View source for New Apostolic Reformation

The '''New Apostolic Reformation''' ('''NAR''') or '''Neo-Apostolicism''' is a [[Christian supremacist]]<ref>
*{{cite web |last=Wiinikka-Lydon |first=Joseph |date=June 4, 2024 |title=The New Dominionism Tries to Rule |access-date=January 13, 2025 |website=[[Southern Poverty Law Center]]|url=https://www.splcenter.org/year-hate-extremism-2023/new-dominionism-tries-rule|quote=These men who made what is known as the "Watchmen Decree" are among the leaders of the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), a new and powerful Christian supremacy movement that is attempting to transform culture and politics in the U.S. and countries across the world into a grim authoritarianism.}}
*{{Cite news |last1=Kornfield |first1=Meryl |last2=Allam |first2=Hannah |date=October 1, 2024 |title=Vance appears at event hosted by hard-right Christian nationalist |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2024/09/28/jd-vance-christian-nationalism-lance-wallnau/ |access-date=January 13, 2025 |newspaper=The Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286|quote=The event's host, Lance Wallnau, who emceed the live event and introduced Vance's first town hall on the campaign trail, is a leading figure in the fast-growing New Apostolic Reformation, a movement that preaches Christian supremacy through a blend of prophecy and hard-right politics.}}</ref> theological belief and controversial movement associated with the [[far-right]]<ref>
*{{cite web |last=Petrovic |first=Phoebe |date=October 26, 2024 |title=The Genesis of Christian Nationalism |url=https://projects.propublica.org/christian-nationalism-origins/ |access-date=January 13, 2025 |website=[[ProPublica]]|quote=In the United States, the NAR has become a driver for pro-Trump, far-right policies that promote a Christian worldview in government.}}
*{{Cite news |last=Herman |first=Alice |date=November 7, 2024 |title=US Christian right celebrates after prophecy of Trump win comes to pass |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/07/christian-right-trump-victory |url-access=subscription |access-date=January 13, 2025 |quote=Now that Trump has secured his victory, figures on the Christian far right whose prominence grew during Trump’s 2016 presidency will enjoy larger followings and most importantly, close proximity to the highest office in the US. Among these figures are leaders in the New Apostolic Reformation, a movement which rejects secularism and embraces "Christian dominionism", the idea that Christians are tasked by God to rule over society and government.}}</ref> that combines elements of [[Pentecostalism]], [[evangelicalism]], and the [[Seven Mountain Mandate]] to advocate for [[spiritual warfare]] to bring about Christian [[dominionism|dominion]] over all aspects of society, and end or weaken the [[Separation of church and state in the United States|separation of church and state]]. NAR leaders often call themselves [[apostles]] and [[prophets]]. The movement is heavily associated with [[C. Peter Wagner]], who coined the term and founded the movement's characteristic networks.{{sfn|Gagné|2023|loc=Preface}} Wagner himself described the NAR as "the most radical change in the way of doing church since the [[Protestant Reformation]]."<ref name="Wagner-2006">{{Cite book |last=Wagner |first=C. Peter |url=https://archive.org/details/apostlestoday0000wagn/mode/ |title=Apostles Today: Biblical Government for Biblical Power |date=2006 |publisher=Chosen Books |isbn=978-0-8007-9733-1 |location=Bloomington |pages=138 |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref>

Long a fringe movement of the American [[Christian right]], it has been characterized as "one of the most important shifts in Christianity in modern times".<ref>{{cite news |title=The Alabama Embryo Opinion Is About More Than Christian Nationalism |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/03/alabama-embryo-parker-new-apos/677642/ |work=The Atlantic |author=[[Stephanie McCrummen]]|date=March 5, 2024|quote="The Parker point of view, the NAR point of view, is deep and complicated," [[Frederick Clarkson]], a research analyst who has been studying the Christian right for decades, told me. He considers the NAR to be one of the most important shifts in Christianity in modern times.}}</ref> With the 2008 publication of Wagner's ''Dominion!'' ''How Kingdom Action Can Change the World'', the movement began a greater focus on gaining political influence—through spiritual warfare—in order to effect societal change.{{Sfn|Taylor|2024|loc=Chapter 5}} The NAR's prominence and power have increased since the 2016 election of [[Donald Trump]] as US president. Theology professor [[André Gagné]], author of a 2024 book on the movement, has characterized it as "inherently political" and said it threatens to "subvert democracy".<ref name="Hardy" /> Religion scholar Julie Ingersoll states the movement is "often...now the public face of [[Christian nationalism in the United States|Christian Nationalism]]."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ingersoll |first=Julie |date=October 2024 |title=From Christian Reconstruction to Christian Nationalism: What the Media Need to Know about the 75-Year Effort to Establish Theocracy in the U.S. |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15348423.2024.2408124 |journal=Journal of Media and Religion |volume=23 |issue=1–4 |pages=38–49 |doi=10.1080/15348423.2024.2408124 |issn=1534-8423|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The [[Southern Poverty Law Center]] characterizes NAR as "the greatest threat to American democracy that most people have never heard of".<ref name="SPLC" /> American Republican politicians such as [[Mike Johnson]], [[Doug Mastriano]], [[Marjorie Taylor Greene]], and [[Lauren Boebert]] and activists such as [[Charlie Kirk]] have aligned with it. Some groups within the broader [[Apostolic-Prophetic Movement|Apostolic-Prophetic movement]] have distanced themselves from the NAR due to various criticisms and controversies.

==History and reach==
[[File:C. Peter Wagner.jpg|thumb|[[C. Peter Wagner]], coiner of the term ''New Apostolic Reformation''.]]
American [[missiologist]], theologian, and "church growth guru"<ref name="Premier" /> [[C. Peter Wagner]] is often said to be the coiner of the term ''New Apostolic Reformation'' and is often described as the movement's founder; however, he saw himself as applying a name to an already existing phenomenon and not as the movement's founder.{{Sfn|Taylor|2024|loc=Chapter 2}}<ref name="Hardy">{{cite magazine |last1=Hardy |first1=Elle |date=August 23, 2022 |title=The Right-Wing Christian Sect Plotting a Political Takeover |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/167499/new-apostolic-reformation-mastriano-christian |magazine=The New Republic}}</ref><ref name="Resane">{{Cite journal |last=Resane |first=Kelebogile |date=April 8, 2016 |title=The New Apostolic Reformation: The critical reflections of the ecclesiology of Charles Peter Wagner |url=http://www.hts.org.za/index.php/HTS/article/view/3240 |journal=HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies |volume=72 |issue=3 |doi=10.4102/hts.v72i3.3240 |issn=2072-8050|doi-access=free }}</ref>

The name ''New Apostolic Reformation'' and whether it constitutes a distinct movement is the subject of some controversy.{{Sfn|Holvast|2008|p=115}} Some scholars also use the terms ''[[Independent Network Charismatic Christianity|Independent Network Charismatic]]'' (INC) or ''[[Apostolic-Prophetic Movement]]'' to refer to the NAR. Sociologists Brad Christerson and Richard Flory argue that the NAR is part of the INC, but there is enough difference that not all INC groups would fall under the NAR.<ref name="NetworkChristianity">{{Cite book |last1=Christerson |first1=Brad |url=http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190635671.001.0001/acprof-9780190635671 |title=The Rise of Network Christianity: How Independent Leaders Are Changing the Religious Landscape |last2=Flory |first2=Richard |date=April 27, 2017 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-063567-1 |chapter=The Rise of 'Independent Network Charismatic' Christianity |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190635671.003.0001}}</ref><ref name="Resane" /> Religion scholar Matthew D. Taylor uses ''NAR'' to refer to only those specifically connected to Wagner's networks, referring to others part of the broader movement as Independent Charismatics.{{Sfn|Taylor|2024|loc=Chapter 3}}

[[Elizabeth A. McAlister]] notes that the names Spiritual Mapping movement, Transformation or Revival movement, and Third Wave Evangelical movement are also used.<ref name="McAlister">{{Cite journal |last=McAlister |first=Elizabeth |date=January 2, 2016 |title=The militarization of prayer in America: White and Native American spiritual warfare |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/20566093.2016.1085239 |journal=Journal of Religious and Political Practice |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=114–130 |doi=10.1080/20566093.2016.1085239 |issn=2056-6093}}</ref> The term ''NAR'' has been described as "relatively well established in the academic community".{{sfn|Teigen|2020|p=292}} Some groups within the broader Apostolic-Prophetic movement have distanced themselves from the NAR due to various criticism and controversies such as [[January 6 United States Capitol attack|January 6 Capitol attack]] and [[Election denial movement in the United States|election denialism]].{{sfn|Taylor|2024|loc=Chapter 4}}

Primarily "influenced and driven by North American evangelicals,"{{sfn|Baker|2021|p=3}} the NAR is rooted in the [[Pentecostalism|Pentecostal]] and [[Charismatic Christianity]] movements: namely, the first-wave Pentecostalism of the 1900s, the [[Latter Rain (post–World War II movement)|Latter Rain movement]] of the 1940s, the second-wave Charismatic Christianity of the 1960s through 1980s, and the [[Shepherding movement]] of the 1970s and 1980s. The NAR has been described as taking the [[restorationism]], [[dominionism]], and "[[End times|end-times]] [[Christian revival|revival]]" focus of the Latter Rain movement – thought to lead to a new Christian influence on the world – and the authoritarian nature of the Shepherding movement, described as "a kind of pyramid of power and accountability whereby authority (usually male) would flow down from a leading national (or global) figure to local pastors, and even through a chain of pastoral command between congregants".{{Sfn|Weaver|2016|p=19}}<ref name="Premier">{{Cite web |last=Maiden |first=John |date=November 6, 2023 |title=What is the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR)? |url=https://www.premierchristianity.com/what-is-the-new-apostolic-reformation-nar/16665.article |access-date=April 14, 2024 |website=[[Premier Christianity]]}}</ref>{{sfn|Sears|2022|p=81}}

Described as a "born networker", Wagner was involved in a number of [[Christian mission|missions]] and [[Church Growth|church growth]] organizations and a charter member of the Evangelical [[Lausanne Movement|Lausanne movement]] focused on [[evangelism]].{{Sfn|Holvast|2008|p=67}} Starting in the early 1980s, Wagner was a professor in Church Growth at [[Fuller Theological Seminary]] in [[Pasadena, California]], where his influence grew. A "key disciple" of [[Vineyard Church]] founder [[John Wimber]], who focused on exercising [[spiritual gift]]s such as [[prophecy]] and [[Gift of miracles|miracles]], Wagner initially emphasized spiritual gifts as well, holding "[[Signs and wonders|Signs, Wonders]] and Church Growth" courses at Fuller Seminary along with Wimber. Wagner described three stages in what would he would later term the New Apostolic Reformation: the early 1900s [[African Independent Church|African Independent Church movement]], the 1970s [[Chinese house church]] movement, and finally the growth of independent Charismatic churches in the 1970s and 1980s – including in Latin America and Africa and combining elements of indigenous [[Religious cosmology|cosmologies]]. Wagner termed the [[Neo-charismatic movement|neo-charismatic]] movement the "Third Wave".<ref>{{Cite book |title=The New International Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements |date=2003 |publisher=Zondervan |isbn=9780310224815 |editor-last=Burgess |editor-first=Stanley M. |location=Grand Rapids |pages=15–18 |oclc=62596740 |editor-last2=van der Maas |editor-first2=Eduard M.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Fer |first=Yannick |title=Néo-pentecôtismes |date=2016 |publisher=Labex Tepsis |editor-last=Garcia-Ruiz |editor-first=J. |pages=52–64 |language=fr |chapter=La théologie du 'combat spirituel': Globalisation autochtonie et politique en milieu pentecôtiste/charismatique |editor-last2=Michel |editor-first2=P.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Heaton Anderson |first=Allan |url=http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195386431.001.0001/acprof-9780195386431 |title=To the Ends of the Earth: Pentecostalism and the Transformation of World Christianity |date=February 1, 2013 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-538643-1 |chapter=Charisma and Faith |pages=202–223 |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195386431.003.0008}}</ref>{{Sfn|Baker|2021|p=59}}{{Sfn|Gagné|2023|loc=Preface}}

