Interview With Richard Cizik's Replacement at National Association of Evangelicals
June 26, 2009
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June 26, 2009
The National Association of Evangelicals, the nation's largest evangelical group, announced its new Washington lobbyist yesterday, about six months after its longtime D.C. representative, Richard Cizik, resigned under pressure. Cizik had long been in the cross hairs of Christian-right leaders over his high-profile activism on global warming, but the nail in the coffin was a radio interview in which he expressed support for legalized gay civil unions.
Now, a longtime manager with World Relief, Galen Carey, will run the NAE's Washington office. Christianity Today has some back story. I caught up with Carey yesterday, just after the NAE announced that it had hired him. Excerpts:
What are your top priorities for the NAE?
My first priority will be to get to know the NAE and hold some in-depth dialogues to learn what issues are most important. My role is to represent the churches that are part of it as well as I can. The Health of the Nation Document lays out the seven issues of common evangelical interest.
What are the issues closest to your heart?
I've spent the last 25 years working on issues related to refugees and the poor both domestically and overseas. Those issues fit under the NAE's rubric. That's not to say I don't care about other issues, but there will be more of a learning curve there.
There's been so much talk about the political generational gap between older and younger evangelicals. Will that present a challenge in your new job?
I was recently honored by my college classmates [from Trinity International University], and there was a group there working to prevent the spread of AIDS. When I was a student, there was no program like that. So you do see a broadening of the agenda of younger evangelicals. It's an opportunity to invigorate the evangelical movement, and that is one of our strengths. We have a way of renewing ourselves and continuing to engage the world with the bringing of the good news in all its fullness.
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