Bothell Pastor Joe Fuiten announced today that he will merge his group, Positive Christian Agenda, with a new James Dobson-endorsed Family Policy Institute of Washington. It will be the 33rd of the state-level groups associated with Focus on the Family, Dobson's Colorado-based group.

The state groups have no financial ties to Focus on the Family.

However, they have a uniform purpose: serving as a voice for the family and assisting advocates for family ideals who aim to recapture the moral and intellectual high ground in the public arena.

The new state group will be headed by Larry Stickney, a Snohomish County conservative activist. He has worked as an aide to Snohomish County Councilman John Koster, ran Koster's 2000 congressional race as well as working for other conservative lawmakers. Stickney also managed the unsuccessful campaign to pass an initiative banning late-term abortions and ran the state campaign for presidential candidate Pat Buchanan.

Fuiten, pastor of Cedar Park Church, is one of the most politically active conservative pastors in the state. He led the Faith and Freedom Network, but left to concentrate on Positive Christian Agenda and his Committee for Religious Freedom PAC.

I didn't know this until today, but Fuiten also heads a voter registration organization targeting conservative Christians. The effort, yesivote.org, includes guidelines on its Web site for what churches can do to register congregation members. The Web site encourages pastors to make monthly announcements about voter registration and weekly announcements in the final two weeks before a registration deadline. It also suggests that ushers pass out registration forms during church services.