As the movement developed and Wagner's views were changed through his connection with Wimber, Wagner's focus would later shift to [[spiritual warfare]] and [[Exorcism in Christianity|exorcism]]. The neo-charismatic movement – as opposed to traditional Pentecostal belief, which focused on individual demonic oppression – developed a theology of regions being controlled by specific demons termed [[territorial spirit]]s. Wagner helped popularize the concept. Though spiritual warfare had not been of significant importance in evangelical theology, his Spiritual Warfare Network of the 1980s and 1990s profoundly and quickly impacted broader evangelical belief on the matter.<ref name="Hardy" />{{sfn|Baker|2021|pp=62–63, 92–93}}

In 1991, Wagner founded [[Global Harvest Ministries]] (now Global Spheres), which would found a number of NAR apostolic networks.{{Sfn|Holvast|2009|loc=Chapter 4}}

In 1996, Wagner organized a convention with 500 evangelical leaders, the National Symposium on the Postdenominational Church, including the organization of the church and evangelism, in Pasadena. It addressed the changing organizational forms Wagner saw in churches, which he considered a radical paradigm shift. Other, more traditionally denominational Pentecostals such as Wagner's [[Foursquare Church|Foursquare]] friend [[Jack Hayford]] disagreed with the term ''postdenominational''. Shortly before the symposium, the term ''New Apostolic Reformation'' was adopted to refer to the new movement instead. Wagner himself has traditionally been known as the coiner of the term, though symposium organizer Kay Hiramine states Wagner himself did not create it.{{Sfn|Taylor|2024|loc=Chapter 2}}{{Sfn|Weaver|2016|p=87}}{{sfn|Laitinen|2014|p=9}} Over time, the term ''New Apostolic Reformation'' gained prominence over the previous ''Third Wave''.{{Sfn|Baker|2021|p=2}}

In 1996, Wagner published ''Confronting the Powers: How the New Testament Church Experienced the Power of Strategic-Level Spiritual Warfare and Engaging the Enemy'', in which he discussed spiritual warfare on multiple levels.<ref name="Resane" /> Starting in the late 1990s and through the mid-2000s, the NAR began to absorb the spiritual mapping movement, which had started in 1989 at the Evangelical [[Second International Congress on World Evangelization]], and which focused on on-site prayer campaigns to battle demons in specific areas.{{Sfn|Holvast|2008|p=|pp=xi, 58-59, 117}} Wagner's movement quickly took on an increasingly apostolic–prophetic tone and his organizational acumen helped it expand through networks of apostles and prophets and their organizations, while their ideas, such as dominionism, also spread back into the movement. After his retirement in 2010 and death in 2016, these organizations have been led by apostles and prophets.{{Sfn|Taylor|2024|loc=Chapter 2}}

Regarding dominionism, in 2007 Wagner stated:
{{Blockquote|text=Our theological bedrock is what has been known as Dominion Theology. This means that our divine mandate is to do whatever is necessary, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to retake the dominion of God's creation which Adam forfeited to Satan in the Garden of Eden. It is nothing less than seeing God's kingdom coming and His will being done here on earth as it is in heaven.{{Sfn|Holvast|2009|loc=Chapter 4}}}}

Wagner's 2008 book ''Dominion! How Kingdom Action Can Change the World'', with its language of spiritual violence, set the NAR on a trajectory away from simple reformation of the church's organizational structure towards gaining political influence through spiritual warfare in order to transform society. In 2008, the candidacy of US [[Vice presidential candidacy of Sarah Palin|vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin]] helped cement partisan engagement among the NAR, as she had for decades been part of Independent Charismatic and NAR circles and was part of an NAR spiritual warfare organization.{{Sfn|Taylor|2024|loc=Chapter 5}}

Wagner and other NAR leaders saw in Palin "someone who evidently shared their aggressive theology" and hoped she could help bring about their concept of societal transformation as expressed through Seven Mountain Mandate theology.{{Sfn|Taylor|2024|loc=Chapter 5}} Similarly, shortly before his death in 2016, Wagner endorsed Donald Trump's candidacy for US president. His endorsement has been called "one of the most consequential" evangelical endorsements of Trump that year.{{Sfn|Taylor|2024|loc=Chapter 2}}

As the fastest growing group "within or on the periphery of American Christianity" since the 1980s, the New Apostolic Reformation has rapidly gained religious and political influence in the United States.{{Sfn|Sears|2022|p=81}} In 2015, it was estimated that churches openly part of the NAR were attended by 3 million Americans.<ref name="GeivettPivec2014">{{Cite book |last1=Geivett |first1=R. Douglas |url=https://www.biola.edu/blogs/biola-magazine/2015/a-new-reformation |title=God's Super-Apostles: Encountering the Worldwide Prophets and Apostles Movement |last2=Pivec |first2=Holly |date=December 2014 |publisher=Weaver |publication-date=December 2014 |chapter=A New 'Reformation' That Many Don't Realize They’ve Joined |via=[[Biola University]]}}</ref>{{Sfn|Snow|2016|p=2}} Some estimates in 2020 claimed an "[influence on] approximately thirty-three million adherents in the United States", though this number is disputed.{{Sfn|Sears|2022|p=81}}

The movement is global, growing in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, with it constituting a significant part of church growth in the southern hemisphere.<ref name="Holmås">{{Cite book |last=Holmås |first=Geir Otto |title=Ved en korsvei: åpent brev til mine karismatiske venner |date=2018 |publisher=Luther Forlag |isbn=978-82-531-4865-6 |edition=1st |location=Oslo |language=no |trans-title=At a Crossroads: Open Letter to My Charismatic Friends |chapter=New Apostolic Reformation – et overblikk}}</ref><ref name="GeivettPivec2014" />{{sfn|Baker|2021|p=2}} American missionaries introduced New Apostolic thought and spiritual warfare practices to Haitian pastors and seminarians during the first presidency of Jean-Bertrand Aristide and again following the [[2010 Haiti earthquake]] through transnational missionary networks.<ref>{{Cite book |last=McAlister |first=Elizabeth A. |url=https://www.academia.edu/44631740 |title=Spirited Things: The Work of 'Possession' in Afro-Atlantic Religions |date=2014 |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] |pages=179–184 |chapter=Possessing the Land for Jesus}}</ref> Tenets typical of the NAR have spread into the broader Pentecostal and Charismatic worlds.<ref name="Holmås" /> NAR beliefs have a global reach through Christian media, particularly [[GOD TV]].<ref name="Woodfield-2017">{{Cite thesis |last=Woodfield |first=David |title=The eschatological worldview of C. Peter Wagner and the New Apostolic Reformation |date=April 2017 |access-date=April 16, 2025 |degree= |publisher=North-West University |url=https://www.academia.edu/104200600 |url-access=registration}}</ref> [[Trinity Broadcasting Network]], an international Christian television network, "regularly promotes the teachings of the NAR" in its programming, as does [[Daystar Television Network]].{{Sfn|Snow|2016|p=3}}<ref name="Woodfield-2017" /> The [[Elijah List]], a prophecy-focused website founded in 1997, is influential in the NAR.{{Sfn|Sears|2022|p=99}}

==Beliefs==
[[File:An Appeal to Heaven Flag.svg|thumb|An Appeal to Heaven flag, used and popularized by some NAR adherents]]
The New Apostolic Reformation is a theological movement rather than an organization, lacking formal membership. However, some affiliated organizations have membership systems and overlapping leadership.{{Sfn|Snow|2016|p=8}} Religion scholar Geir Otto Holmås states that the "NAR is not a denomination or an organization with membership lists and an unambiguous doctrinal foundation, but a loose movement which primarily operates through informal or semi-formal channels," continuing on to say that the movement is spread in bits and pieces:<ref name="Holmås" /> religion scholar Matthew D. Taylor terms this "prophetic [[meme]]s".<ref name="TheNation" />

Holmås states that "this explains the slightly odd fact that that people who are associated with the NAR do not necessarily identify with the movement. Some of them will not even ''have heard'' the term 'New Apostolic Reformation'".<ref name="Holmås" />

Holmås summarizes the NAR as follows:<ref name="Holmås" />
* "The Kingdom of God is advanced on earth through the church gaining dominion"
* "Apostles, aided by prophets, constitute the church's strategic spiritual leadership"
* "The Kingdom of God will come through spiritual transformation of culture and society"
* "The end-times church will be the complete manifestation of Jesus on earth"
* "A strong focus on prophetic insight and supernatural manifestations"
* "New revelation and casual use of the Bible"

Among those in the movement that inspired the title NAR, there is a wide range of variance on specific beliefs. Those within the movement hold to their denominational interpretations of the ongoing ministry of the [[Holy Spirit (Christianity)|Holy Spirit]] within each believer. Unlike some parts of Protestant Christianity, these include the [[direct revelation]] of the [[Christ (title)|Christ]] to each believer, [[prophecy]], and the performance of [[miracles]] such as [[healing]].{{Clarify|date=July 2023|reason=Please clarify the distinction here between this and mainstream Pentecostal beliefs}} The movement has also been given the descriptive title "[[Third Wave of the Holy Spirit]]".<ref name="wilder">{{cite news|last=Wilder|first=Forrest|title=Rick Perry's Army of God|url=http://www.texasobserver.org/cover-story/rick-perrys-army-of-god|accessdate=15 August 2011|newspaper=[[Texas Observer]]|date=2 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110813225340/http://www.texasobserver.org/cover-story/rick-perrys-army-of-god|archive-date=13 August 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=September 2024}}

Although the movement regards the church as the true body of [[Salvation in Christianity|saved]] believers, as does most of evangelical Protestantism, it differs from the broader Protestant tradition in its views on the nature of church leadership—specifically the doctrine of [[five-fold ministry]], which is based upon a non-traditional interpretation of [[Ephesians]] 4:11, the apostles and prophets, evangelists, pastors (also referred to as the shepherds), and teachers.<ref name="NPR" /><ref name="Resane" /> Wagner considered 2000–2001 to be the beginning of the second apostolic age and that the lost offices of prophets and apostles were restored around that time.{{sfn|Laitinen|2014|p=92}}{{Sfn|Holvast|2008|p=82}} The concept of the revived offices of apostle and prophet, however, is not unique to the NAR.{{sfn|Taylor|2024|loc=Chapter 2}}

