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Rev. Glenn Plummer - Religious Broadcast Warrior For Our Nation's Traditional Values
By Kevin Fobbs
October 15, 2004

With a little more than 2 weeks left in the campaign, traditional family values have taken center stage in the important battle ground states. Issues like protecting traditional marriage, preventing partial birth abortion, and keeping God In the Pledge of Allegiance are emerging as key determinative factors which will decide the course of this Presidential election.

In Michigan, a key battle ground state, this is taking on even more importance. In Metro Detroit, nationally known ministerial leaders headed by Bishop Andrew Merritt, Bishop Wayne T. Jackson, Rev. Marvin Winans, Rev. Edgar Vann and Bishop Keith Butler are standing firm because their support for traditional family values represent an article of their faith and commitment to protect and preserve the moral values the 40,000 plus members of their congregation parishioners.

Yet, at the center of the storm of the so-called Cultural Warfare is Rev. Glenn Plummer. He believes those in the faith community must draw the line in the sand to actively protect traditional marriage and other family values.

"We are at one of the most defining points in our nation's history," affirms Rev. Glenn Plummer, Chairman and CEO of the nation's most powerful and influential media organizations. His leadership of the National Religious Broadcasters is taking the Kingdom of God into a greater communication revolution. Its membership reads as a Who's Who of the elite in religious broadcasting in television, radio, cable, Hollywood, satellite and even on the Internet. As the head of the executive board and with more than 1,700 members, this humble man of God is on a mission to preserve traditional family values across our nation.

As Senior Pastor of Ambassadors for Christ Church in Detroit, Rev. Plummer is motivated by the certainty and truth of his convictions to protect life and stand guard on behalf of traditional marriage as he does so squarely in the breech during this time of seeming cultural warfare in America.

During the period leading up to World War II, Pope Pius XII spoke of warfare, which is applicable to Pastor Plummer's stand for biblical truth as a Christian Communications leader. "Truth, like man, has but a single face; and truth is our weapon just as prayer is our defense and strength, and the living, sincere and disinterested apostolic word -- inspired by fraternal affection -- is our entree to the hearts of man," stated the Pope. Plummer understands how crucial those words are today as they were when they were spoken. He believes in standing firmly for biblical principles in a time of warfare.

Since 1990, when CTN began religious television programming, they have been distinctive in the religious broadcast market. While other religious television broadcasters have small minority representation at least 70 percent of CTN's 24 / 7 programming features African Americans. "That is very, very different than any Christian network. CBN has the next largest percentile at about 25 percent. African American ministries that would not be on any other network have an outlet on our network," added Plummer.

Plummer believes that religious television programming to and for African American ministries is even more important during this Presidential Election year because of the national focus on traditional family values issues like protecting traditional marriage, keeping God in the Pledge of Allegiance, and the fight to end partial birth abortions.

As host of the daily program CTN Live, Plummer is front and center in the nation's cultural war issues. "It's important and essential that viewers in Metro Detroit and on the network have an accurate and through understanding of the relevant issues of faith that are challenging families today," he voiced. His Christian Television Network has tackled issues like casino gaming, physician-assisted suicide, and most recently, the hotly debated topic of same-sex marriage and the constitutional amendment, which was recently voted down in Congress in late September.

Plummer firmly believes that with a nation of approximately 33 million African Americans -- over 81 percent describe themselves as "spiritual" and well over 90 percent describe their faith as their source of strength -- the church has a greater responsibility to show the connection between their faith, biblical teachings and the public policies of the day.

"Last year when President Bush came to our convention he challenged the NRB to provide leadership to the churches of America to bring together what he called urban and suburban churches to build bridges. He felt like the NRB was best postured to do that, and I agree. The need to open dialogue and cooperation between predominantly African American and predominantly Caucasian churches -- urban and suburban -- is long over due. We all share a true connection in our faith and on bringing moral clarity on public policy issues. I took up President Bush's proposal and launched an initiative that I call the "Race Bridging Initiative."

"This is the defining moment so far in the development of our nation and of our culture, and for that matter for African Americans, because African Americans by in large in great percentages, from 75 to 90 percent, are in support of traditional values and conservative moral issues, and come down on a conservative side of these issue, and yet support politicians and public policy, that is absolutely opposed to the moral beliefs," said Plummer. This has to change.

