WAR AND PERSECUTION CAN’T STOP IRAN’S UNDERGROUND CHURCH

Anglican missionary Jerry Kramer says Iran is now the world’s fastest-growing Church — “the Church always does better under a squeeze”

An exclusive interview with Anglican priest Jerry Kramer, Christian missionary to the Islamic world. He and his wife Tracy have spent nearly a quarter of a century ministering in the Middle East and Africa, bringing the gospel to the most intransigent religion in the world today. VOL spoke with the Rev. Kramer about the present political situation in the Middle East and how he is adjusting to the changing political and religious climate.

By David W. Virtue, DD | September 21, 2026 | www.virtueonline.org

VIRTUEONLINE: Events are moving rapidly in the Middle East. Almost daily the political landscape changes. How are the changes reflecting on your ministry?

KRAMER: In a sense, it’s nothing new. I’ve long told people, “If you don’t like what’s going on in the Middle East, just wait five minutes. It will get worse.” I can tell you 100% the situation for the Iranian people and the persecution of the Church are far worse today than before the conflict started. No one’s been able to work for months. Persecution is off the rails. The Mullahs can still buy top-shelf whiskey with Chinese Yuan. Not bothered a bit.

VIRTUEONLINE: Reports say that the gospel is still exploding in Iran, with thousands coming to faith against all the odds as Christians face both Islamic persecution and war. Is that what you are hearing and experiencing?

KRAMER: Iran continues to be the world’s fastest-growing Church despite the most vicious persecution we’ve ever experienced. Whoever is now in charge is worse than before. Our little team’s network is moving past 4,000+ churches there, 14 generations deep, in all 31 states. We have 1,000+ new Church leaders there lined up waiting to be trained. We can’t keep up with the pace. If you’re skeptical, come hang out with us for a bit. We have a nice guest room. I’m a good cook.

VIRTUEONLINE: What dynamics make it harder to preach the gospel in wartime situations?

KRAMER: Well, war can also make people more receptive. The Syrian Civil War is in its 15th year. 1 million dead, 9 million refugees. Unprecedented Gospel openness. They’ve largely seen where Islam got them. That’s why I run into wars and fires. You’re going to see Jesus on the move and people experience life like never before. It’s breathtaking.

VIRTUEONLINE: You have had to move from Iraq to Central Asia to continue your ministry because of the increasing threat by Iran. How is that going?

KRAMER: It’s really more about what countries will allow Iranians in for training. And how closely we’ll all be watched. Iran has spies everywhere. Some countries more than others. We have multiple clandestine sites in the region. So, if one goes offline — that just happened, government security raid — we have backup. Sort of a cat-and-mouse game. Sands are always shifting.

VIRTUEONLINE: Are Kurds hearing the gospel in these war-torn moments?

KRAMER: Depends which Kurds. Syrian Kurds are wide open. They’re under siege, in miserable refugee camps, and we’re there caring for them. They’re also a lot of fun and spectacularly warm and hospitable. Northern Kurds are seeing some movement. Historically they’ve been hostile to the Gospel. They killed the first American missionary who showed up. We have about 100 or so churches among them now. Been a slog. We absolutely love them, but they can be spectacularly stubborn. Massive movement among the Iranian Kurds. Massive.

VIRTUEONLINE: As Christians we believe God’s hand is never shortened even when the church is under persecution; in fact, there is every reason to believe the church thrives when it is being persecuted. Is this your experience?

KRAMER: Absolutely. The Church always does better under a squeeze. We’ve been lulled into a comfort coma in the US. Americans have made idols out of comfort and convenience. The Gospel doesn’t offer either. People under pressure know Good News when they hear and see it. I think we have it easier than US pastors do. The faithful ones here are our heroes. We have a huge US church prayer list.

VIRTUEONLINE: The Western church faces increasing secularization, progressive theological views, LGBTQ inroads, and a loss of nerve even by evangelicals. Your evangelism/discipleship approach is one that could be emulated in the West. Why isn’t it?

KRAMER: I think the big problem in the US is an incomplete Gospel. I’ve been doing US church work for 35 years. Visited thousands and thousands of churches coast to coast. We’re professional church visitors. I’d say easily 80% of the people in the pews don’t know the Gospel. And probably 50% at least of the clergy. If we don’t know why we’re even there, what the point of the entire enterprise is and what we’re supposed to be doing, you can’t sustain. That’s what we’re seeing. It’s all unravelling because we don’t know the Gospel and don’t do what Jesus said to do. We’ve lost the plot. We do what we want then expect Him to save and prosper us. Doesn’t work that way. We also don’t have the same goal as Jesus. His goal and vision are the Kingdom. We’ve made church the goal. It isn’t. It’s how we get to the goal. Jesus didn’t launch a Church with a mission. He launched a mission with a Church. Get that straight or you’re ultimately done.

VIRTUEONLINE: Orthodox seminaries are very good at maintaining the faith once for all delivered to the saints, but there seems to be a disconnect between pulpit and pew — and how to fill those pews with people who WANT to hear the good news. The Southern Baptist Convention has lost two million members in recent years; this is an extraordinary loss for a denomination that preaches the gospel. Some 40 million Americans have left the church never to return. Liberal churches and denominations are rapidly dying, and talk of revival is premature. What can be done about this?