The [[eschatology]] of broader Pentecostalism is typically [[Premillennialism|premillennialist]], believing that biblical end-times prophecies have not yet been fulfilled and that the world will go through "a period of decay, tribulation and persecution under the reign of the [[Antichrist]]",{{Sfn|Teigen|2020|p=296}} leading to Jesus's return to earth to reign for one thousand years. In contrast, the NAR holds that most such prophecies were fulfilled during the [[early Church]], with prophecies from the movement's prophets gaining importance in understanding the end times. It believes that the end times will be an "optimistic" period of the [[Kingdom of God (Christianity)|Kingdom of God]] being established on earth through the actions of obedient Christians, leading to the [[Second Coming]].{{Sfn|Teigen|2020|pp=296–297}}<ref name="ChristersonFlory">{{Cite book |last1=Christerson |first1=Brad |url=http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190635671.001.0001/acprof-9780190635671 |title=The Rise of Network Christianity: How Independent Leaders Are Changing the Religious Landscape |last2=Flory |first2=Richard |date=April 27, 2017 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-063567-1 |chapter=The Product: Supernatural Power and Social Transformation |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190635671.003.0004}}</ref><ref name="Woodfield-2017" />

Religion scholar Matthew D. Taylor describes the NAR's leadership in contrast with other forms of local [[church governance]], in which churches are run by either an episcopal hierarchy, authoritarian pastor, or democratic system such as a church board. Instead, the movement's shared authority among the apostles and prophets is what he terms a "spiritual [[oligarchy]]".{{Sfn|Taylor|2024|loc=Chapter 4}} This leadership sees itself as having the divine authority and spiritual power—used in [[spiritual warfare]]—to "advance God's earthly kingdom so that [[Return of Christ|Christ can return]]."<ref name="GeivettPivec2014" />

Made up of networks of apostles and prophets and networks of churches, Wagner saw the movement as "the most radical change in the way of doing church since the [[Protestant Reformation]]."<ref name="Wagner-2006" /> These "[[Network governance|relational networks]]", as opposed to a church bureaucratic system, were part of the previous [[Latter Rain (post–World War II movement)|Latter Rain movement]].<ref name="Salon">{{cite news |last1=Rosenberg |first1=Paul |date=January 2, 2024 |title=Meet the New Apostolic Reformation, cutting edge of the Christian right |url=https://www.salon.com/2024/01/02/meet-the-new-apostolic-reformation-cutting-edge-of-the-christian-right/ |work=Salon.com}}</ref><ref name="NetworkChristianity" /> [[Biola University]] theology professor R. Douglas Geivett and writer Holly Pivec, who have written three books on the movement, described the movement's promises in ''God's Super-Apostles: Encountering the Worldwide Prophets and Apostles Movement'':

{{Blockquote|text=If you submit to their leadership, then you too will work mighty miracles. You'll become part of a great end-time army that will bring about a world revival and cleanse the earth of evil by calling down hailstones, fire and the other judgments of God described in the New Testament book of Revelation.<ref name="GeivettPivec2014" />}}

Those in opposition, seen to include much of the US federal government and the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]], are viewed as being subject to demonic forces.<ref name="GeivettPivec2014" />{{Sfn|Snow|2016|p=6}}

The dominionist [[Seven Mountain Mandate]] (7M), argued to hold "[[revelation]] status" in the NAR, is another aspect of NAR belief,{{Sfn|Teigen|2020|pp=293–294}}<ref name="Salon" /><ref name="GeivettPivec2014" /> stating that Christians should take over multiple aspects ("mountains") of society: family, religion, education, media, arts and entertainment, business, and government.<ref name="TheNation" /><ref name="ChristianCentury">{{Cite journal |last=Ladner |first=Keri |date=November 2022 |title=The quiet rise of Christian dominionism |journal=[[Christian Century]]}}</ref> Apostle [[Lance Wallnau]] has been one of the concept's foremost promoters, and has promoted 7M combined with spiritual warfare against perceived demonic spirits.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Boorstein |first1=Michelle |date=November 5, 2022 |title=In existential midterm races, Christian prophets become GOP surrogates |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2022/11/05/lance-wallnau-mastriano-christian-prophets/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408052259/https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2022/11/05/lance-wallnau-mastriano-christian-prophets/ |archive-date=April 8, 2023 |access-date=February 24, 2024 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> Wallnau told followers in 2011:

{{Blockquote|If you're talking to a secular audience you don't talk about having dominion over them. This whole idea of taking over and that language of takeover, it doesn't actually help. It's good for preaching to the choir and it's shorthand if we interpret it right, but it's very bad for media."<ref name="Salon" />}} Theology professor [[André Gagné]] asserts the Seven Mountain Mandate is more of a strategic marketing tool to mobilize NAR adherents than a theology.<ref name="Salon" />

Sociologists Christerson and Flory outline three steps in spiritual warfare: research, prophecy, and [[intercession]].<ref name="ChristersonFlory" /> Wagner defined three kinds of strategic spiritual warfare to defeat territorial spirits controlling people or areas: prayer walking in groups through demon-controlled areas, large prayer marches to an area where a rally is held, and strategic-level spiritual warfare, prayer journeys in which spiritual warriors travel to "powerful 'spiritual strongholds'" to confront demons. The first two forms have also been defined as "ground-level" and "occult-level", in which demons are exorcised from individuals, and perceived demonic concepts such as the [[New Age]], [[Freemasonry]], and [[Buddhism]] are targeted, respectively. Those in the movement, including Wagner, have undertaken journeys to spiritual stronghold areas, such as climbing Mount Everest in 1997 ("Operation Ice Castle") to pray against the "Queen of Heaven" or "Mother of the Universe", believed to be the demon underlying [[Catholicism]]'s concept of [[Mary, mother of Jesus]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lampman |first=Jane |date=September 23, 1999 |title=Targeting cities with 'spiritual mapping,' prayer |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/1999/0923/p15s1.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109001534/https://www.csmonitor.com/1999/0923/p15s1.html |archive-date=November 9, 2020 |access-date=September 8, 2024 |website=[[The Christian Science Monitor]]}}</ref><ref name="DeBernardi">{{Cite book |last=DeBernardi |first=Jean |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9MmNaNebFD8C |title=Religious diversity in Singapore |date=2008 |publisher=[[Institute of Southeast Asian Studies]] |isbn=978-981-230-754-5 |location=Singapore |pages= |chapter=Global Christian Culture and the Antioch of Asia |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>{{Sfn|Snow|2016|p=12}}{{Sfn|Holvast|2008|pp=78–79}}

Strategic spiritual warfare often aims at opening the [[10/40 window]] (and [[40/70 window]]), world regions defined in Christian [[missiology]] as having low socioeconomic status and little access to [[the gospel]].<ref name="MendezFerrell">{{Cite web |title=About Ana Méndez Ferrell |url=https://voiceofthelight.com/about-us/ana-mendez-ferrell/ |access-date=2024-07-28 |website=Voice of The Light|date=12 October 2020 }}</ref><ref name="DeBernardi" />{{Sfn|Holvast|2009|loc=Chapter 4}} NAR believers claim there is demonic control of a number of other areas. These include Utah (due to its high population of [[Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints]] members), Detroit, Michigan (due to the city's large [[Muslim]] population), the traditional Catholic pilgrimage location of [[Santiago de Compostela, Spain]], as well as sites such as abortion clinics and masonic temples.{{Sfn|Snow|2016|pp=11, 12}}<ref name="McAlister" />{{Sfn|Holvast|2009|loc=Chapter 4}}

In US politics, televangelist [[Paula White]], chair of the evangelical advisory board in the [[First presidency of Donald Trump|Trump administration]], called for "every demonic network that is aligned itself against the purpose, against the calling of President Trump, let it be broken, let it be torn down in the name of Jesus." Gagné, author of the 2024 book ''American Evangelicals for Trump: Dominion, Spiritual Warfare, and the End Times'', asserts White's high-profile platform contributed to the "mainstreaming of spiritual warfare" against "demonic forces in the world that have sometimes taken over their political enemies."<ref name="Salon" /> NAR prophet Lance Wallnau has referred to Trump's presidency as a "spiritual warfare presidency".<ref name="ProPublica">{{cite web |last1=Kroll |first1=Andy |last2=Surgey |first2=Nick |date=July 13, 2024 |title=Inside Ziklag, the Secret Organization of Wealthy Christians Trying to Sway the Election and Change the Country |url=https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-ziklag-secret-christian-charity-2024-election |access-date=September 7, 2024 |website=[[ProPublica]]}}</ref> [[Media Matters]] reported in January 2024 that former Trump strategic advisor [[Steve Bannon]] often spoke of a "spiritual war" that characterized Democrats as "demons."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Armstrong |first1=Payton |date=January 11, 2024 |title=Steve Bannon is using right-wing religious rhetoric about "spiritual warfare" against "demonic" Democrats |url=https://www.mediamatters.org/steve-bannon/steve-bannon-using-right-wing-religious-rhetoric-about-spiritual-warfare-against |publisher=Media Matters}}</ref>

Many NAR adherents have adopted the [[Pine Tree Flag|Appeal to Heaven Flag]] from the [[American Revolutionary War]] that symbolized seeking authority from a power higher than the British king. NAR leaders such as apostle [[Dutch Sheets]] popularized the flag to symbolize [[Christian nationalism]], and many participants in the January 6 attack were seen carrying it. André Gagné asserts the NAR symbolism of the flag "has completely turned" from the original meaning to now "support the idea that Trump should be president, that he's chosen by God." The flag is displayed outside [[Speaker Mike Johnson]]'s Capitol Hill office and has flown at the New Jersey vacation home of [[United States Supreme Court]] justice [[Samuel Alito]].<ref name="DavisNPR">{{cite news |last1=Davis |first1=Susan |date=November 15, 2023 |title=Speaker Johnson's close ties to Christian right — both mainstream and fringe |url=https://www.npr.org/2023/11/15/1211536399/speaker-johnson-christian-nationalism-evangelical |publisher=National Public Radio}}</ref><ref name="Olmstead">{{cite news |last1=Olmstead |first1=Molly |date=January 6, 2024 |title=The Radical Evangelicals Who Helped Push Jan. 6 to Wage War on "Demonic Influence" |url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/01/january-6-insurrection-mike-johnson-evangelical-christian-apostolic-reformation.html |access-date=April 14, 2024 |work=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Otten |first1=Tori |title=Why Is Mike Johnson Flying a Christian Nationalist Flag Outside His Office? |url=https://newrepublic.com/post/176861/mike-johnson-flying-christian-nationalist-flag-outside-office |access-date=2 February 2024 |magazine=The New Republic |date=1 November 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Another Provocative Flag Was Flown at Another Alito Home |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/22/us/justice-alito-flag-appeal-to-heaven.html |work=The New York Times |date=May 22, 2024|author1=Jodi Kantor|author2=Aric Toler|author3=Julie Tate}}</ref>

