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Dear Friend, Welcome to the Friday Five! Every Friday we share our top five articles, stories, and quotes for you to read and share with your friends and church families.
1. NC VALUES: 2023 Legislators of the Year AwardNC Values is happy to award Representatives Kristin Baker, Jennifer Balkcom, Hugh Blackwell, Tricia Cotham, Ken Fontenot, Neal Jackson, and Senators Amy Galey, Joyce Krawiec, Paul Newton, and Vickie Sawyer as our 2023 Legislators of The Year recipients for their sponsorship and support for major pieces of pro-values legislation. These legislators worked diligently to rally support among their colleagues on several important pro-life, pro-family, and pro-religious freedom bills. We are honored to give them their Legislator of the Year Award for their respective sponsorships and advocacy of HB 808 “Gender Transition/Minors,” HB 574 “Fairness in Women’s Sports,” SB 20 “Care for Women, Children, and Families Act,” and HB 8 “Pornography Age Verification.” They are truly champions of our values. Thank you! Read more: https://ncvalues.org/2023-legislative-champions/
2. NC VALUES: 🏆 We won an awardIt is with great excitement that we share some wonderful news. Thanks to your continued support, NC Values has been honored with the prestigious “Policy Ally of the Year” by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). Every year ADF selects state policy groups which stand out nationally for this tremendous honor. The group presented the award to Executive Director Tami Fitzgerald for our work on the seven pieces of legislation we helped pass in the 2023 legislative cycle, including HB 574 “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act,” and HB 808 “Gender Transition/Minors.” These victories were only made possible by the dedicated legislators from around the state, our loyal supporters and our devoted team. This achievement is a testament to the incredible impact we’ve made in our mission to create a culture in North Carolina where human life is valued, marriage & families flourish, and religious freedom thrives. “It is ADF’s privilege to honor Tami Fitzgerald and the NC Values Coalition team with this award for their courage, boldness, strategy, and effectiveness in advocating for the dignity of life, fairness in women’s sports, free speech, and religious liberty,” said ADF Sr. Counsel and Government Affairs Director Kellie Fiedorek. “When we speak the truth with boldness, conviction, and love as Tami and NC Values do, we can change hearts and minds and we can change the culture to give our children and grandchildren a better America than the one they are currently facing.” Read more: https://ncvalues.org/we-won-an-award/
 3. NEWS & OBSERVER: Johnston passes policy against books on gender identity in elementary school libraries"Johnston County’s application of the Parents’ Bill of Rights was praised by Tami Fitzgerald, executive director of the N.C. Values Coalition. 'What they’re doing is wonderful,' Fitzgerald said in an interview Thursday. 'It not only complies with the law, but it goes further. We applaud it.' Fitzgerald said Johnston County is doing what’s allowed by passing policies that go further than what’s required in the Parents’ Bill of Rights. She said telling K-4 teachers they need to consult with parents before responding to student questions about gender identity, sexuality and sexual activity fits in with the law. 'Any time the school can, it should involve parents,' Fitzgerald said." Read more at: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article281586098.html
4. NEWS & OBSERVER: Ohio voters put abortion and marijuana on the ballot. Could that happen in North Carolina?"Ohio voters cemented the right to abortions and legalized recreational marijuana on Tuesday — but not in the traditional way laws get passed The voters themselves put abortion and marijuana on the ballot via citizen-led ballot initiatives, a process practiced in some states that allows major decisions to be made directly by the people, rather than entrusted to lawmakers. In North Carolina, meanwhile, state policy on abortion and marijuana has been in the news this year, but the discussion has centered on what lawmakers would do. So what role do voters have? Here are answers to a few questions." Read more: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article281585918.html For more on this story, just out these articles from the Daily Signal and Life Site News.
5. CAROLINA JOURNAL: Should your church start a school?"It is no longer sufficient to rely solely on the brief hour or two spent at church on Sundays to counterbalance the influence of secular school culture during the remaining 35 hours of the week. Outsourcing the education of our children to the state is no longer the best option, as it often fails to prioritize the values of the church and the home. So, what can a church do? Is starting a school within the church an option worth considering? Is it an affordable option? Fortunately, there is good news. The North Carolina General Assembly has made religious schooling economically feasible by significantly expanding the Opportunity Scholarship Program. This program now offers tuition assistance to all students in the Tar Heel state." Read more: https://www.carolinajournal.com/opinion/should-your-church-start-a-school/
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