Thread by @SlickRockWeb

I have become fascinated with one of the more obscure defendants that was named in the @faniforDA indictment that most prominently included Donald Trump and his efforts to reverse the Presidential outcome (his loss) in Georgia. The name is Rev. Stephen Lee and he is an ordained Missouri Synod Lutheran minister & a connection to NAR (New Apostolic Reformation). 1/9

Here is the relevant section of the @faniforDA indictmetn that discusses Rev. Stephen Lee's invovlement and the relevant charges. Basically he traveled to Georgia to help with the efforts of overturning Trump's loss there after the 2020 election. Lee was indicted for attempting to coerce election worker Ruby Freeman into falsely admitting election fraud. 2/9

First it should be noted that the doctrine of the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church (LCMS) is very very different from that of the ELCA Lutheran church with LCMS being much more conservative and rigid. Anti-LGBTQ, anti-reproductive rights, forbids women being ministers and oddly states a position against Freemasonry ect... 3/9

The most interesting aspects of Rev. Stephen Lee is both his path of radicalization that would lead him to breaking the law in furtherance of Donald Trump attempt to reverse the Georgia results in the 2020 election and his connection to the NAR (New Apostolic Reformation) movement. Its hard to conceptualize a path of Christian radicalization, given he first started a career in law enforcement. 4/9

However, looking at a reference to his most recent church, a portion of his bio on the About page jumped out at us, and indicates a rather interesting connection to NAR (New Apostolic Reformation) through his wife Elaine. She stated that she had worked both for Dr. James Dobson's ultra-conservative Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs and done work for Dr. Winfield Arn's Institute for American Church Growth 5/9

Who is Dr. Winfield Arn you ask? Dr. Winfield Arn started an Evangelical institute in 1973 called the Institute for American Church Growth. Notably this institute had C. Peter Wagner as one of its original board members and colleagues. For those of you already familiar with C. Peter Wagner he is most recently noted as the founder of the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) movement, known as a key leader of the Church Growth Movement and known for his writings on spiritual warfare. 6/9

In 1998 C. Peter Wagner published the book "Churchquake" and denied that NAR had any political orientation. However, 10 years later he published "Dominion", an endorsement of Seven Mountains Dominionism and Dominion Theology. 7/9
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._Peter_…

An excellent article by @jennycohn1 in the Bucks County Beacon that delves into the January 6th insurrection, C. Peter Wagner and his New Apostolic Reformation movement. Read the whole thread by Jenny 8/9

https://twitter.com/jennycohn1/status/1561753156450627585?s=20

And of course tons of excellent research on NAR by @visionsurreal 9/9

https://twitter.com/visionsurreal/status/1608245645231460354