Dutch Sheets has long advocated the end of [[Separation of church and state in the United States|separation of church and state]], co-authoring a 2022 "Watchman Decree" that states "we, the Church, are God's governing Body on the earth."<ref>{{cite news |last1=McCrummen |first1=Stephanie |title=The Woman Who Bought a Mountain for God |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/06/christian-movement-new-apostolic-reformation-politics-trump/674320/ |date=June 20, 2023|quote=She soon began listening to an influential South Carolina apostle named Dutch Sheets, who had for years advocated an end to Church-state separation and co-authored something called the "Watchman Decree," a kind of pledge of allegiance that included the phrase "we, the Church, are God's governing Body on the earth."|work=The Atlantic}}</ref> During a summer 2022 live-streamed service, Sheets prayed over congresswoman [[Marjorie Taylor Greene]], who identifies as a Christian nationalist, concluding, "You are highly favored, you will not fail, in Jesus' name, Amen!"<ref>{{cite news |last1=Draper |first1=Robert |title=The Problem of Marjorie Taylor Greene |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/17/magazine/marjorie-taylor-greene.html |work=The New York Times |date=October 17, 2022}}</ref> House Speaker Mike Johnson said in November 2023 that the "separation of church and state is a misnomer" because the [[Founding Fathers of the United States|Founders]] "did not want the government to encroach upon the church—not that they didn't want principles of faith to have influence on our public life. It's exactly the opposite."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Shabad |first1=Rebecca |title=Speaker Mike Johnson says separation of church and state is a 'misnomer' |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/speaker-mike-johnson-says-separation-church-state-misnomer-rcna125181 |publisher=NBC News |date=November 14, 2023}}</ref> Speaking at a religious service in summer 2022, congresswoman [[Lauren Boebert]] said:

<blockquote>The church is supposed to direct the government. The government is not supposed to direct the church. That is not how our Founding Fathers intended it. I'm tired of this separation of church and state junk that's not in the Constitution. It was in a stinking letter, and it means nothing like what they say it does.<ref>{{cite news |title=GOP Rep. Boebert: 'I'm tired of this separation of church and state junk' |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/28/lauren-boebert-church-state-colorado/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=June 28, 2022|last1=Suliman|first1=Adela|last2=Bella|first2=Timothy}}</ref></blockquote>

=== Bible translation ===
Brian Simmons is a NAR apostle and the author of [[The Passion Translation]], which he asserts Jesus personally commissioned him to translate from the [[New Testament]] and the [[Hebrew Bible]] into new scripture in 2009. He added that he had been transported to meet Jesus in an immense library in Heaven. The translation has been endorsed by several NAR leaders such as [[Lou Engle]], [[Chuck Pierce]], and [[Ché Ahn]]. Holly Pivec, who has co-authored three books on the NAR, writes that many in the movement use it as their primary Bible.<ref name="auto1">{{cite web |title=This Week's Television Guest: Brian Simmons |url=https://sidroth.org/television/tv-archives/brian-simmons/ |website=[[Sid Roth's It's Supernatural!]] (at 15:16) |quote=Jesus Christ came into my room. He breathed on me ... and he spoke to me and said 'I'm commissioning you to translate the Bible into the translation project that I'm giving you to do'}}</ref><ref name="auto8">{{Cite book |last1=Geivett |first1=R. Douglas |title=God's Super Apostles: Encountering the Worldwide Prophets and Apostles Movement |last2=Pivec |first2=Holly |date=2014 |publisher=Lexham Press |pages=67}}</ref><ref name="auto7">{{cite web |last1=Pivec |first1=Holly |date=June 23, 2018 |title=Important facts about The Passion Translation |url=https://www.hollypivec.com/blog/2018/06/important-facts-about-the-passion-translation/7962 |website=Holly Pivec}}</ref><ref name="auto5">{{cite news |last1=Shellnutt |first1=Kate |date=February 9, 2022 |title=Bible Gateway Removes The Passion Translation |url=https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2022/february/passion-translation-tpt-bible-gateway-remove-charismatic-pa.html |work=[[Christianity Today]]}}</ref>

Pivec adds that Simmons is the sole author of the translation, and he has not disclosed the editors and scholars he says have reviewed his work. Pivec and her co-author, Geivett, assert the translation contains "completely reworded verses, making it appear that the Bible supports NAR teachings." Bible scholars say the Simmons book does not meet the rigorous standards of a translation but rather functions as a [[Biblical paraphrase|paraphrase]]. [[BibleGateway]], an evangelical Christian website providing access to 232 versions of the Christian Bible in 74 languages, removed The Passion Translation from its site in February 2022.<ref name="auto1"/><ref name="auto8"/><ref name="auto7"/><ref name="auto5"/>

== Associated people ==
Few, if any, organizations publicly espouse connection to the NAR, though there are numerous public individuals associated with it, including:<!-- In alphabetical order -->
* [[Ché Ahn]], Harvest International Ministries; an asserted NAR apostle<ref name="Hardy" />
* [[Mike Bickle (minister)|Mike Bickle]], founder of [[International House of Prayer]]<ref name="Salon" /> and member of the Apostolic Council of Prophetic Elders,<ref name="Clarkson-Gagne">{{Cite web |last1=Clarkson |first1=Frederick |author-link1=Frederick Clarkson |last2=Gagné |first2=André |author-link2=André Gagné |date=August 9, 2022 |title=New Apostolic Reformation Faces Profound Rift Due to Trump Prophecies and 'Spiritual Manipulation of the Prophetic Gift' |url=https://religiondispatches.org/new-apostolic-reformation-faces-profound-rift-due-to-trump-prophecies-and-spiritual-manipulation-of-the-prophetic-gift/ |access-date=October 27, 2024 |website=[[Religion Dispatches]]}}</ref> though he has stated he is not affiliated with Wagner or a dominionist<ref>{{Cite news |last=Zoll |first=Rachel |date=October 21, 2011 |title=Taking dominion: Election-year goals of Christian group questioned |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-and-democrat-taking-dominion/154879531/ |access-date=September 8, 2024 |work=[[The Times and Democrat]] |location=Orangeburg, South Carolina |pages=12 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |agency=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref>
* [[Lauren Boebert]], Republican congresswoman<ref name="Hardy" />
* [[Lou Engle]], founder of [[TheCall (organization)|TheCall]]<ref name="GrossNPR">{{cite news |last1=Gross |first1=Terry |date=August 11, 2011 |title=The Evangelicals Engaged In Spiritual Warfare (Interview of Rachel Tabachnick) |url=https://www.npr.org/transcripts/139781021 |work=Fresh Air |publisher=National Public Radio}}</ref>
* [[Michael Flynn]], Republican former Trump national security advisor, whose [[ReAwaken America Tour]] is sponsored by NAR proponent [[Charisma News]] and features NAR themes<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wehner |first1=Peter |date=October 25, 2022 |title=The Desecrations of Michael Flynn |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/10/michael-flynn-maga-christian-trump/671852/ |work=The Atlantic |quote=Since then, the "ReAwaken America" Tour has averaged more than a gathering a month. Charisma News, which is aimed at Pentecostals and charismatics, is a sponsor.}}</ref><ref name="Hardy" />
* [[Jim Garlow]], former senior pastor of [[Skyline Church]]<ref>{{cite news |last1=Coghill |first1=Arianna |title=Mike Johnson Has Ties to a Christian Movement That Played a Key Role in Spreading Trump's Big Lie |url=https://www.motherjones.com/mojo-wire/2023/11/mike-johnson-big-lie-trump-election-denial-new-apostolic-reformation/ |work=Mother Jones |date=November 15, 2023}}</ref>
* [[Faytene Grasseschi]], Canadian conservative activist and broadcaster<ref>{{Cite news |last=Poitras |first=Jacques |date=July 23, 2023 |title=Breakaway believers warn PC party of 'Dominionist' religious movement |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/dominionist-religious-movement-christian-conservatism-1.6916154 |work=CBC News}}</ref>
* [[James Goll]], prophet and member of the Apostolic Council of Prophetic Elders<ref name="Clarkson-Gagne" />
* [[Marjorie Taylor Greene]], Republican congresswoman<ref name="Hardy" />
* Rebecca Greenwood, member of Wagner's Global Harvest Ministries and spiritual warfare guide author{{Sfn|Holvast|2009|loc=Chapter 4}}
* [[Cindy Jacobs]], cofounder of Generals International, member of the Apostolic Council of Prophetic Elders, and influence on Wagner<ref name="GI">{{cite web |last= |first= |date= |title=About Mike and Cindy |url=https://www.generals.org/about-mike-and-cindy |access-date=February 17, 2024 |work=Generals International}}</ref><ref name="Clarkson-Gagne" />
* [[Bill Johnson (pastor)|Bill Johnson]], senior leader of [[Bethel Church (Redding, California)|Bethel Church]], has been called part of the movement;<ref name="Salon" /><ref name="GeivettPivec2014" /> he states, however, that the church has no official connection<ref name="CT" />
* [[Mike Johnson]], Republican [[Speaker of the US House of Representatives]]<ref name="DavisNPR" /><ref name="Olmstead" />
* [[Rick Joyner]], founder of [[Heritage International Ministries|MorningStar Ministries]]<ref name="Salon" /><ref name="GeivettPivec2014" />
* [[John P. Kelly (clergyman)|John P. Kelly]], founder and Convening Apostle of the International Coalition of Apostolic Leaders and founder of John P. Kelly Ministries{{Sfn|Gagné|2023|loc=Chapter 2}}<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Tabachnick |first=Rachel |date=March 22, 2013 |title=The Christian Right, Reborn |url=https://politicalresearch.org/2013/03/22/spiritual-warriors-with-an-antigay-mission |journal=[[Political Research Associates]]}}</ref>
* [[Charlie Kirk]], Republican leader of [[Turning Point USA]]<ref name="Hardy" />
* [[Mike Lindell]], pillow entrepreneur<ref name="Hardy" />
* [[Guillermo Maldonado (pastor)|Guillermo Maldonado]], co-founder and senior pastor of [[El Rey Jesús]] and apostle in the International Coalition of Apostolic Leaders<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Alter |first1=Alexandra |last2=Colon |first2=Yahnilet |date=August 5, 2006 |title=Evangelical empire on the rise |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-miami-herald-maldonado/152485181/ |access-date=September 8, 2024 |work=[[Miami Herald]] |pages=1E, 4E |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Shellnutt |first=Kate |date=January 3, 2020 |title=Influential Hispanic Pastor Welcomes 'Evangelicals for Trump' |url=https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2020/january/evangelicals-for-trump-pastor-guillermo-maldonado-miami.html |access-date=April 14, 2024 |website=[[Christianity Today]]}}</ref>
* [[Doug Mastriano]], 2022 Republican nominee for governor of Pennsylvania<ref name="Hardy" />
* Ana Méndez Ferrell, "general of spiritual warfare" under Wagner and leader of spiritual mapping operations<ref>{{Cite book |last=Méndez Ferrell |first=Ana |title=High Level Warfare: Safe from Counterattacks |publisher=Jordan River Publishing Company |isbn=978-1-939891-28-0 |edition=2nd}}</ref><ref name="MendezFerrell" />{{sfn|Holvast|2008|p=69}}
* [[Thomas Muthee]], Kenyan apostle<ref name="GrossNPR" />{{Sfn|Sears|2022|p=97}}
* [[Tom Parker (judge)|Tom Parker]], Republican chief justice of the [[Supreme Court of Alabama|Alabama Supreme Court]]<ref name="The Atlantic">{{cite news |last1=McCrummen |first1=Stephanie |date=March 5, 2024 |title=The Alabama Embryo Opinion Is About More Than Christian Nationalism |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/03/alabama-embryo-parker-new-apos/677642/ |work=The Atlantic}}</ref>
* Alice Patterson, leader of [[Justice at the Gate]], who has characterized the Democratic party as a demon structure<ref name="NPR" />
* [[Chuck Pierce]], member of the Apostolic Council of Prophetic Elders<ref name="Clarkson-Gagne" />
* [[Dutch Sheets]], founder of Dutch Sheets Ministries, asserted apostle, and member of the Apostolic Council of Prophetic Elders<ref name="DavisNPR" /><ref>{{cite news |last1=McCrummen |first1=Stephanie |date=June 20, 2023 |title=The Woman Who Bought a Mountain for God |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/06/christian-movement-new-apostolic-reformation-politics-trump/674320/ |quote=She soon began listening to an influential South Carolina apostle named Dutch Sheets, who had for years advocated an end to Church-state separation and co-authored something called the "Watchman Decree," a kind of pledge of allegiance that included the phrase "we, the Church, are God's governing Body on the earth."}}</ref><ref name="Clarkson-Gagne" />
* [[Ed Silvoso]], founder of Harvest Evangelism and member of Eagles Vision Apostolic Team<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Clarkson |first1=Frederick |last2=Gagné |first2=André |date=May 23, 2024 |title=A Reporter's Guide to the New Apostolic Reformation |url=https://religiondispatches.org/a-reporters-guide-to-the-new-apostolic-reformation/ |access-date=September 7, 2024 |website=[[Religion Dispatches]]}}</ref>
* Brian Simmons, founder of Stairway Ministries and Passion and Fire Ministries, author of [[The Passion Translation]]<ref name="GeivettPivec2014" />
* [[Roger Stone]], Republican political advisor<ref name="Hardy" />
* [[Jan-Aage Torp]], head of [[European Apostolic Leaders]], an organization founded by Wagner{{Sfn|Snow|2016|p=8}}
* [[C. Peter Wagner]], founder of [[Global Harvest Ministries]], who is associated with the term ''New Apostolic Reformation''<ref name="NPR">{{cite news |date=October 3, 2011 |title=A Leading Figure In The New Apostolic Reformation (Interview of C. Peter Wagner) |url=https://www.npr.org/2011/10/03/140946482/apostolic-leader-weighs-religions-role-in-politics |work=Fresh Air |publisher=National Public Radio}}</ref>
* [[Lance Wallnau]], an asserted apostle<ref name="Hardy" />
* [[Paula White]], an apostle and Senior Advisor to the [[White House Faith Office]] for Donald Trump <ref>{{cite news |last1=Clarkson |first1=Frederick |last2=Gagné |first2=André |date=May 23, 2024 |title=A Reporter's Guide to the New Apostolic Reformation |url=https://religiondispatches.org/a-reporters-guide-to-the-new-apostolic-reformation/ |work=[[Religion Dispatches]]}}</ref>
* [[Todd White (pastor)|Todd White]], Lifestyle Christianity<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://lifestylechristianity.com/about-us/|title=About Us|accessdate = 28 February 2024|website=lifestylechristianity.com|language=en-US}}</ref>
* Vance Boelter, perpetrator of the [[2025 shootings of Minnesota legislators]]<ref>{{cite news |last1=French |first1=David |title=The Problem of the Christian Assassin |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/19/opinion/minnesota-killings-boelter.html |access-date=19 June 2025 |agency=New York Times |date=19 June 2025}}</ref>

