Former educator Phil Lamb and newly appointed State Director of the Christian Democratic Party (CDP) has told NSW church leaders to ‘wake up’ and get involved in politics, claiming many pastors withhold information from their congregations about Christians who are standing for election in public office.
But the Sydney Anglican has also admitted his party suffers from an ‘image problem’ with churches.
Mr Lamb used his induction service last month to challenge church leaders to ‘teach the biblical view’ and ‘pray publicly’ for Christians in parliament. There is a lack of teaching from the Bible about the role of Christians in public life, he said.
Mr Lamb referred to Romans 13 in stating that pastors “have used this passage as a calm assertion that Christians do not need to be involved in the process of Government, and that it is not the role of the church to support, pray for, or encourage them.”
“Somehow this infers that if we pray a prayer for our Governments that is somehow sufficient.”
He called on Christians to encourage their pastors to teach a Christian worldview of Government.
“Don’t be trapped to believe that Christianity and politics don’t mix,” he said.
In a major shake up of the Party, Mr Lamb joined the management team with the Rev Fred Nile and the Rev Dr Gordon Moyes, CDP’s elected Members of Parliament in NSW.
“My goal is to gather much broader support for CDP, and I will aim for seven per cent of the Vote [1]’s in 2007,” Mr Lamb said. “We will not have just two Members of Parliament, but three, four or even five MPs holding the balance of power in the Upper House.”
In last year’s State election only three per cent of voters gave their [1] vote to CDP.
“The Christian Democratic Party is the only Christian political party throughout Australia that represents Christian values in parliament, yet so many people who hold to those same values do not support CDP,” Mr Lamb told church leaders at his induction.
“I intend to find out why that is, and turn around the CDP so that we will have much broader support and the balance of power in the NSW Upper House in 2007.”
Mr Lamb, who attends St Faith’s, Narrabeen, plans to work on voters by researching community attitudes towards the party. He was unwilling to speculate on what this research might reveal, but did acknowledge the party “may need to change the way it communicates with its members and the community”. The party may need to change its public image, he said.
Despite the ambivalent views from churches, the new State Director has urged churchgoers to vote for CDP to ensure Christian values are upheld in all forthcoming legislation. It was a view expounded by his colleague, Dr Moyes. “The independent Christians [in NSW, the CDP] are the only people who can speak freely for Christian values and debate and argue to uphold our traditional values,” Dr Moyes claimed. “The amount of work we face is enormous, and we need a strong party structure and input from concerned Christians to strengthen our arm. Phil Lamb has arrived at a crucial time in our nation’s history.”
It is a position to which the 53-year-old former educator and father of three felt called by God. “I had a secure well-paid job as Computer Manager at Freshwater Senior Campus,” he said, “but I felt constrained to apply for this job.”
His predecessor, Mr Nile, welcomed the move. “The party has grown over the last 20 years and needs more active administration and leadership than I could give in a part-time capacity as a Member of Parliament,” Mr Nile said.
Mr Lamb spent his early years as a Methodist, and was Principal of a Baptist-run business college. He claims to not have a favourite denomination, but says Anglicans currently have ‘the edge’ in terms of mission activity.