Oxnard Pastor Makes Game-Changing Decision
"We get bombarded with all kinds of requests to get involved in all kinds of good causes," he said. "There's not a shortage of good causes and, for the most part, very few of them actually sink in, very few of them actually cause us to change course direction."
Sam Gallucci, the 13-year pastor of Embrace Church in Oxnard, was in his prayer closet lamenting the liberal stranglehold over California’s schools. Entering the ministry after a 20-year career in the early days of the internet—including jobs with IBM and Oracle—Gallucci was called into the pastorate, dedicating his life and ministry to helping the disenfranchised.
But in 2019 when he learned of AB 329, a push to promote sexual orientation and "gender" identity in schools under the misleading moniker of the California Healthy Youth Act, Pastor Gallucci was heartbroken.
"I started to read this bill," he said. "I started to weep and this passion and resolve came over me. We cannot let this level of perversion take over our children and grandchildren."
While in the prayer closet, he asked God for direction. The Lord’s response stunned him. What do you do when God asks you to do something radical? Taking a page from his own church, he embraced it.
Pastor Gallucci has been doing quite a bit of embracing after attending a Church United Awakening Tour to Washington D.C. in 2017. During the trip, he and 157 California pastors visited the U.S. Capitol, met with legislators, networked together, and took a heritage tour, showing America’s rich history of pastoral involvement in cultural matters. While there, Church United challenged the pastors to pick up the mantle of our forefathers, urging them to always be the voice of reason and truth in the political realm.
"It absolutely was a game changer for me, taking us to the center of power and educating us on our Christian roots in the Constitution and in the founding of our country," he said. "It's not like we didn't learn some of this in school but just to get reunited and reacquainted with the level of detail was just inspiring. It really did awaken me."
Embracing the legacy
When he returned home, Pastor Gallucci began implementing Church United’s legally vetted resources and suggestions, bringing in speakers and candidates, hosting voter registration, and sharing information about candidates and the political process.
"It really started to spark an interest in getting more involved in politics as a political mountain," he said. "All of the things that Church United gives us—the tools to do—really is a blessing."
A similar trip to California’s Capitol was equally empowering to Pastor Gallucci. "Once I went to Sacramento ... and understood the issues that we're facing, God started to move in my heart and here I am," he said.
His heart has landed him smack dab in the middle of California’s upcoming recall election to remove Gov. Gavin Newsom from office. Although the secretary of state has confirmed there are enough signatures to force an election, they have not set an official date yet. When the ballots do arrive, Pastor Gallucci will be among dozens of candidates to replace Newsom, should voters recall him.
It was a move the Oxnard pastor did not see coming. The second generation Italian said although he learned the importance of voting from said his grandparents and parents, his civic involvement ended there.
“We were always raised with a deep respect for our American freedoms and liberties, and the Republic, and all that it meant," he said.
The call to influence
"I was becoming very inspired to take more action and just asking the Lord what else can I do, never thinking personally about running for office," he said. "I just never felt that was a calling to me.
The Lord, though, brought to mind Pastor Gallucci’s experience in the business and high-tech field, his ongoing ministry with the homeless and migrant workers, and his two decades shepherding believers. It was like a checklist of "all of the things that I've done that made me uniquely qualified. And then all of a sudden I saw the workmanship of God in my life for such a time as this."
Pastor Gallucci said he’s grateful for Church United and its efforts to equip pastors and to hold them accountable as cultural influencers.
"We get bombarded with all kinds of requests to get involved in all kinds of good causes," he said. "There's not a shortage of good causes and, for the most part, very few of them actually sink in, very few of them actually cause us to change course direction."
He credits Church United’s influence for developing his commitment to biblical citizenship.
"Until I had the opportunity to see for myself the role the church has always played throughout the history of our nation the critical strategic role—I had no ambitions whatsoever and no interest in politics," he said.
Then AB 329 struck a deep, deep nerve. "It's a religious belief system that teaches our children that the core of their identity is based on a fluid idea of gender," he explained. "Gender no longer matters. Gender is no longer you, ‘God-given’".
"It's just legislating immorality to a level that is non-refundable. If we don't stop it, it will literally change the course of California and the course of the nation forever."
That’s when he and God had the life-altering conversation in the closet.
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