After being named as part of the NAR, and critics believing that Bethel Church was instrumental in leading some Christians to embrace tenets of NAR, Pastor Bill Johnson of Bethel became regularly listed as an NAR leader. Johnson confirmed that he does believe in the apostolic and prophetic ministries; he denied, however, in an official statement that his church had any official ties to the NAR.<ref name="CT">{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Martyn Wendell |date=2016-04-24 |title=Inside the Popular, Controversial Bethel Church |url=https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2016/may/cover-story-inside-popular-controversial-bethel-church.html |access-date=2024-03-02 |website=[[Christianity Today]]}}</ref> Johnson and NAR apostle Lance Wallnau co-wrote the 2013 book ''Invading Babylon: The 7 Mountain Mandate''.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ting |first1=Eric |title=How a miracle-obsessed megachurch conquered a California city |url=https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/how-bethel-megachurch-conquered-redding-18170873.php |publisher=SFGate |date=June 28, 2023}}</ref>

When Rick Joyner of MorningStar Ministries was listed,{{Where|date=September 2024}} he announced that "there will likewise be a horde of false apostles released", continuing: "Our team received two very specific dreams warning about false 'apostolic movements' that were built more on organization than relationship. The dreams indicated that these were trying to bring forth apostles that were really more like corporate CEOs, and the movement that they led had the potential to do great damage to the church. The enemy's intent with this false apostolic movement was to have the church develop a deep revulsion to anything that was called apostolic."<ref>{{cite web |last=Joyner |first=Rick |date=8 June 2017 |title=Prophetic Bulletin #30: Revolution |url=https://www.morningstarministries.org/resources/prophetic-bulletins/2000/revolution#.WWmOqITytEY |website=[[MorningStar Ministries]]}}</ref>

== Associated networks, organizations and events ==
Though the NAR movement is loosely constituted of networks of congregations, apostles, and prophets, there are a number of NAR apostle and prophet-related organizations – started by Wagner and later taken over by others – with varying degrees of overlap.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=O'Reggio |first=Trevor |date=January 2012 |title=The Rise of the New Apostolic Reformation and its Implication for Adventist Eschatology |url=https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/church-history-pubs/25/?utm_source=digitalcommons.andrews.edu/church-history-pubs/25&utm_medium=PDF&utm_campaign=PDFCoverPages |journal=[[Journal of the Adventist Theological Society]] |series=Faculty Publications |issue=Paper 25 |pages=131–160 |via=[[Andrews University]]}}</ref>{{Sfn|Taylor|2024|loc=Chapter 2}}{{Sfn|Gagné|2023|loc=Chapter 2}}

* Apostolic Council for Educational Accountability (ACEA)
* [[Apostolic Council of Prophetic Elders]] (ACPE), an organization founded by Wagner and Cindy Jacobs, for the most prominent American prophets
* [[Eagles' Vision Apostolic Team]] (EVAT), named the "most important" of Wagner's organizations,{{Sfn|Taylor|2024|loc=Chapter 2}} the group consists of 25 of his closest disciples and "spiritual children"
* European Apostolic Leaders (EAL)
* [[Global Harvest Ministries]]
* Heartland Apostolic Network (HAN)
* International Association of Healing Ministries (IAHR)
* [[International Coalition of Apostolic Leaders]] (ICA), a network of apostles; it was founded in 1999 by apostle [[John P. Kelly (clergyman)|John P. Kelly]] and has 2000 members in over 85 countries{{Sfn|Gagné|2023|loc=Chapter 2}}
* International Society of Deliverance Ministries (ISDM)
* One Voice Prayer Movement
* Strategic Prayer Network<ref>{{Cite book |last=Holvast |first=René |url=https://brill.com/view/title/15299 |title=Spiritual Mapping in the United States and Argentina, 1989-2005: A Geography of Fear |date=2009 |publisher=[[BRILL]] |isbn=9789047443551 |chapter=Chapter 4 |doi=10.1163/ej.9789004170469.i-370.38}}</ref>
* [[Wagner Leadership Institute]] (WLI), a seminary for apostles, with dozens of campuses worldwide
In 2021, NAR leaders played a key part in heading the newly founded [[Michael Flynn]] [[ReAwaken America Tour]], which was initially a [[COVID-19 protests in the United States|protest against COVID-19 restrictions]]. The events have become what has been described as "a rolling [[Chautauqua]]-style celebration of the spiritual side of [[Trumpism]]."<ref name="TheNation" />

[[NPR]] likewise characterizes it as "part conservative Christian revival, part [[QAnon]] expo and part political rally." [[Anthea Butler]], chair of the [[University of Pennsylvania]] religious studies department, asserts the prophecies and charismatic preaching at ReAwaken events can be traced to NAR. Themes of spiritual warfare and accompanying territorial spirits are prominent. "Darkly messianic religious speakers" speak at the events, with one warning, "Do not be surprised if the Angel of Death shows up in Washington", and others referring to "[[Territorial spirit|demonic territory]] that's over the land".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Brennan |first=Deborah Sullivan |date=March 12, 2022 |title=Eric Trump, Flynn and other right-wing figures headline conference at San Marcos church |url=https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2022/03/12/eric-trump-flynn-and-other-right-wing-figures-headline-conference-at-san-marcos-church/ |access-date=September 14, 2024 |website=[[San Diego Union-Tribune]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Lemon |first=Jason |date=May 14, 2022 |title=Trump allies warn of 'demonic territory,' 'Satanic portal' over Biden WH |url=https://www.newsweek.com/trump-allies-warn-demonic-territory-satanic-portal-over-biden-wh-1706705 |access-date=May 17, 2022 |website=[[Newsweek]]}}</ref>

Flynn, a former Army lieutenant general and Trump national security advisor, said at a November 2021 event that "If we are going to have one nation under God, which we must, we have to have one religion. One nation under God and one religion under God, right?" At one event, Trump confidant [[Roger Stone]] asserted there is a visible "satanic portal" over the Biden White House that must be closed by prayer. At another event, self-declared prophet Julie Green claimed God had spoken to her that "These are the days for you to control the governments of this earth. God said he can take this country back in unconventional ways. He doesn't need an election to do it."<ref name="National Public Radio">{{cite news |last1=Hagen |first1=Lisa |date=November 3, 2022 |title=The ReAwaken America Tour unites conservative Christians and conspiracy theorists |url=https://www.npr.org/2022/11/02/1133477897/reawaken-america-brings-together-some-of-the-u-s-most-prolific-conspiracy-theori |publisher=National Public Radio}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Stone |first1=Peter |date=June 14, 2022 |title=Roger Stone and Michael Flynn under fire over rallies 'distorting Christianity' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jun/14/roger-stone-michael-flynn-distorting-christianity-reawaken-america |work=The Guardian}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Thompson |first1=Sophie |date=April 27, 2023 |title=Maga 'prophet' predicts Bill and Hillary Clinton are about to be 'charged with treason' |url=https://www.indy100.com/politics/maga-prophet-julie-green-clintons |publisher=[[Indy100]]}}</ref>

In late September 2024, senator [[JD Vance]], the Republican nominee for vice president on the Donald Trump [[2024 United States presidential election]] ticket, spoke at a [[Monroeville, Pennsylvania|western Pennsylvania]] town hall event organized by top Christian nationalist leaders who promote [[Election denial movement in the United States|election denialism]]. The organizers characterize Democratic presidential candidate [[Kamala Harris]] as a "demon." The event was hosted by Lance Wallnau, who had previously characterized Harris as representing the "[[spirit of Jezebel]]" and employing "witchcraft" during her debate with Trump weeks earlier.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kornfield |first1=Meryl |last2=Allam |first2=Hannah |title=Vance appears at event hosted by hard-right Christian nationalist |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2024/09/28/jd-vance-christian-nationalism-lance-wallnau/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=September 28, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Dias |first1=Elizabeth |last2=Cameron |first2=Chris |title=Vance Appears at Event of Evangelical Leader Who Spoke of Harris's 'Witchcraft' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/28/us/politics/vance-lance-wallnau-witchcraft.html |work=The New York Times |date=September 28, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Bennett |first1=Geoff |title=The significance of Vance's appearance at event hosted by far-right Christian nationalist |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/the-significance-of-vances-appearance-at-event-hosted-by-far-right-christian-nationalist |work=[[PBS News Hour]] |date=September 30, 2024}}</ref> Campaigning for Trump in October 2024, [[Elon Musk]] held a town hall meeting at a [[Harrisburg, Pennsylvania]] megachurch that in recent years had hosted an array of Christian nationalist leaders, many with ties to NAR.<ref>{{cite news |last1=DeJesus |first1=Ivey |title=Church with ties to Christian nationalism is hosting Elon Musk's town hall in Harrisburg |url=https://www.pennlive.com/news/2024/10/a-christian-nationalist-church-is-hosting-elon-musks-town-hall-in-harrisburg.html |work=[[The Patriot-News]] |date=October 19, 2024}}</ref>

== NAR-associated media ==
[[GOD TV]], an NAR-associated network, was founded in the mid-1990s and broadcasts in over 200 countries. It broadcast the 2008 [[Lakeland Revival]] nightly and aired evangelist and faith healer [[Todd Bentley]]'s apostolic alignment ceremony by Wagner and NAR apostles.<ref name="Woodfield-2017" />{{Sfn|Taylor|2024|loc=Chapter 2}} (André Gagné defines ''apostolic alignment'' as "an appeal for other responsible Christians to recognize the authority of the apostle and place themselves under his 'cover' – a term implying protection and accountability.")

