Which political or civic organizations have formal ties to leaders identified with the New Apostolic Reformation?
Executive summary
Reporting shows that the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) is a loosely organized network of charismatic leaders and ministries rather than a formal denomination, and few institutions openly declare NAR membership even as individual leaders maintain public, formal ties to political and civic bodies — most notably state and federal faith offices and organized political prayer events [1] [2] [3]. This analysis identifies the primary political or civic organizations with documented, formal connections to figures widely identified as NAR leaders, explains the character of those ties, and notes the limits of existing public records.
1. NAR leaders and state-level political prayer events: The Response and Rick Perry
Several apostles and prophetic leaders associated with the NAR helped organize or spoke at Rick Perry’s 2011 political prayer rally “The Response,” an explicitly political event hosted by then-Governor Perry, which media reporting linked to NAR organizers on stage and behind the scenes [1] [4]. Journalistic sources document that figures identified with the NAR served on leadership teams for the rally and made political and theological statements from the platform, establishing a formalized intersection between NAR leaders and a state political campaign event [4].
2. White House and federal faith offices: Paula White-Cain’s advisory role
At the federal level, at least one high-profile figure identified with NAR circles — Paula White-Cain — held a formal advisory role in a White House faith office, serving as a senior adviser to a White House Faith Office, a position that tied a leader associated with NAR-influenced networks into a formal civic institution [5] [6]. Reporting that ties NAR-associated “apostles” to the White House faith advisory apparatus underscores the movement’s access to formal federal civic structures, even as the wider movement lacks a single institutional headquarters [5].
3. Parachurch and educational institutions with NAR leadership links
A string of parachurch ministries and schools commonly associated with NAR leaders — including organizations and training institutions such as Global Harvest Ministries, International House of Prayer University, Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry, and Christ for the Nations Institute — function as civic-facing organizations that provide institutional platforms, training, accreditation, and networks used by NAR leaders to exert social influence; several of these entities are directly led or were founded by leaders who are publicly identified with the NAR [5] [6] [7]. Academic and religious press coverage characterizes these groups as part of the movement’s structural ecosystem even while noting the absence of a single, formalized NAR organization [3] [7].
4. Networks and coalitions that bridge religion and civic engagement: ICAL and national coalitions
Networks such as the International Coalition of Apostolic Leaders (ICAL) and other apostolic coalitions are named in reporting as coordinating structures for apostles and prophetic leaders; these networks operate transnationally and have been described as convening apostolic leaders for strategy and outreach that frequently intersects with civic and cultural spheres [8] [9]. Scholarly and trade reporting identifies these coalitions as part of the movement’s connective tissue that enables coordinated public activity, including civic engagement and attempts to place allies into institutional roles [2] [9].
5. Limits of the record and how to interpret “formal ties”
Careful reading of the sources makes clear that the NAR is intentionally decentralized and that “formal ties” most often mean leadership or advisory roles held by individuals in civic contexts, or the organization of explicitly political prayer events — not a single NAR-run political party or civic institution; several sources explicitly warn that few or no organizations publicly claim formal NAR membership even as many leaders and ministries are publicly associated with the movement [1] [2] [3]. Where reporting documents formal ties — e.g., NAR leaders organizing The Response or serving in White House faith advisory roles — those are individual-level, institutionally recognized connections rather than evidence of a formal NAR civic apparatus [4] [5].
Conclusion: a pattern of individual-to-institution links, not an NAR institution
The best-supported claim in the reporting is that leaders identified with the NAR have formal, documented ties to specific political or civic bodies — notably state-level political events like Rick Perry’s “The Response” and federal faith advisory roles such as Paula White-Cain’s White House post — and that a constellation of parachurch schools and apostolic networks (Global Harvest Ministries, IHOP University, Bethel School, ICAL and similar entities) serve as the movement’s institutional engines for civic influence, even as the movement itself lacks centralized organizational membership or an official institutional banner [4] [5] [7] [8] [1]. Reporting also records scholarly and journalistic debate over the implications of those ties and the movement’s blend of spiritual and political ambitions, and sources differ on whether to describe the phenomenon as coordinated political strategy or informal influence networks [10] [2].