What had been, until recently, sleepy school board races across the state and the country, this year became political hot potatoes. The Colorado media generally cast these contests as battles between conservative groups and teachers unions, and that the results were mixed. But lost in this framing was the quiet electoral pilot project of the Truth and Liberty Coalition, the other arms of Wommack’s political and educational empire—and their out-of-state partner, the Texas-based Wallbuilders organization.
‘Approved for use in churches’
As RD reported in October, this initiative targeted 17 school boards. Their visible source of support for their candidates came in the form of voter guides in English and Spanish intended for use with churches. Consistent with the culture warring themes of the Christian Right in the past year, the guides asked candidates to agree or disagree with five statements regarding “Critical Race Theory,” “Parental Rights,” “Boys Playing Girl Sports [sic],” “Sex Education,” and “Gender Identity Pronouns.”
The fine print at the bottom of each voter guide illuminates the institutional relationships between the partner organizations behind it.
“This election guide has been approved for use in churches by a constitutional attorney licensed to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court. Documentation may be accessed at christianvoterguide.com. Paid for by Truth and Liberty Coalition, 1 Innovation Way, Woodland Park, CO 80863. Billy Epperhart, Registered Service Agent.”
Epperhart is the CEO of Andrew Wommack Ministries and Charis Bible College.
The link takes you to the website of Christian Voter Guide, published by the Aledo, Texas-based Wallbuilders, a Dominionist, Christian nationalist organization founded by David Barton, and now run by his son Tim Barton.
The school board races were the pilot project in a long-term campaign by the Truth and Liberty Coalition and its de facto training institute, nearby Charis Bible College, in Woodland Park, a suburb of Colorado Springs. As RD reported, the unaccredited school teaches its students how to conquer the “7 Mountains” of society (government, religion, family, education, media, arts & entertainment, and business) in order to achieve Christian Dominion. This theology and its praxis is known as Seven Mountains Dominionism, 7M for short, and its political conferences are open to a wider community of like-minded Christians.
One such group called Church Voter Guides, launched in 2021 by former Colorado Springs megachurch Pastor Steve Holt, targeted some of the same school board races as the Truth and Liberty Coalition. In fact, they’re close allies. The Coalition issued a press release promoting the voter guides of both groups on October 5th, casting the election as “a referendum on parental rights.”
The group insists, “It’s better to be biblically correct than politically correct!” They also declare,
“When the citizenry do not seek to be obedient to God’s Law, they vote in wicked and corrupt candidates, who then trample underfoot the God-given liberties of the people.”
Nine days before the election, Holt announced during Sunday service at his new, much smaller church, The Road @ Chapel Hills, that three members of his church were running for school boards in two districts. All three went on to win: Aaron Salt in Academy District 20 and two of the three members of the winning (and Coalition-backed) slate in District 49, Lori Thompson and Ivy Liu.