In 2022, the Victory Channel, owned by [[prosperity gospel]] televangelist [[Kenneth Copeland]], launched the program ''FlashPoint'', hosted by Gene Bailey, a pastor at Copeland's [[Eagle Mountain International Church|Texas church]]. The NAR-aligned program has the appearance of a cable news show, though reporting is delivered by prophets. The program reaches approximately 11,000 households through cable television. Bailey's website asserts the show's programming is delivered "under the anointing," meaning that its hosts and guests speak for God.<ref name="auto4">{{cite news |last1=Rabey |first1=Steve |title=With FlashPoint Live, roster of Pentecostal 'prophets' hits the road for Trump |url=https://religionnews.com/2024/02/02/with-flashpoint-live-familiar-roster-of-pentecostal-preachers-hits-the-road-for-trump/ |publisher=[[Religion News Service]] |date=February 2, 2024}}</ref><ref name="auto6">{{Cite web |last=Hixenbaugh |first=Mike |date=May 3, 2024 |title=Inside the Christian TV show rallying Trump superfans with apocalyptic warnings |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/flashpoint-trump-republican-christian-tv-show-rcna150303 |access-date=September 27, 2024 |website=[[NBC News]]}}</ref><ref name="auto3">{{cite news |last1=McCrummen |first1=Stephanie |title=The Woman Who Bought a Mountain for God |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/06/christian-movement-new-apostolic-reformation-politics-trump/674320/ |date=June 20, 2023|work=The Atlantic}}</ref><ref name="auto2">{{cite news |last1=Armstrong |first1=Payton |title=Ahead of 2024, Republican politicians are appearing on the Victory Channel's FlashPoint, a show helmed by Christian nationalist 'prophets' who warn of 'demonic influence' |url=https://www.mediamatters.org/victory-channel/ahead-2024-republican-politicians-are-appearing-victory-channels-flashpoint-show |publisher=Media Matters |date=July 17, 2023}}</ref><ref name="TheNation" />

Pentecostal preachers constitute its primary guests, notably Lance Wallnau and Omaha pastor Hank Kunneman. Donald Trump has appeared on the program six times; other guests have included Michael Flynn, Charlie Kirk, [[Jeanine Pirro]], Steve Bannon, [[Glenn Beck]] and [[Libs of TikTok|Chaya Raichik]]. ''FlashPoint'' told viewers that criminal indictments against Trump were "against the purposes of God" and represented a "battle between good versus evil." Bailey has said, "We do have an agenda, and that is I am a [[Christofascism|Christo-fascist]], Christian nationalist."<ref name="auto4"/><ref name="auto6"/><ref name="auto3"/><ref name="auto2"/><ref name="TheNation"/>

[[Media Matters]] reported that at an August 2022 ''FlashPoint Live'' event, Dutch Sheets led Bailey, Wallnau and Kunneman in reciting the Watchman Decree with a live audience, declaring that "we have been given legal power and authority from Heaven" and "delegated by Him to destroy every attempted advance of the enemy." The show launched a seven-stop ''FlashPoint Live'' roadshow in support of Trump in February 2024.<ref name="auto4"/><ref name="auto6"/><ref name="auto3"/><ref name="auto2"/><ref name="TheNation">{{cite news |last1=Lehmann |first1=Chris |date=April 15, 2024 |title=The Trump Revival |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/society/trump-evangelicals-nar/ |access-date=April 19, 2024 |work=[[The Nation]]}}</ref>

[[Great American Pure Flix|Pure Flix]], a Christian streaming service, is listed by the International Coalition of Apostolic Leaders' as one of their strategic partnerships.{{Sfn|Gagné|2023|loc=Chapter 2}}

== Coverage, controversy, and critique ==
Christian writers and organizations have commented on the movement over the past several decades. In 2001, the [[German Evangelical Alliance]] released a statement denouncing the spiritual warfare trip of C. Peter Wagner and Global Harvest Ministries to engage the "Queen of Heaven" territorial spirit in battle, stating that while they encouraged prayer, the movement's methods were "unbiblical".<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 4, 2001 |title=Deutsche Evangelische Allianz steht kritisch zur Gebetsinitiative gegen die 'Königin des Himmels': Gegen territoriale Kampfführung im Gebet |url=https://www.ead.de/nachrichten-ead/2001/september/04092001-deutsche-evangelische-allianz-steht-kritisch-zur-gebetsinitiative-gegen-die-koenigin-des-himmels/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190719084644/https://www.ead.de/nachrichten-ead/2001/september/04092001-deutsche-evangelische-allianz-steht-kritisch-zur-gebetsinitiative-gegen-die-koenigin-des-himmels/ |archive-date=July 19, 2019 |access-date=October 6, 2024 |website=[[German Evangelical Alliance]] |language=de}}</ref>

In 2008, the NAR first drew national attention in the United States in the midst of Alaskan governor [[Sarah Palin]]'s [[Vice presidential candidacy of Sarah Palin|vice presidential campaign]],{{sfn|Snow|2016|p=2}} when a 2005 video surfaced of her being prayed for at Wasilla Assemblies of God church by Kenyan NAR apostle [[Thomas Muthee]]. Anthea Butler notes that "by praying for favor and for the use of her to turn the nation around, Muthee, like many in Wagner's leadership, understood that she was trying to get to a mountain of power. The prayer format asking for righteousness in the state and nation means that Palin is the person who can bring it, who has been anointed by God for that task. Muthee's prayer is an interesting artifact in understanding how Palin considered her 'destiny'; that she has been set apart, called by God." Including a request for protection from witchcraft – "alien to contemporary American culture"<ref name="Maggi">{{Cite journal |last=Maggi |first=Armando |date=Winter 2014 |title=Christian Demonology in Contemporary American Popular Culture |journal=[[Social Research]] |volume=81 |issue=4 |pages=769–770 |doi=10.1353/sor.2014.0054 }}</ref> – the event was covered in the media.

One scholar noted the video "seemed to reveal a well-kept secret: a prominent politician running for vice-president of the United States secretly fighting a hidden war against the Evil One in the here and now of American civilization."<ref name="Maggi" /> Wagner expressed concern that negative coverage of Palin's ties to the NAR may have led to the campaign's loss.{{Sfn|Sears|2022|p=97}}<ref name="Butler2012">{{Cite journal |last=Butler |first=Anthea |author-link=Anthea Butler |date=2012-09-12 |title=From Republican Party to Republican Religion: The New Political Evangelists of the Right |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1558/poth.v13i5.634 |journal=Political Theology |volume=13 |issue=5 |pages=642 |doi=10.1558/poth.v13i5.634 |issn=1462-317X|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

In 2011, discussion about the political influence of the NAR was again brought to a national audience.{{sfn|Snow|2016|p=2}} [[Lou Engle]] and [[Don Finto]], who are considered to be leaders within the NAR, participated in a prayer event held by Engle's [[TheCall (organization)|TheCall]] called "TheResponse", hosted by former Texas governor [[Rick Perry]], on August 6, 2011, in Houston, Texas. This event is cited as a sign of the influence of NAR beliefs on Rick Perry's political viewpoints. It was covered by [[National Public Radio]] and other media outlets.<ref name="wilder" /><ref>{{cite web |last=Posner |first=Sarah |author-link=Sarah Posner |date=15 Jul 2011 |title=Rick Perry and the New Apostolic Reformation |url=http://www.religiondispatches.org/dispatches/sarahposner/4874/rick_perry_and_the_new_apostolic_reformation/ |accessdate=2013-03-01 |publisher=[[Religion Dispatches]]}}</ref>{{Sfn|Sears|2022|p=97}}

In 2011, Forrest Wilder, senior editor for the ''[[Texas Observer]]'', described the New Apostolic Reformation as having "taken [[Pentecostalism]], with its emphasis on ecstatic worship and the supernatural, and given it an adrenaline shot." Wilder adds that beliefs of people associated with the movement "can tend toward the bizarre" and that it has "taken [[biblical literalism]] to an extreme."<ref name="wilder" />

Later TheCall events in 2011, including a Detroit rally, were covered in the media. NAR "calls to 'take back the land' of Muslim Americans" by engaging in spiritual warfare prayer over mosques, described as "like sending our special forces into Afghanistan", drew concern. An apostle stated the event was "not divisive at all" and that they were "praying for God to move in Detroit ... so that we can all be one". The event's goal was to get African Americans to convert local Muslims, who would then convert others in the Middle East. Baptist, Methodist, and Catholic clergy protested the event.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Warikoo |first=Niraj |date=November 10, 2011 |title=Prayer rally gets response: Metro Detroit clergy warn against TheCall |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/detroit-free-press-prayer-rally-gets-res/154879961/ |access-date=September 8, 2024 |work=[[Detroit Free Press]] |pages=A7 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Warikoo |first=Niraj |date=November 12, 2011 |title=Sides of faith collide: Ford Field prayer event's message focuses on hate, demonstrators say |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/detroit-free-press-sides-of-faith-collid/154880054/ |access-date=September 8, 2024 |work=[[Detroit Free Press]] |pages=3 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

In 2012, during [[Newt Gingrich 2012 presidential campaign|Newt Gingrich's presidential campaign]], his connections to NAR apostles were covered in the media. This included Pray & ACT events sponsored by his organization Renewing American Leadership, which featured NAR apostles Lance Wallnau and Lou Engle and which included Seven Mountains exhortations. Dutch Sheets served as co-chair of Gingrich's Faith Leaders Coalition that year.<ref name="Blake">{{Cite news |last=Blake |first=Mariah |date=February 28, 2012 |title=Newt's Last Prayer: Christian Dominionists Go Gingrich |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/newts-last-prayer-christian-dominionists-go-gingrich/ |access-date=September 7, 2024 |work=[[The Nation]] |issn=0027-8378}}</ref>

In 2012, sociologist [[Margaret Poloma]] described the NAR's spiritual warfare rhetoric: "The way some of the leaders talk, you'd think they were an army planning to take over the world...It sounds to me like radical Islam."<ref name="Blake" /> In 2013, Paul Rosenberg called the NAR "America's Own Taliban" in an article highlighting the NAR's [[dominionism]] as bearing resemblance to [[Islamic extremism]] as seen in groups such as the [[Taliban]] because of the NAR's language concerning a form of prayer called spiritual warfare.<ref>{{cite news |last=Rosenberg |first=Paul |date=28 July 2011 |title=America's Own Taliban |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2011/07/20117259426336524.html |accessdate=19 July 2013 |newspaper=Al Jazeera}}</ref>

