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Gainesville pastor Jentezen Franklin discusses role as an evangelical adviser to Trump
Free Chapel leader says GOP nominee was 'attentive,' responsive in 3-hour initial meeting
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Jentezen Franklin speaks about his role as an evangelical adviser to Donald Trump during an interview Monday at Free Chapel’s main campus in Gainesville. Franklin has led Free Chapel as pastor for nearly 25 years, seeing it grow to include campuses nationwide. For Franklin, whose ministry includes a national TV program, “Kingdom Connection,” his work on the evangelical committee began several months ago with an invitation via phone call from the campaign. The evangelical committee, comprising 15 prominent pastors and others, gathered with Trump around a long conference table. - photo by Erin O. Smith
It’s a meeting Jentezen Franklin describes colorfully, but the person at the center of his story — newly minted GOP presidential contender Donald Trump — is anything but short on color. Trump entered the room at Trump Tower in New York with his mother’s Bible and began to lay out his Christian history in the meeting with evangelical advisers. Raised Presbyterian, Trump recalled his father taking the family to Billy Graham crusades.