On this Thanksgiving, as I reflect on my twenty years at the helm of Minnesota Family Council, I’m so grateful to God for His many blessings to this ministry over the years. But there’s one defining blessing that stands out among them, that I’d like to share with you.
On an otherwise ordinary day early in my tenure as CEO of Minnesota Family Council, I received a message from our attorney that left me stunned.
I promptly called the chairman of our board to inform him of what I’d heard. Getting his voicemail, I left the following message: “You know the expression, ‘If you were accused of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?’ Well, I was just told by our attorney that there isn’t enough evidence to convict MFC.”
Almost immediately, the board chair called me back, exclaiming, “You’ve got my attention!”
I proceeded to remind him that I was taking steps at that time to implement a code of conduct for MFC employees, for hiring and to hold employees accountable for behaviors inconsistent with MFC’s beliefs and values. Then, as now, the increasing hostility of our culture toward any ministry that tries to remain faithful to Christ in the public square often manifests by challenging a ministry’s ability to hire only employees who share its beliefs and values, and to hold employees accountable to follow those beliefs and values.
Thinking it thus prudent to take steps to protect the integrity of this ministry, I had sent a draft Moral Behavior Policy to our attorney for review prior to implementing it.
On that memorable day, the attorney called me to discuss the draft policy. Paraphrasing, he told me that we could implement the policy, but warned me that we could be sued by an employee for discrimination and we’d probably lose!
He went on to explain that a “religious organization” would be exempt from such discrimination claims. However, he had searched our corporate documents and public facing information on our website and did not find sufficient identification of MFC as a religious entity for us to qualify as such. He concluded that a court would likely determine that MFC was not a “religious organization” and rule against us in an employee discrimination complaint.
You can imagine my shock! It felt like I’d been gut-punched!
How could MFC not be considered “religious”?! Weren’t we forthrightly applying biblical principles to policy, providing biblical worldview training, and promoting exercise of Christian citizenship as “salt and light” (Matthew 5:13-16)? Didn’t we engage in Bible study and prayer together? Didn’t we share biblical messages in all our communications? And yet, our official documents and public face on the website didn’t reflect that.
Needless to say, we wasted no time overhauling our website and official documents, which had been in place since before my time at MFC, to make it unmistakably clear that Minnesota Family Council is a Christian ministry organization, for which all employees serve ministry roles, unapologetically calling people to citizenship worthy of the gospel of Christ and for the sake of the gospel, for the glory of God and the good of all Minnesotans.
Fast forward to this past July. I was reminded of that incident from several years ago when I received an email from a long-time ministry partner expressing appreciation for our work. She wrote in part,
[T]hank you so much for…the important work that is being done through the ministry of Minnesota Family Council. Thank you for spreading the Gospel of Christ and also for your courageous stand on today's distressing cultural issues. Thank you for glorifying the LORD in your work!
When I read that message, I recalled the bad news from our attorney years earlier and was overwhelmed with gratitude and praise to God by the contrast with these words. To go from “not enough evidence to convict”, to such a Christ-centered, gospel-focused commendation… All I can say is, “Thanks be to God! It’s His doing. To Him be the glory!”
On this, my last Thanksgiving as CEO of this ministry, of all the many things for which I’m thankful to God, this transformation of Minnesota Family Council, by His grace, into an expressly Christian ministry “not ashamed of the gospel” (Romans 1:16) – so much so that even the secular media now routinely refer to MFC as a conservative Christian organization – stands above them all.
I’m also profoundly grateful for the privilege of working in my role as CEO with such amazing, talented, fearlessly Christ-following men and women on our team. This is especially true for the exceptional leader God has provided to take the reins from me in January, current Church Ambassador Network Director, Jeff Evans. Jeff and all the men and women on our team have not only been a blessing to me, but to the ministry and our mission to strategically advance biblical truth in the public arena for life, family and religious freedom.
I’m grateful that through the hard work of our team, and the Lord’s favor, Minnesota Family Council has grown in size and influence, not only here in Minnesota but nationally and even overseas, through powerful resources like our Gender Resource Guide, now adapted and translated for use nationwide and in other countries.
I’m grateful for the Lord’s help to faithfully shine the light of truth in elections and on legislation at the Capitol, in support of life, family, and religious freedom, year in and year out, not wavering even when confronting hostile majorities as we did this year, standing up to threats and intimidation with dignity and respect, in the power of the truth, by God’s grace.
I’m grateful for the important relationships that have been developed with pastors and elected officials through our Church Ambassador Network, under Jeff’s leadership. For years, pastors would run away from our efforts to engage churches as “salt and light” in the public arena, as many failed to see a connection between “politics” and their gospel mission.
But now, more and more pastors are running to our message of “citizenship worthy of the gospel of Christ” from Philippians 1:27, pointing to the Apostle Paul’s own example of leveraging earthly citizenship for the gospel. The resulting relationships at the Capitol are already having a profound impact on the environment there and our work with legislators on policy.
Seeing the growing need for robust legal defense of parental rights, religious freedom, and conscience rights, I’m grateful that God gave the vision and enabled us to launch True North Legal, with Chief Counsel, Renee Carlson. Under Renee’s bold leadership, True North Legal has already become a go-to expert in several areas in which our freedoms are under attack, including COVID-related mandates, public school attacks on parents’ rights and student safety, protections for women and girls with abortion, and more.
And then, I truly thank God for you and your faithful and generous support of our mission, without which none of the things above would have been possible. I’m grateful that you have been willing to serve as a channel for God’s gracious provision for this ministry.
Your kindness toward us has carved out a special place for you in my heart, as the Apostle Paul wrote to those in Philippi who similarly supported his ministry…
I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel… It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace… For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. -Philippians 1:3-8
Just so, I thank God for you and your partnership, and I pray that as the baton officially passes to Jeff in a few short weeks, you will continue your generous support of this ministry, even as MFC’s vision for “citizenship worthy of the gospel of Christ” continues. It’s not about me. It was never about me. It’s always been about what God is doing as we’ve sought His direction, and His grace to follow Him. Thank you for standing with us now and in the future!
Humbly, with joy and gratitude,
John Helmberger
Chief Executive Officer
P.S. Finally, I owe an enormous debt of thanks to a very special person who has selflessly poured herself into this ministry, by my side, for twenty years. My wife, Randa, has made me a better leader. She has made me look good – no small task! She has served you in ways you’ll never know, but I do, and God does. She’s done all this with no expectation of recognition or return but only as service to the Lord, to please Him and support this ministry.
I love you, Randa Jean, and I thank God for you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your unsung contribution to this ministry and to my service as CEO. Please forgive me for failing to recognize your vital role as I ought to have done over these twenty years.