As many churches and individuals in the movement do not follow the three [[ecumenical creeds]], they are seen{{By whom|date=April 2025}} as having moved away from mainstream Christianity. [[Baptist]] theologian Dr. [[Roger E. Olson]] writes:

{{Blockquote|...the closer I looked at the NARM [New Apostolic Reformation movement] the less convinced I was that it is a cohesive movement at all. It seems more like a kind of umbrella term for a loose collection of independent ministries that have a few common interests...&nbsp;I have examined the web sites of several independent evangelists who claim to represent that affinity...&nbsp;So far none of them seem blatantly heretical. Eccentric, non-mainline, a bit fanatical, maybe.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Olson |first=Roger E. |author-link=Roger E. Olson |date=25 June 2015 |title=Is the 'New Apostolic Reformation Movement' a Cult? |url=http://www.patheos.com/blogs/rogereolson/2015/06/is-the-new-apostolic-reformation-movement-a-cult/ |accessdate=22 August 2018 |website=[[Patheos]]}}</ref>}}

In 2017, David Woodfield's thesis on the NAR noted that "Whilst being of little relevance, or even interest, to a British constituency, the linking up of well-known American political figures with leading NAR personalities and national events is of significant import in the USA, a factor which has become noticeably evident during the recent (2012 and 2016) presidential elections."<ref name="Woodfield-2017" />

In 2020, Canadian magazine ''[[The Walrus]]'' covered the NAR, particularly the NAR's focus on and impact on indigenous communities by identifying native lands – through spiritual mapping – as spiritual warfare targets.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Barde |first=Joel |date=2017-10-23 |title=Inside the Controversial US Evangelical Movement Targeting Indigenous People |url=https://thewalrus.ca/inside-the-controversial-us-evangelical-movement-targeting-canadas-indigenous-people/ |access-date=2024-10-12 |website=[[The Walrus]]}}</ref>

In 2022, Matthew D. Taylor, a scholar of Protestantism at the Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies, released an audio documentary on the movement's connection to the [[January 6 United States Capitol attack]], entitled ''Charismatic Revival Fury''.<ref name="Hofstaedter">{{Cite web |last=Hofstaedter |first=Emily |date=September–October 2023 |title=She's a Prophet. She's a Theocrat. She's the Most Powerful Lobbyist You've Never Heard Of. |url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/08/abby-abildness-lobbyist/ |access-date=April 14, 2024 |website=[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]]}}</ref> Taylor asserts that NAR is "the backbone ... of Christian [[Trumpism]]." He argues it was "seen as fringy, was seen as the realm of hucksters, seen as kind of low-brow and populist and extremist" before Trump recruited it in 2016 to rally evangelical support for his campaign. Taylor asserts NAR is difficult to track due to its intentional anti-institutional, decentralized [[Mesh networking|"mesh network"]] of influencers on the internet.<ref name="auto">{{cite news |last1=Ward |first1=Jon |date=February 16, 2023 |title=Radical beliefs in 'spiritual warfare' played a major role in Jan. 6, an expert argues |url=https://news.yahoo.com/radical-beliefs-in-spiritual-warfare-played-a-major-role-in-jan-6-an-expert-argues-100039606.html |publisher=Yahoo! News}}</ref><ref name="auto9">{{Cite web |last1=Taylor |first1=Matthew D. |last2=Onishi |first2=Bradley |date=January 6, 2023 |title=Evidence Strongly Suggests Trump Was Collaborating with Christian Nationalist Leaders Before January 6th |url=https://religiondispatches.org/evidence-strongly-suggests-trump-was-collaborating-with-christian-nationalist-leaders-before-january-6th/ |access-date=April 14, 2024 |website=[[Religion Dispatches]]}}</ref><ref name="Hofstaedter" />

Taylor said radicalized NAR spiritual warfare adherents believe entire cities and institutions are possessed by demonic spirits ([[territorial spirit]]s) that can be defeated only by the presence of large numbers of Christians. In the weeks preceding the January 6 attack, self-proclaimed NAR apostles such as Dutch Sheets told followers they needed to be at the Capitol to ensure Trump would remain president. Sheets met with Trump administration officials at the White House days before the Capitol attack. Four of the six protest permits that day were issued to "NAR-affiliated charismatic church groups."<ref name="auto"/><ref name="auto9"/><ref name="Hofstaedter" /> Similarly, André Gagné states, "a lot of NAR people just embrace the [[Attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election|Big Lie]]" based on messages from the movement's prophets.<ref name="Hofstaedter" />

In October 2022, over 60 Charismatic figures signed the NAR and Christian Nationalism Statement, denouncing Christian nationalism, racial and ethnic supremacy, the conflation of spirituality and patriotism, and other issues.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Duin |first=Julia |date=October 20, 2022 |title=Pentecostal leaders slam Christian nationalism, NAR beliefs |url=https://www.newsweek.com/pentecostal-leaders-disavow-christian-nationalism-stark-statement-1753287 |access-date=September 30, 2024 |website=[[Newsweek]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Brockman |first=David R. |date=June 3, 2024 |title=The New Apostolic Reformation Wants God's Government Back |url=https://www.texasobserver.org/new-apostolic-reformation-texas-leaders/ |access-date=September 30, 2024 |website=[[The Texas Observer]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=NAR & Christian Nationalism Statement – The controversy surrounding the terms 'New Apostolic Reformation' (NAR) & 'Christian Nationalism' |url=https://narandchristiannationalism.com/ |access-date=September 30, 2024 |website=NAR and Christian Nationalism Statement}}</ref>

Lance Wallnau's prophetic rhetoric has been described as having "nationalist", "[[anti-democratic]]", and "[[Fascism|fascist]]" traits by scholar Arne Helge Teigen.{{sfn|Teigen|2020|pp=301–305}} A 2022 joint report from the [[Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty]] and the [[Freedom From Religion Foundation]] on the role of Christian nationalism in the Capitol attack argues that Wallnau's "warfare rhetoric" is linked to [[stochastic terrorism]].<ref name="BJCFRFF">{{Cite report |url=https://bjconline.org/jan6report/ |title=Christian Nationalism and the January 6, 2021 Insurrection |last=Seidel |first=Andrew L. |date=February 9, 2022 |publisher=[[Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty]], [[Freedom From Religion Foundation]] |pages=14–15 |access-date=August 9, 2024 |format=PDF}}</ref>

In February 2024, ''[[Politico]]'' reported that [[Russell Vought]], a leader of [[Project 2025]]—a group closely aligned with Trump that created an expansive blueprint for the next Republican presidency—was spearheading plans to instill Christian nationalism into that presidency.<ref name="Politico">{{cite news |last1=Ward |first1=Alexander |last2=Przybyla |first2=Heidi |date=February 20, 2024 |title=Trump allies prepare to infuse 'Christian nationalism' in second administration |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2024/02/20/donald-trump-allies-christian-nationalism-00142086 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240224064541/https://www.politico.com/news/2024/02/20/donald-trump-allies-christian-nationalism-00142086 |archive-date=February 24, 2024 |access-date=February 24, 2024 |work=[[Politico]]}}</ref> One of the story authors, Heidi Przybyla, later said in a television interview, in part:

<blockquote>Remember when Trump ran in 2016, a lot of the mainline Evangelicals wanted nothing to do with the divorced real estate mogul who had cheated on his wife with a porn star and all of that, right? So what happened was he was surrounded by this more extremist element. You're going [to] hear words like 'Christian nationalism,' like the 'New Apostolic Reformation.' These are groups that you should get very, very schooled on because they have a lot of power in Trump's circle.</blockquote>

Vought and several others criticized Przybyla on [[X (Twitter)|X]] for her televised remarks, which she said they had misunderstood.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Brown |first1=Jon |title=Believing in God-given rights indicates 'Christian nationalism,' Politico journalist says |url=https://www.christianpost.com/news/god-given-rights-are-christian-nationalist-heidi-przybyla-says.html |work=The Christian Post |date=February 23, 2024}}</ref>

[[Dartmouth College]] professor [[Jeff Sharlet (writer)|Jeff Sharlet]] is the author of the 2023 book ''[[The Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War]]''. After years traveling to meet with Trump supporters, he writes that his initial "objections to describing militant Trumpism as fascist have fallen away."<ref>{{cite news |last1=O’Neill |first1=Joseph |title=One Man's Foray Into the Heartland of the Far Right |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/21/books/review/the-undertow-jeff-sharlet.html |work=The New York Times |date=March 21, 2023}}</ref> He asserts Project 2025 is influenced by NAR. Sharlet contends that the Project's first mandate to 'restore the family as the centerpiece of American life and protect our children' "is [[QAnon|Q]]-coded—it's 'protect the blood,' it's the [[Fourteen Words|14 words]], it's all this stuff."<ref name="TheNation" />

In March 2024, writing in ''[[The Atlantic]]'', [[Stephanie McCrummen]] reported that [[Frederick Clarkson]], who has studied the Christian right for decades, "considers the NAR to be one of the most important shifts in Christianity in modern times." Clarkson said "Christian nationalism is a handy term, but it is a box into which NAR does not quite fit” because the movement is "so much bigger than that." McCrummen wrote:

<blockquote>This [NAR] language, which can be mystifying to those not steeped in it, is commonly categorized as fundamentalism or Christian nationalism. But those terms do not adequately capture the scope and ambitions of the rapidly growing charismatic Christian movement with which [Tom Parker] has publicly associated himself—a world of megachurches, modern-day apostles and prophets, media empires, worship bands, and millions of followers that is becoming the most aggressive faction of the Christian right and the leading edge of charismatic Christianity worldwide.<ref name="The Atlantic"/></blockquote>

Conservative Christians have critiqued the movement for its unorthodox beliefs.{{Sfn|Snow|2016|p=17}} Holly Pivec, co-author with Biola University theology professor Douglas Geivett of ''Counterfeit Kingdom: The Dangers of New Revelation, New Prophets, and New Age Practices in the Church'', says many Pentecostals and Charismatics are concerned that the NAR movement is inconsistent with historical Christian teachings. She asserts, "They're not just promoting the miraculous gifts, they're actually promoting the offices of apostle and prophet—these authoritative offices that all others are supposed to submit to." Pivec asserts some modern Christian churches "promote novel teachings and practices that do not have the support of Scripture" and that "NAR teachings and practices have divided families, split churches, stunted the spiritual growth of believers, and left countless Christians disillusioned by promises of healing and miraculous power that haven't panned out."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Alcindor |first1=Nicole |title=What is the New Apostolic Reformation and is it 'dangerous'? |url=https://www.christianpost.com/news/what-is-the-new-apostolic-reformation-and-is-it-dangerous.html |website=The Christian Post |date=30 December 2022 |publisher=The Christian Post, INC. |access-date=10 December 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Pivec |first1=Holly |url=https://www.hollypivec.com/about|title=Holly Pivec}}</ref>

