At the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference’s 25th Anniversary Summit, faith leaders delivered a pointed message about the upcoming midterm elections: Christians must not remain on the sidelines.
Centered on what organizers called the “Lamb’s Agenda,” the summit emphasized unity around faith, family, freedom, and biblical justice. Speakers urged believers, especially Hispanic Christians, to see civic engagement as a moral responsibility.
NHCLC President Pastor Samuel Rodriguez warned that cultural and political trends unfolding in Europe could eventually take hold in the United States if people of faith do not act.
“There is a legitimate concern of what’s taking place in Europe,” Rodriguez said. “That reality will become our reality unless we build a firewall. This is the firewall midterm.”
Rodriguez described the stakes in stark terms, arguing that America could face growing instability and a deeper rejection of its Judeo-Christian foundation if Christians become disengaged.
“What’s next for America? Chaos, anarchy, socialism, communism, uber-wokeism, cancel culture on steroids, antisemitism continues to grow; a complete repudiation of our Judeo-Christian system,” he said. “That’s what’s next.”
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Throughout the summit, Rodriguez repeatedly challenged pastors to confront apathy from the pulpit and to teach biblical principles related to civic duty and public life.
“There’s no such thing as complacent Christianity,” he said. “Today’s complacency is tomorrow’s captivity. Comfortable Christianity, kumbaya Christianity; we are what we tolerate.”
He also argued that political and cultural disengagement carries real consequences, pointing to his home state of California as an example of what can happen when churches fail to speak into public issues.
“This idea we don’t want to get involved in the political reality, the cultural reality,” Rodriguez said. “I live in California… I can demonstrate and show you what happens when apathy takes place in the pulpit; legislative initiatives that jeopardize my children and my children’s children.”
Rodriguez said the church itself must serve as the nation’s moral “firewall.”
“What’s the firewall? Is it a political movement? It’s the Church of Jesus Christ,” he said. “The church is the firewall.”
The summit also touched on politics and the Hispanic vote. Rodriguez acknowledged that while former President Donald Trump made significant gains among Hispanic and Latino voters in 2024, support has since softened among some because of dissatisfaction with immigration enforcement and deportation policies.
“Many of them have fallen away because of what they perceived or what they saw as ICE tactics,” Rodriguez said. “So there has been a downsizing of that support… to roughly 27 to 30 percent.”
Even so, Rodriguez praised Trump’s record on religious liberty, saying he believes the president has done more than any other to protect pastors’ ability to preach freely.
“He is fully cognizant of the reality out there,” Rodriguez said. “I don’t know of any other president… that has done more good as it pertains to a Christian pastor’s ability to preach the gospel without any hesitation.”
Other pastors at the summit echoed the call for greater Christian influence in American public life.
“We need to influence the American culture to remain in the Bible,” said Pastor Samuel Ruiz, pastor of Winter Park Christian Church in Colorado.
“And number two, to collaborate as a church with the political environment and development of this nation so that we remain, in my opinion, conservative.”
His wife and Co-Pastor Dalia Ruiz added that voting should be guided by biblical conviction. “If we vote according to the Bible, then we’ll keep a good foundation in the country,” she said.
Despite concerns about the cultural and political direction of the country, Rodriguez ended on a note of hope, expressing confidence that spiritual renewal remains possible in America.
“It’s hope of an outpouring of the Holy Spirit like America has never seen before,” he said. “A great harvest. People coming to Christ in record-breaking numbers… God’s not done with us yet.”
Published by agreement with CBN News
Kelly Wright is the Senior White House Correspondent at CBN News. He’s an Emmy award-winning journalist with an extensive career covering hard news and the most important stories facing both the United States and the world.
