The New Apostolic Reformation and the "Seven Mountains"
Six things, one minute. Click a card or a tab for more.
TL;DR
- What it is: a loose network of charismatic churches led by self-styled modern "apostles" and "prophets." No single headquarters.
- The big idea: the "Seven Mountain Mandate." Christians should take charge of seven areas of society: family, religion, education, media, entertainment, business and government.
- In their own words: leaders like Lance Wallnau call it taking the "mountains" and invading "Babylon." The goal is God's kingdom on earth, now.
- How big: a January 2024 Denison University poll found 41% of American Christians agreed with the core idea.
- Close to power: Paula White-Cain, linked to the movement, has run the White House Faith Office since February 2025.
- Why watch: it is a religious plan aimed at government, run by unelected "apostles" who claim to hear directly from God.
Real network
Named in the 1990s by seminary professor C. Peter Wagner, who called himself an apostle.
Real goal
Seven Mountains: take charge of the seven areas that shape a nation.
Real access
A White House office, members of Congress, and a flag on a Supreme Court justice's home.
Real limits
Many named leaders deny the label, and the 1975 founders meant evangelism, not rule.
This page is about one movement inside charismatic Christianity and how it seeks power. It is not about Christians, evangelicals or Pentecostals in general; most have never heard of the NAR, and many of its sharpest critics are other Christians.
Who they are
Not a church with members. A web of independent ministries that accept the authority of modern apostles and prophets.
C. Peter Wagner (1930 to 2016)
A professor at Fuller Theological Seminary who studied fast-growing churches. In the 1990s he gave them a name: the "New Apostolic Reformation." He taught that God was restoring the offices of apostle and prophet, and he became a leading "apostle" himself.
Image: Wikipedia.
👑 Apostles
Leaders who claim authority over networks of churches, cities or whole "spheres" of society.
🔮 Prophets
Leaders who claim to receive direct, specific messages from God, including about elections.
⚔️ Spiritual warfare
Mapping cities for "territorial spirits," naming demons, and praying on site to drive them out.
The 1975 origin story
Followers say God gave the same message in 1975 to Bill Bright (Campus Crusade for Christ) and Loren Cunningham (Youth With A Mission): reach seven spheres of society.
Cunningham saw it as a plan for evangelism and did not go into politics. The ruling, "dominion" version came later, after Lance Wallnau met Cunningham in 2000, and spread with Wallnau and Bill Johnson's 2013 book Invading Babylon.
Bill Bright, 1980. Image: Wikipedia.
The beliefs, in their own words
The Seven Mountain Mandate, and the verses it is built on.
Lance Wallnau
The best-known teacher of the Seven Mountains. His book title says the goal plainly: Invading Babylon: The 7 Mountain Mandate (2013, with Bill Johnson). "Babylon" is the world as it is now; the mountains are to be taken.
Lance Wallnau, 2023. Image: Wikipedia.
The seven mountains
👨👩👧 Family
⛪ Religion
🎓 Education
📺 Media
🎬 Arts and entertainment
💼 Business
🏛️ Government
The mountain that makes the rest enforceable.
The verses they use
Dominion
Christians are meant to rule the earth now, not wait for heaven.
Kingdom Now
God's kingdom is built on earth by taking the mountains.
Prophecy
Prophets name what God wants, including candidates and outcomes.
End times
Many teach that taking the mountains helps bring about the end of the age.
In power now
Where the movement touches real government. Dated and sourced.
Feb 2025: the White House Faith Office
By executive order on 7 February 2025, the White House Faith Office was created, with Paula White-Cain named its senior advisor. She has long been the President's spiritual advisor and is widely tied to the NAR and Seven Mountains teaching.
Paula White-Cain. Image: Wikipedia.
The "Appeal to Heaven" flag
A Revolutionary War pine tree flag, re-adopted as a movement banner through NAR leader Dutch Sheets. It flew among the crowd on 6 January 2021. In May 2024 the New York Times reported it had flown at Justice Samuel Alito's New Jersey beach house in 2023.
Image: Wikipedia.
Jan 2021
Scholar Matthew D. Taylor documents NAR prophets and prayer leaders around the 6 January rallies (The Violent Take It by Force, 2024).
Jul 2024
ProPublica reports on Ziklag, a secretive Seven Mountains charity for families worth $25 million or more, working on the 2024 election.
Aug 2026
The Guardian: Congressman Jared Huffman's book No Prophets calls Christian nationalism the most dangerous political movement in the country.
Faith and force together
Shofars, crosses and prayer circles were all over the Capitol on 6 January 2021. That does not make everyone there NAR, but its prophets had spent weeks declaring the election stolen from God's chosen candidate.
The Capitol, 6 January 2021. Image: Wikipedia.
Myths online
What posts get wrong in both directions.
✖ "The NAR is one organization"
It is a network with no single leader, membership list or headquarters. That is part of why it is hard to see.
✖ "All evangelicals are NAR"
No. Many evangelical and Pentecostal leaders openly reject modern apostles and dominion theology.
✖ "It's a made-up smear"
No. The name comes from its own founder, and the Seven Mountains come from its own books and sermons.
⚠ "Everyone named is a member"
Lists of "followers" online are often guesses. Several people named deny the label. Judge by their own words.
⚠ "41% are NAR"
The 2024 poll measured agreement with the Seven Mountains idea, not membership.
✔ What holds up
A real network, a written plan for the seven spheres, and real access to power.
Why watch
Faith in public life is normal. A plan to rule the seven spheres, run by leaders who answer only to their own prophecies, is something else.
🗳️ Prophecy over votes
When leaders say God has already chosen the winner, losing an election can be framed as a spiritual attack.
🏛️ Unelected authority
"Apostles" claim authority over government with no election, no term and no oversight.
💰 Quiet money
Groups like Ziklag move big donor money into politics with little public record.
👻 Enemies as demons
Spiritual warfare language turns political opponents into spiritual enemies.
🎯 Self-fulfilling
Taking the mountains is said to bring the end times, so each win is read as prophecy coming true.
Red flags to watch for
🚩 Public offices or budgets handed to self-described apostles or prophets.
🚩 "Prophetic words" used to reject election results.
🚩 Schools, media or courts described as "mountains" to be taken.
🚩 Officials flying movement symbols like the Appeal to Heaven flag.
🚩 Large anonymous donor networks tied to the mandate.
🚩 And the reverse: using this to sneer at all Christians.
Bottom line
A loose but real movement with a written plan to take charge of society's seven spheres, now with a desk in the White House. Not a reason to fear Christians. A reason to know the words "apostle," "mountain" and "dominion" when you hear them in politics.
A shofar, often blown at movement rallies. Image: Wikipedia.