In 2023, [[Marvin Olasky]], former longtime editor of the evangelical magazine ''[[World (magazine)|World]]'', said that [[American evangelicalism]] is fracturing in real time, between a faction that embraces [[Pluralism (political theory)|pluralism]], other faiths and democracy, and one that advocates governance by strict biblical law "by any means necessary." He added, "I have to say that compassionate conservatism is out of business these days, and in a sense, cruel conservatism is ascendant." NPR reported the "any means necessary" faction has a direct line to House Speaker Mike Johnson due to his close ties to NAR leaders such as Jim Garlow.<ref name="DavisNPR" />

The movement has been compared by multiple scholars to extremist conspiracy groups. Scholar Steve Snow argues that the "NAR represents what [[Richard Hofstadter]] referred to as the modern [[The Paranoid Style in American Politics|paranoid style in American politics]]" characterized by the [[John Birch Society]] (JBS). The NAR – similarly to the JBS's labeling of president [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] as a communist agent – has stated president [[Barack Obama]] is a "treasonous Muslim".{{Sfn|Snow|2016|pp=4, 6}} Likewise, Anthea Butler says the messaging at ReAwaken America events of [[Election denial movement in the United States|election denialism]], [[Vaccine misinformation|vaccine conspiracy theories]] and anti-government sentiment has been largely embraced by the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]].<ref name="National Public Radio" />

Butler and Matthew D. Taylor find that the NAR movement garners little attention in the press, noting its violent rhetoric. Butler states, "All the talk you hear about demonic stuff, about violent stuff—people should take that very seriously."<ref name="TheNation" /> Snow contends that there is significant overlap between these extremist and more mainstream groups, stating that the primary difference between the conspiracy theories believed by groups such as the [[Christian Coalition of America|Christian Coalition]] and the [[Moral Majority]] and those of is that extremists "take the violent rhetoric more seriously".{{Sfn|Snow|2016|p=4}}

Michael Flynn has told ReAwaken America attendees that they are engaged in a political and spiritual war. Mark Clatterbuck, associate professor of religion at [[Montclair State University]], described an October 2022 ReAwaken event he attended as a [[Make America Great Again|MAGA]]-driven "seething groundswell of spiritually sanctioned incitement to violence that was impossible to ignore." He wrote the event was "saturated" with war imagery, as well as preachers engaged in violent religious rhetoric. Clatterbuck added that leaders aligned with NAR are "driven by a prophetic certainty that God is commanding them to establish a militant Christian [[theocracy]] in the United States."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Smith |first1=Michelle R. |last2=Lardner |first2=Richard |date=October 7, 2022 |title=Michael Flynn's ReAwaken roadshow recruits 'Army of God' |url=https://apnews.com/article/reawaken-america-tour-michael-flynn-910e83b515185751be82868b227ca22e |access-date=April 20, 2024 |publisher=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Clatterbuck |first1=Mark |date=November 14, 2022 |title=From Shofars to Hammers: the Spiritual Warriors of MAGA are 'reawakening' to Political Violence |url=https://religiondispatches.org/from-shofars-to-hammers-the-spiritual-warriors-of-maga-are-reawakening-to-political-violence/ |work=[[Religion Dispatches]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Full-Time Faculty - Mark Clatterbuck |url=https://www.montclair.edu/religion/faculty-and-staff/#:~:text=Mark%20Clatterbuck%2C%20associate%20professor%2C%20received,of%20religion%20and%20environmental%20justice. |access-date=April 20, 2024 |website=[[Montclair State University]] |publisher=}}</ref>

In June 2024, the Southern Poverty Law Center characterized NAR as "the greatest threat to American democracy that most people have never heard of."<ref name="SPLC">{{cite news |title=SPLC Releases Annual Year in Hate & Extremism Report, Decodes the Far-Right's Plan to Undo Democracy |url=https://www.splcenter.org/presscenter/splc-releases-annual-year-hate-extremism-report-decodes-far-rights-plan-undo-democracy |publisher=[[Southern Poverty Law Center]] |date=June 4, 2024}}</ref> Researcher Bruce Wilson asserts he has identified well-funded programs designed "to obscure, to confuse and confound reporters and journalists and academics who are writing about and discussing dominionist Christianity." André Gagné argues that NAR's "strength is that they're stealth" and that the media "has a very important role to play in speaking about this movement and how it will use the levers of democracy to eventually subvert democracy."<ref name="Salon" />

In 2008, one scholar, noting the prevalence of Wagner's spiritual warfare teachings in Singapore, describes the belief's potential for divisiveness in a multicultural society where the deities of neighboring non-Christians are seen as "cultural ethnic demons".<ref name="DeBernardi" />

Matthew D. Taylor wrote in 2024 that the language of spiritual warfare incites real-world violence against those labeled as possessed by demons and worries that rhetoric threatens democracy since one cannot negotiate with demons in good faith.{{sfn|Taylor|2024|loc=Chapter 3}} He calls it a form of “Toxic Christianity” with a propensity to dehumanize others.{{sfn|Taylor|2024|loc=Chapter 7}}

== In media ==
NAR beliefs have been part of evangelical, and particularly charismatic Christian, media. By the mid-to-late 1980s, Christian author [[Frank Peretti]]'s novels featuring spiritual battles, territorial spirits, and [[Christian demonology|demonology]] – seen as spiritual reality portrayed in fictional settings – found popularity among evangelicals; Wagner considered them the best depiction of real-world spiritual warfare.<ref name="Berry" />

Scholar Damon T. Berry argues that the "presence of imagined enemies [threatening] to destroy Christianity and America added to Trump's appeal" to evangelicals, issues NAR prophecies were believed to address.<ref name="Berry">{{Cite book |last=Berry |first=Damon T. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Lwm9EAAAQBAJ |title=The new apostolic reformation, Trump, and evangelical politics: the prophecy voter |date=2023 |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Academic]] |isbn=978-1-350-17943-1 |location=London; New York |pages=72 |oclc=on1346214068}}</ref> Mark Taylor's prophecies in his 2017 book ''[[The Trump Prophecy|The Trump Prophecies]]'' have been described by scholar Arne Helge Teigen as being aimed at NAR followers.{{Sfn|Teigen|2020|p=300}}

The 2006 documentary ''[[Jesus Camp]]'' depicts the life of young children attending Becky Fischer's neo-charismatic summer camp; though Fischer has sometimes been identified as Pentecostal, she is most closely associated with the NAR.{{Sfn|Weaver|2016|pp=95–96}}

==See also==
* [[Book of Revelation]]
* [[Christian fascism]]
* [[Christian reconstructionism]]
* [[Christian supremacy]]
* [[Prosperity theology]]
* [[Millenarianism]]
* [[Millennialism]]
* [[Prayer warrior]]
* [[Ziklag (organization)|Ziklag]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
* {{Cite thesis |last=Baker |first=Yvie Ruth |title=From Peter Wagner to Bill Johnson: The History and Epistemology of the 'New Apostolic Reformation' |date=2021 |access-date=April 19, 2024 |publisher=[[University of Otago]] |url=https://ourarchive.otago.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10523/12731/BakerYvieR2021PhD.pdf}}
* {{Cite book |last=Gagné |first=André |author-link=André Gagné |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781003358718 |title=American Evangelicals for Trump: Dominion, Spiritual Warfare, and the End Times |date=2023 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-003-35871-8 |location=London |translator-last=Shanahan |translator-first=Linda |doi=10.4324/9781003358718}}
* {{Cite thesis |last=Holvast |title=Spiritual Mapping: The Turbulent Career of a Contested American Missionary Paradigm, 1989–2005 |publisher=[[Utrecht University]] |url=https://dspace.library.uu.nl/bitstream/handle/1874/29340/holvast.pdf?sequence=2 |isbn=978-90-393-4829-1 |first=René |date=2008}}
* {{Cite thesis |last=Laitinen |first=Petri |title=Spiritual Gifts According to C. Peter Wagner |date=November 3, 2014 |access-date=April 20, 2024 |degree= |publisher=[[Åbo Akademi University]] |url=https://www.doria.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/100059/laitinen_petri.pdf}}
*{{Cite journal |last=Sears |first=Brian C. |date=Summer–Fall 2022 |title=Power, Prophecy, and Dominionism: The New Apostolic Reformation Goes to Washington |journal=[[Fides et Historia]] |volume=54 |issue=2}}
*{{Cite journal |last=Snow |first=Steve |date=2016 |title=Prophets, Demons, and Witch Hunts: American Spiritual Warfare as Scapegoat Ideology |journal=Journal of Religion & Society |volume=18 |hdl-access=free |hdl=10504/74593}}
*{{Cite book |last=Taylor |first=Matthew D. |title=The Violent Take it by Force: The Christian Movement That Is Threatening Our Democracy |date=October 1, 2024 |publisher=Broadleaf Books |isbn=9781506497785 |location=Minneapolis}}
*{{Cite journal |last=Teigen |first=Arne Helge |date=2020 |title=Profetiene om Donald Trump, USA og NAR-bevegelsen: En kritisk undersøkelse av profetier om Donald Trump, USA og Guds rike innen New Apostolic Reformation-bevegelsen |trans-title=Prophecies about Donald Trump, the USA and the NAR movement: A critical examination of prophecies about Donald Trump, the United States, and the Kingdom of God within the New Apostolic Reformation movement |url=https://theofilos.no/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Theofilos-vol-12-nr-2-3-2020-academia-6.pdf |journal=Theofilos |language=no |volume=12 |issue=2–3}}
*{{Cite book |last=Weaver |first=John |title=The New Apostolic Reformation: History of a Modern Charismatic Movement |date=2016 |publisher=McFarland & Company}}

==Further reading==
* Gagné, André (2024). ''American Evangelicals for Trump: Dominion, Spiritual Warfare, and the End Times''. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. {{ISBN|9781032415697}}
* Berry, Damon T. (2023). ''The New Apostolic Reformation, Trump, and Evangelical Politics: The Prophecy Voter''. London: Bloomsbury Academic. {{ISBN|9781350179448}}
* Weaver, John (2016). ''The New Apostolic Reformation: History of a Modern Charismatic Movement''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. {{ISBN|9780786499564}}
* Geivett, R. Douglas; Pivec, Holly (2014). ''A New Apostolic Reformation?: A Biblical Response to a Worldwide Movement''. Wooster: Weaver Book Company. {{ISBN|9781941337301}}
* Alley, John Kingsley (2002). ''The Apostolic Revelation: The Reformation of the Church''. Rockhampton, Qld.: Peace Publishing. {{ISBN|9780646418490}}
* Wagner, C. Peter (1999). ''Churchquake: The Explosive Dynamics of the New Apostolic Revolution''. Ventura, Calif.: Regal Books. {{ISBN|9780830719181}}
* Wagner, C. Peter (1998). ''The New Apostolic Churches''. Ventura, Calif.: Regal Books. {{ISBN|9780830721368}}

==External links==
* [https://www.icaleaders.com/ International Coalition of Apostolic Leaders] –&nbsp;organization of apostles founded by Wagner

[[Category:Charismatic and Pentecostal Christianity]]
[[Category:Pentecostalism in the United States]]
[[Category:Dominion theology]]
[[Category:Christian fascism]]
[[Category:Protestantism-related controversies]]
[[Category:Prophecy in Christianity]]
[[Category:Apostles]]
[[Category:Christian eschatology]]
[[Category:Religious controversies in the United States]]
[[Category:Neo-fascism in the United States]]
[[Category:Spiritual warfare]]
[[Category:Theocracy]]
[[Category:Christian nationalism in the United States]]
[[Category:Apostolic networks]]
[[Category:Christian theological movements]]