KRAMER: The world’s fastest-growing Church doesn’t have professional trained clergy or buildings or budgets. The only verified sustained multiplying Anglican movement that I know of has no clergy involved. Because I wouldn’t allow them. They’ll just constipate it. That’s contextual by the way. Clergy absolutely can do it, it’s just that particular group won’t. But the Gospel moves dynamically through ordinary Believers in their ordinary lives sharing with other ordinary people the difference Jesus has made. Then they model how to follow Jesus with a simple way and simple tools. That’s what the biggest move of God in history looks like.

We don’t invite people to our church and denomination because we need more butts in the pews to pay the bills. We connect them to Jesus and help them form church by making disciples. You can have a church with no disciples. But disciples will always plant churches. In the West we’re stuck on a model that’s now winding down. We’re just going to have to be ok with how God wants to do business. Fruitful clergy going forward will not be teachers or CEOs or pastoral care chaplains. They will be catalysts and coaches for contagious disciple making. What Jesus actually said to do. What He is doing. Are we training our seminarians for this new task in a new landscape? I don’t see it. We’re largely training them for a world that no longer exists. Most current Anglican thinking is stuck somewhere around 1987. Doing more of what hasn’t worked, isn’t working and won’t work, just with greater enthusiasm, won’t solve anything. Oh heck, let’s just have another pep rally.

VIRTUEONLINE: The pope has a built-in audience. When he speaks, his people listen and his words are often picked up by the secular press. Protestants have no such equal. We have to work harder to get a hearing, even if our message is clearer, more direct and unequivocal. Is the RCC getting a better hearing in the Middle East?

KRAMER: Oh Lord no. Remember there is a huge chasm between what the Roman Church teaches, what bishops try to push, and what ordinary believers profess. Nowhere near on the same page. Completely unaligned. The traditional/ancient Churches in the region are dying out, largely because they’re anti-evangelical and the Bible is reserved solely for clergy. Essentially, they made a compromise with Islam 1,400 or so years ago: We’ll stay quiet and keep to ourselves as second-class citizens. You leave us be. That’s the status quo and they don’t appreciate anyone upsetting the settled arrangement. And the priest is the gatekeeper and center of everything. There were 2 million traditional Christians in Iraq (Chaldeans and Assyrians) during the days of Saddam. Today there are probably less than 150,000. I know them. They’re largely nice. We’re friends. But they’re about done.

VIRTUEONLINE: Your grassroots approach to making disciples is working in countries like Iran. Explain how it could work and be replicated in the West.

KRAMER: Well, we’re working on it. It can work because it is working. Start with getting the Gospel right. Then do what Jesus said to do. He said make disciples, not church members. The US Church has proven beyond any doubt that you can’t make disciples on Sunday mornings. Disciples are made in small groups, gathering around the Word, reading for obedience not information, holding each other lovingly accountable every week. With a leader who says “Follow me following Jesus.” The Church has largely failed in its fundamental task of clearly showing and modeling for people how to follow Jesus. We want potlucks and Six Flags Over Jesus youth programs. A place to see friends before we try to beat the Baptists to lunch on Sunday morning.

We need a paradigm change in the West. Get it or face extinction. Problem is, it’s harder to unlearn than learn. The churches that make it down the line are those who learn and embrace the new paradigm. Which is actually old. And get back to simple Book of Acts basics. We’re not doing anything new. We’re doing what the first generations of Believers did before we screwed the whole enterprise up. I think there are some uniquely American issues that also need focus. Sabbathing. Not just go to church. A whole day to connect with God and family. We are not wired for the pace of life that governs us. We need respite and some silence. Two, connecting. People, especially younger people, are lonely. Technology has isolated them. Build and grow thick, connected community centered around Jesus. And support for young families. It’s so hard to raise children today. Much harder than we had it. Young families need support and connection and tools to help them navigate their children through the land mines.

VIRTUEONLINE: Are you seeing a decline in mission interest and giving?

KRAMER: Yes, I see a disturbing declining interest in mission. Churches are in panic survival mode, and when times are turbulent, mission is always the first cut. God is simply not going to honor self-interest. If you don’t have a heart for the 3.58 billion people with no access to the Gospel, you don’t know or have God’s heart. You’re not His guy or gal. We’ve become a church largely with more resources than obedience to Jesus. God is going to win this with or without the current expression of Church. We just have to decide if we’re going to join Him. And following Jesus is for the most part a lot of fun. We’re really missing out. I see so many tired and stressed-out church leaders. It doesn’t have to be like this. Of course there are crosses to bear. Of course. But I’d say over the last 12 years in the Middle East — the first three under ISIS, all of it with war and conflict and awful, getting shot at and threatened and put under house arrest and kicked out — it’s been about 90% laughter, 5% ugly crying, and 5% running for our lives. That ain’t bad.

VIRTUEONLINE: Thank you, Jerry.