The Great Smoky Mountain Journal

Staff Reports

Posted: Monday, January 01, 2018 12:25 PM

FAITH: Two Dozen Evangelical Leaders Pray For President Trump In Oval Office This Week
About two dozen evangelical leaders spontaneously prayed with President Trump in the Oval Office Monday during a day-long "listening session" with the Office of Public Liaison.

Johnnie Moore, a former senior vice-president at Liberty University, posted pictures of the prayer time Tuesday night on social media but emphasized that it was more than just a photo op.

"It shows a substantive relationship between the evangelical community and this administration," he told CBN News.

Moore said faith leaders are enjoying frequent access to officials throughout the Trump administration and explained: "We enjoy an open door, not just in the Eisenhower Building, but in the West Wing."

The West Wing includes the Oval Office where the president works, as well as the Cabinet Room, the Situation Room and the Roosevelt Room. The Eisenhower Executive Office building is located right next to the West Wing and houses other White House staff.

Jennifer Korn, special assistant to the President, organized the meeting, but the prayer time was an unexpected bonus, Moore said. "When the West Wing became aware that we were on the property, they invited us over to spend a few minutes," he said.

He described the president as "in wonderful spirits" as did Tony Suarez, executive vice president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference.

"It was so relaxed," Suarez told CBN News. "Just like friends getting together."

Other leaders in the room included Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council (FRC); Paula White, senior pastor of New Destiny Christian Center in Apopka, Florida; former Congresswoman Michele Bachmann; Ralph Reed, chairman of the Faith and Freedom Coalition; Gary Bauer, president of American Values; Robert Jeffress, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Jack Graham, pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas; Jim Garlow, senior pastor of Skyline Church in La Mesa, California; Rodney Howard-Browne, senior pastor at the River at Tampa Bay Church, Mike Evans, the founder of Friends of Zion Museum in Jerusalem, and Richard Land, president of the Southern Evangelical Seminary in Charlotte and others.