The example Plummer provides to illustrate his point is clearly set on the issue of halting same sex marriages in America. He recounted, "160 nationally known African American ministers from the nation's largest congregations were in Washington DC the week of the Congressional vote to take up the Constitutional Amendment to ban same-sex marriage in America.

"After we testified, we had expected to sit down and discuss our concerns with the congressional black Caucus. We had requested a meeting but we were snubbed." Detroit Congressional representatives John Conyers and Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick met with them but in separate meetings and indicated they would not be voting to support the ban.

The National Religious Broadcaster Chairman and CEO decided to come back to Michigan and use his CTN Live program to educate and inform his viewers about the up coming vote in Congress. "I decided to inform our viewership about the homosexual agenda, and had footage which contrasts homosexual life to civil rights struggles of African Americans of the 1960s. Other major religious leaders joined Rev. Glenn Plummer on his CTN Live show to update the viewers about the vote on the constitutional amendment.

"We felt it was our obligation to deliver a message to our congressional leaders of the need to strengthen the Christian foundation in people's lives across America. I felt that during this election season it was absolutely important that Black people needed to see that issue and what comparisons that were trying to be made to the civil rights movement of the 60s and what relevance the ban or lack thereof had to us, our history, and our beliefs.

"Most of our speakers were African Americans, including Detroit Perfecting Church senior pastor Rev. Marvin Winans, who had also joined me with the other pastors earlier last month in Washington DC. I believe statistically that when Black people see Black people on TV, they stop and look. We have more influence as African American speakers on radio and television than White people," concludes Plummer.

Rev. Plummer firmly believes that as more and more African American Christian broadcasters come to the forefront like T.D. Jakes who saw his ministry escalate after being on TBN, their impact on the moral issues discussion in America and especially in minority communities will be even more important. "For example, before Rev. T.D. Jakes' television ministry, he was a 300-member church in West Virginia. Christian television propelled him," stressed Plummer.

Plummer acknowledged that as African American ministries on television have grown and developed, and there has been an explosion of Christian television networks and radio stations. This growth has also added some responsibility for tackling the moral and traditional family value issues that many in mainstream television broadcasting fail to address.

He offered an example of a recent radio interview he took part in on the local National Public Radio station WDET. The station reporter told Plummer that they were doing a feature on same sex marriage, which they were planning to air the day before the November 2nd election. "The interviewer was actually an advocate. I am a minister of the gospel, not a journalist, and I am clearly biased when it comes to issues of morality and issues of biblical Christianity. These are convictions of mine and these are non-negotiable so one could understand my bias," stipulated Plummer.

Plummer felt the NPR reporter questions were consistent with how the mainstream media really is. "The reporter did the story almost advocating the homosexual lifestyle so they are not merely biased, they are advocates for the other side! That is not fair and balanced reporting -- it is actually advocacy journalism."

As a Christian communicator, Rev. Glenn Plummer vigorously continues to impact upon the world of broadcast ministry because he continues to embrace the truth of the tenets of his faith. "When you are chosen by the Lord, you have to have faith. I see the word faith as a verb not a noun. Faith is meant to represent action," said Plummer.

Although he may be in the eye of the storm surrounding so many controversial societal moral issues of our times, he is guided through by his faith, his vision and his dream as he continues to answer the call the Lord placed upon his heart over 23 years ago -- to start a television ministry, which is now having world-wide impact, by taking the kingdom into the communication revolution of this new century.

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Kevin Fobbs is President of National Urban Policy Action Council (NuPac), a non-partisan civic and citizen-action organization that focuses on taking the politics out of policy to secure urban America's future one neighborhood, one city, and one person at a time. Kevin Fobbs is also Second Vice Chairman of the Michigan Republican Party and National African Americans for President Bush Steering Committee member as well as host of the daily Kevin Fobbs Show on News Talk WDTK - 1400 AM as well as co-founder of the Jackson, MI-based American Conservative Values Television Network.

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Note -- The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, and/or philosophy of GOPUSA.