogma in the nation’s educational system, Christianity has been under attack for decades by secular forces.
The fallout from this can be seen in an alarming decrease in personal integrity, the increasingly adamant demands of the LGBTQ movement, crime waves and other social dysfunctions, political corruption at all levels, and a full-court press aimed at turning America into a top-down, socialist country.
Pastors and churches still influence many millions of people; what should they be doing to turn the tide back toward faith, family, and freedom?
Dr. Mark E. Harris is Vice President for the Association of Churches and Ministries at the Family Research Council as well as Senior Pastor of Trinity Baptist Church, Mooresville, NC.
A native of Winston-Salem, N.C., Dr. Harris graduated from Appalachian State University in 1987 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. Upon answering God’s call to ministry that same year, Dr. Harris enrolled at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., where he would earn both his Master’s of Divinity degree and his Doctor of Ministry degree in Christian Leadership.
Having served in youth ministry for a short time, he was called in 1989 to his first pastorate at Center Grove Baptist Church in Clemmons, N.C., where God blessed in remarkable ways with unprecedented growth and relocation of the church campus.
Answering God’s call in late 1999, Harris began as Senior Pastor of Curtis Baptist Church in Augusta, Georgia on January 1, 2000. Again, God blessed it with phenomenal growth and facility expansion as the church entered a time of planning, construction, and occupation of a $7.4 million preschool and children’s building.
In July 2005, Dr. Harris answered God’s call once again, and came to his most recent post as Senior Pastor of the 3,400-member First Baptist Church, Charlotte, where he served until 2017.
In 2014, Dr. Harris ran in the GOP primary for US Senate and in 2016 ran in a special election for the NC, Dist. 9 Congressional seat. Then in 2018, having resigned from the pastorate of First Baptist Charlotte, he ran for Congress again and was successful, but the NC Board of Elections did not certify the election and another election was held. Because of health concerns, Dr. Harris decided not to run for the seat the second time.
Dr. Harris has served in many leadership roles in the local association, the North Carolina Baptist State Convention, and the Southern Baptist Convention. Along with serving on numerous committees and task forces, he served from 1999-2009 as a trustee of the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. During that time, he served on the Presidential Search Committee, as well as Chairman of the Board from 2005-2007.
Dr. Harris served as President of the N.C Pastors’ Conference in 2008, Board of Directors for the Biblical Recorder from 2006-2010, First Vice President of the North Carolina Baptist State Convention 2010-2011, and is currently serving his second term as the President of the North Carolina Baptist State Convention.
Dr. Harris was married to Elizabeth Bates Harris on June 20, 1987. They have 3 children, Laura, John, and Matthew.
Please join us for this informative and stimulating conversation.
