David Lane is a relatively unknown yet highly influential Christian nationalist political operative who has spent tens of millions of dollars hosting conferences aimed at encouraging conservative Christian religious leaders to politically mobilize their congregations and also to run for office themselves.
Via his American Renewal Project organization, Lane organizes free events where pastors and their spouses are addressed by a variety of religious-right activists and elected officials, all for the purpose of building a "vote delivery machine" that will ensure that his Christian nationalist values “reign supreme” throughout the country.
Lane is currently hosting a Nehemiah Project Pastors Summit in North Carolina, which featured glowing endorsement videos from President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance, as first reported by CBN journalist David Brody, who has long served as a mouthpiece for Lane's efforts.
"Hello to everyone at the North Carolina Nehemiah Pastor Summit, along with David and Cindy Lane and the American Renewal Project," said Trump. "Very exciting. Across the state, you have inspired dozens of faith leaders to run for office and to win elections, and they've been winning them in droves, including me. It is truly encouraging to see so many Americans of faith stepping forward to serve. As president. I have ended the radical left war on religious believers, and I stopped the Biden administration's persecution of Christians and pro-life activists. I created a presidential commission to protect religious liberty and we established a Department of Justice task force to eradicate anti-Christian bias of which, sadly, there's a lot, but we have pretty much put it to an end. We also restored the fundamental principle that God created two genders: male and female. And we're keeping men out of women's sports—everybody knows that; it was a big reason I won, not the biggest, perhaps, but it was a big reason. As we work to defend these achievements and expand our movement in the years to come, I will be cheering you on as you recruit 500 church members to run for office in 2026 and 2028. More and more, you're running and you're winning. So once again, thank you for your outstanding work and God bless America."
Vance likewise heaped praise on Lane's efforts, declaring that the "only hope" for saving America is for "men and women of God" to win public office.
"Hello everybody, I want to apologize for not being there in person, but I'm glad to be there and to be able to share this message over video," Vance said. "First off, I want to recognize David and Cindy Lane along with everyone at the American Renewal project for 30 years of tireless work. For three decades, you all have been helping pastors and congregations reenter the public square and fight for our nation, helping them to register, to vote, to run for office, and to stand up for biblical truth. It's an incredible service to our nation, and Raleigh is at the center of the next chapter of this important movement. Since 2020, the North Carolina Renewal Project has hosted 42 pastors luncheons. That's amazing. They've helped a few dozen pastors and spiritual leaders run for elected office, with ten of those candidates winning their general elections, making our country better in the process. This is a remarkable achievement and it's only the beginning. The project's goal is to have 500 parishioners across North Carolina run for local office in 2026 and 2028, and we have to meet that goal. That's how we rebuild a nation; from the ground up through men and women of God, one's willing to step into public service and lead with conviction and fight back against the radical fringe. Because at the end of the day, making our nation great once more, it's impossible without God. Our Founding Fathers recognized that, and we recognize that today. Our only hope to get to the civic renewal of this nation needs is through Him, through a public restoration of faith in our homes, and our communities, and in every institution across this nation. That's why we've got to get leaders involved in the church and involved in public office. That is our path to renewal and the project you all are leading is doing vital work to help make it happen. So thank you all very, very much. Keep at it and we'll be rooting for you."
While Lane's efforts have met with some success, his most high profile candidate was Mark Robinson, whose campaign for governor of North Carolina in 2024 crashed and burned following reports on his history of posting inflammatory messages on a pornographic website.
Lane has his own record of inflammatory and extremist comments. He once urged conservative Christians to prepare for martyrdom in their fight to “save the nation from the pagan onslaught” of marriage equality and legal abortion. He preaches that the U.S. has a divine mission to glorify God and advance the Christian faith. He called the separation of church and state a “lie” and a “fabricated whopper” designed to stop “Christian America—the moral majority—from imposing moral government on pagan public schools, pagan higher learning and pagan media.” He argued that Christianity must “eradicate” secularism. He once complained that there was “not a peep from the Christian Church” in response to the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, when the church “should have initiated riots, revolution, and repentance.”
