Donald Trump will headline the National Religious Broadcasters convention in Nashville Feb. 22, NRB announced Feb. 6.
“We look forward to hearing President Trump express his vision for the future of our country in distinguished remarks,” said NRB leader Troy Miller.
Sponsors for Trump’s talk include Heritage Action for America, the political action partner of the Heritage Foundation, which has developed Project 2025 to support a possible second Trump administration. The Heritage Foundation and Project 2025 also are convention sponsors.
Troy Miller
The 2024 convention has no sessions on Bible teaching, evangelism or discipleship, but offers sessions on politics and activism, including “Christian Liberty: The Current Legal Landscape,” “Restoring Values: Countering Cultural Indoctrination to Protect Faithful Families,” and “Yes, We Will Win the Culture War(s).”
“With virtually every major cultural institution now captured for secular progressivism and the sexual revolution … it would seem that the evangelical world is facing impossible odds in Western civilization,” says the culture war session description. “Yes, we will win the culture wars if we are faithful. We will also win the culture wars because the church of the Lord Jesus Christ cannot be prevailed against.”
Many NRB members have strong ties to Israel, and the 2024 convention will feature the regulars: the Israel tourism office, International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, American Friends of Magen David Adom (Israel’s emergency medical system), and International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. Plus a traditional “Breakfast to Honor Israel.”
New in 2024, the group Israel365 is sponsoring an “Israel War Room.” The event description says: “Modeled on an Israeli command center, the Israel War Room tells the story of October 7 and the Israeli people’s heroic response.” Tours of the War Room will be led by former U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann and pastors, providing “the inside story on Israel’s war against Hamas.”
Israel365 also is launching “Keep God’s Land,” featuring Bachmann and other speakers. “Judea and Samaria is the biblical heartland of Israel,” says the event promo. “Join us as we launch Keep God’s Land, a joint movement of Jews and Christians in support of Israel’s right to its ancestral homeland. … NO TWO-STATE DELUSION!”
NRB’s Troy Miller was recognized among “Israel’s Top 50 Christian Allies 2023” by the Israel Allies Foundation. In a recent media interview, Miller criticized the Biden administration’s efforts to press Israel to decrease civilian casualties in Gaza, which currently exceed 27,500.
“It’s the far-left liberal progressives that are putting the pressure on the Biden administration to sever its support for Israel and to bring a harsher condemnation,” Miller told Frank Gaffney, a conspiracy theorist who hosts the “Securing America” radio show. “It’s such a small portion of the U.S. population here, yet they have such a loud voice in the White House.”
Those who say the “R” in NRB stands for “Republican,” not “Religious,” will find much to like at this year’s convention, including the presence of Fox News and Newsmax, two secular conservative news outlets.
NRB calls itself “an association of Christian communicators” and asks members to sign its statement of faith but it also accepts sponsorship deals from secular outlets as well as politically conservative non-Christian religious groups.
Religious sponsors include The Washington Times (owned by the Unification Church movement founded by Sun Myung Moon) and Epoch Films and The Epoch Times (founded by members of China’s Falun Gong religious movement whose founder, Master Li, seeks to control “the world’s largest and most authoritative media”).
A 2023 NRB press release said: “The Epoch Times is dedicated to seeking the truth through insightful and independent journalism, standing outside of political interests and the pursuit of profit, in order to serve the public benefit and be truly responsible to society.”
NRB does not inform convention attendees about these groups’ non-Christian belief systems, worldviews and political aspirations.
NRB does not inform convention attendees about these groups’ non-Christian belief systems, worldviews and political aspirations, and has declined to answer media inquiries about why it promotes them.
One convention highlight will be the all-star session on “Christian Liberty: The Current Legal Landscape.” Michael Farris, NRB general counsel, will host a session featuring leaders from four Christian legal groups that have been at the forefront of efforts to limit LGBTQ rights, oppose transgender care, restrict access to drag shows, end access to abortion and abortion drugs and ban books from public schools:
- Ryan Bangert of Alliance Defending Freedom
- Jeremy Dys of First Liberty Institute
- Mathew Staver of Liberty Counsel
- Brad Dacus of Pacific Justice Institute
NRB’s increasing public policy efforts include partnering with like-minded lawmakers and advocacy groups through participating in the House and Senate Values Action Teams.
NRB supports legislation that would require every new car sold in America to have an AM radio (Every Vehicle Act).
NRB opposes legislation that would:
- Establish a permanent, year-round Daylight Savings Time in the U.S. (Sunshine Protection Act)
- Require broadcasters to tell the government about their foreign sponsors and funding
- Require broadcasters to report hate talk and disinformation to the government
We are “developing strategies to counter the impact of improper, activist-created ‘hate speech’ standards on the free exchange of ideas,” NRB said.
NRB was founded 80 years ago to fight for the rights of Christian broadcasters. Convention revenue accounts for about a third of its $4 million annual income.
In 2023, NRB claimed “more than 1,100 member organizations” that reach an audience of 141 million people. The organization declines to say who its members are.
In its 2024 Trump announcement, NRB declined to say how many members it has while claiming they now reach “hundreds of millions of listeners, viewers, and readers.” NRB did not explain how members’ audiences grew by more than 40% in one year.
NRB says its mission is “to foster excellence, integrity and accountability in our membership,” but critics say some of its actions indicate otherwise.
As Warren Smith reported for Ministry Watch in 2023, John Ankerberg joined NRB’s board weeks after his ministry was booted from the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. A whistleblower revealed Ankerberg had raised $16 million for Bible projects but spent only $3 million on that work.
NRB says “members whose donated broadcast revenue equals or exceeds $1,000,000 annually must show proof of certification by either the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability or the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance,” but it does not enforce this rule.
NRB’s Code of Ethics says: “I will not use the media to knowingly speak falsely against anyone” and cites Exodus 20:16.
But NRB has not disciplined member Eric Metaxas, who used his radio show to claim Dominion Voting Systems executive Eric Coomer was “evil” and “Satanic,” comparing him to the Unabomber.
Metaxas, who is being sued for defamation, admitted in his deposition that he had done nothing to verify his claims.