Member Spotlight: Bob and Barbara Vanden Bosch, Concerned Christians of America

Robert “Reverend Bob” Vanden Bosch happily mixes politics and religion.

It’s his job. It’s his mission.

Literally.

Bob lobbies legislators on behalf of Biblical values as part of the ministry of Concerned Christian Americans.

“Basically, a lobbyist is an educator,” he says. “You’re educating legislators about different pieces of legislation, about what is in them, about what the problems are. Sometimes you’re meeting with other lobbyists about other pieces of legislation that have an impact on you. And talking to them to see if you can get a bill changed so it’s more suitable for you as well.”

Reverend Bob found out that lobbying for family values and church concerns in Springfield was God’s plan for him when he visited the Illinois capital in February 1993 with fellow pastor Jim Scudder of Quentin Road Bible Baptist Church in suburban Chicago. Pastor Scudder was to open the legislative session in prayer. While there, Robert met Reverend Norman Schneller, “my predecessor.” Reverend Schneller was lobbying state senators from both Bob’s and Pastor Scudder’s districts and asked the pair to come along. At one point, Bob’s senator turned to Bob and said, “Who’s going to be there to replace this guy (Schneller) when he’s gone? This guy really knows what he’s doing.”

At lunch afterwards, Bob asked Pastor Scudder the same question. The pastor’s answer was, “Bob, you’re the guy.”

“So I prayed about it,” Bob says. “I called Dr. Scudder on the following Sunday night and I said, ‘Tell Brother Schneller that I would be happy to go with him to Springfield.’”

Bob joined Pastor Schneller in Springfield a few weeks later. After two days, Pastor Schneller asked Bob to be his associate. Not long after that Bob found himself testifying to the Illinois House Judiciary Committee about a homosexual rights bill.

“I lobbied that session and worked on early childhood legislation and legislation that dealt with pastoral confidentiality,” he says. “We killed a bill that was going to take away confidentiality and counseling for pastors in Illinois. So that was my introduction.”

Norman Schneller only lobbied for three more days that session and then was diagnosed with leukemia, ending his lobbying days. He died 14 months later, but never stopped thinking about his mission. A week before he died, he paged Bob to ask what was happening in Springfield. “Workmen’s comp,” Bob told him. “Watch out for the churches!” Pastor Schneller replied.

Bob lobbied while also serving as pastor of a church in Villa Park, Illinois, but turned to lobbying full time after two years. From that point he was affiliated with Quentin Road Bible Baptist Church as a staff pastor, but has now retired from there and moved to Springfield. From there he and his wife, Barbara, run the Illinois affiliate of Concerned Christian Americans.

Bob’s method of lobbying is simple: Catch legislators as he can and talk to them. Illinois’ legislative schedule is in constant flux, unlike in other states, so it’s difficult to catch lawmakers in their offices.

Bob starts by checking out new legislation at the beginning of a session; there are typically about 6,000 bills, although only about 3,000 were filed this year, he says. He has to keep track of the different bills that contain obvious or subtle moral implications. He also goes to hearings, where he registers support or opposition to a bill, even if it’s not primarily about a moral matter.

“There are several times where details appear in bills that address abortion or marriage, the family, the church, homeschooling, private schools,” he says.

The main issues he has lobbied on recently have been same-sex “marriage,” pro-life legislation, and comprehensive sex-education programs, which would require teaching about homosexuality in public schools.

“For the most part, people are pretty receptive and willing to talk,” Bob says. “A friend put it this way: The Legislature is like a United Nations of ideas where people from all different viewpoints get together and discuss legislation. There are times that you experience hostility. There are times when you testify before a committee and legislators make snide remarks about what you said in your presentation. But overall, there’s a pretty good respect left for what we have to say. Even many legislators who go the wrong way have some sympathy for us.”

Bob says he also talks with lobbyists on the other side of issues.

“We’ll be friendly with everybody,” he says. “It’s an entirely different culture than most Christians are accustomed to, because you deal directly with the people who are confronting you on the public policy issues. You see them day in and day out. They’re lobbying the same people that you’re lobbying. You may be promoting amendments that they’re rejecting. But sometimes you can find common ground and be able to do something without compromising. We look for places like that. But you can’t compromise away the truth.”

That happens with some legislators, though, he says. Following Illinois’ vote on same-sex “marriage” in 2013, Bob ran into a lawmaker in a hallway the next day.

“He said, ‘Reverend Bob, I couldn’t sleep all night last night because of the way I voted on that. I voted the wrong way,’” Bob says.

Bob says he doesn’t mix lobbying and ministering, though. If he sees a legislator or staffer needs counseling or prayer, he’ll remove the lobbying hat and help them.

“If a legislator is going through difficulties and they close the door and say, ‘Reverend Bob, I need to talk to you,’ I don’t lobby them on anything because I feel like lobbying them at that point would be using them and using the spiritual needs that they have for my benefit,” he says. “I don’t want legislators to feel that way. I want them to understand that I care about them. My predecessor told me, ‘Bob, you will never be able to be successful in doing what you’re doing unless you learn to love the legislators.’ That’s my goal, is to make them aware that I do care about them and to show them the love of Christ.

“One of my purposes is to influence public policy, but I also remind myself I cannot do that at the expense of being an ambassador for Jesus Christ to the Illinois state legislature,” Bob says. “I represent Him first of all.”