Anchorage’s largest and most politically active church, the Anchorage Baptist Temple, has changed its decades-old name to Mountain City Church.
In a video explaining the name change, pastor Ron Hoffman stated that the “current name has unnecessary barriers in it.” As an example of one such barrier, Hoffman explained that the word “temple” is now associated more closely with “false religions” than it is with Christian churches.
While Hoffman specifically brought up the term “temple,” the name change fits in with a nationwide trend of dropping “baptist” from church names in an attempt to broaden their base of parishioners.
Hoffman went on further to explain that “we also believe the name Mountain City reflects what we have become; not only an influencer of Anchorage but the entire state of Alaska.”
The mega church, by either name, does indeed have a long history of pushing the line on it’s tax exempt status with influential political messaging. In November, just days before elections, The Alaska Republican Party held a rally at the church, with Republican candidates, including Sarah Palin and Kelly Tshibaka, taking the stage to give speeches containing anti-LGBTQ and anti-reproductive freedom rhetoric, while asserting that Alaska is a ‘Red” state.
During the last Anchorage mayoral election, Hoffman spent part of his sermon praising then-mayoral candidate, Dave Bronson, who sat in the audience, and mocking challenger Forrest Dunbar.
After six minutes of negative political messaging about Dunbar, Hoffman told his congregation, “The war is never over and if there’s a chance, if you have not voted, and if you have not told 20 people to vote, and you’ve not told everyone in the world to vote, I would encourage that you do so.”
The Anchorage Baptist Temple has long involved themselves in shaping Alaskan politics. In 2021, Politico obtained a recording of former Anchorage Baptist Temple pastor Jerry Prevo, bragging about knowing how to work the church’s 501(c)3 tax-exempt status.
“I have a 50c3 church,” Prevo said “For 30 years, I’ve known how to handle that and not get into trouble.The homosexual community has tried to take me down for at least 30 years, and they have not been successful because I know how to work the 50c3.”
In the same conversation, Prevo advocated for churches and religious organizations to get involved in electing conservative politicians.
“Are they getting people elected?” Prevo said. “Which is one of our main goals. All I want to do is to make us more effective.”
Prevo retired from Anchorage Baptist Temple in 2019 and was succeeded by Hoffman. While Hoffman may be trying to change the church’s reputation with a new name, he has continued their long legacy of advocating for government policy to be made from the pulpit.
