The Faith of Ronald Reagan

While expressions of faith remain common in political discourse today, the actual policy decisions of political leaders seem less connected to that faith. Today, too, our culture – while still seeming to expect a president to have a faith – rejects faith as an explanation for those decisions. Ronald Reagan’s faith, however, was a driver of some of his most profound moments as President–including the breaking up of the Communist Bloc.

Rev. John Boyles is a former pastor of National Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC, the church of President Ronald Reagan during his Adminstration. Rev. Boyles served under President Reagan as Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Ethical Values. As the President’s minister he made a pastoral visit to the persecuted Russian Pentacostals taking refuge in the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. During the Reagan Administration, Rev. Boyles set up the first VOA international broadcast of an English language Christmas Eve service in 1982 into the Soviet bloc, broadcast from President Reagan’s church. A graduate of Yale Divinity School, Boyles became Presbyterian Chaplain at Yale and associate pastor of the Church of Christ in Yale and as Director of Dwight Hall, the university’s community service and religious activities organization.