By Bud Kennedy
bud@star-telegram.com
For Gov. Rick Perry, the road to the White House may have begun in Euless.
Two weeks ago, more than 70 prominent evangelical leaders met at televangelist James Robison's headquarters to quietly plan a campaign for "faith, family and freedom" in the 2012 election, Robison wrote Friday.
The Leadership Summit at Robison's LIFE Outreach International in Euless did not focus on choosing a challenger to President Barack Obama. In Robison's words, it was about an evangelical Christian revival for America -- "'What,' not 'who.'"
But within 30 days, we'll know whether the
who is Perry.
According to the moderate Baptist website
EthicsDaily.com, Perry spoke at the summit June 21.
It was also Robison who urged Perry in January to lead a national call for prayer.
Perry's revival is now named The Response. The Aug. 6 event in Reliant Stadium in Houston is co-sponsored by the Mississippi-based American Family Association.
That's the week before a Republican debate in Iowa and a straw poll where delegates can "vote" for an independent organization, Americans for Rick Perry.
Dallas pastor and former congressional candidate Stephen Broden, an endorser of The Response, was at the summit.
He said he wants Perry to use the campaign spotlight to challenge the nation to pray.
"I think this thing is much larger than Gov. Perry himself," said Broden, senior pastor of Fair Park Bible Fellowship and a co-founder of the Atlanta-based National Black Prolife Coalition.
"It doesn't matter whether he's running for president or not. What matters is for him to be out there across the country, calling for us as a nation to reconsider where we are, to reconnect us to our divine influence."
In other words, if Perry runs for president, he'll also campaign for the Good Word.
In a June 3 commentary at
www.jamesrobison.net, Robison listed his priorities for Christians: godly government, protecting the unborn, defending Israel and preserving marriage as between a man and a woman.
(Fiscal responsibility is No. 9.)
Without mentioning the election, Robison wrote Friday that the evangelical leaders are "pursuing common ground" on a national direction.
The all-star list included Ruth Graham, televangelist Kenneth Copeland, Aledo historian David Barton, Missouri speaker Joyce Meyer, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary President Paige Patterson, California philosophy professor Dallas Willard and Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.
Robison told
EthicsDaily.com that the purpose was not to endorse a candidate but to focus on "what must be done."
Perry might feel called to do it.
Bud Kennedy's column appears Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays.Twitter @budkennedy817-390-7538
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