'Sea change' for evangelical group

Christian Century, March 22, 2000 by Rns

For Bishop Kevin Mannoia, who likes water analogies, the term "sea change" is an appropriate description for the transformation occurring in the National Association of Evangelicals. "We are healthy churches moving in unity to transform our culture," he told denominational and ministry leaders gathered in the Washington suburb of Arlington, Virginia, for the group's annual meeting, which ended March 8.

But as the NAE seeks to transform others, it more immediately is attempting to transform itself. According to many observers, the evangelical umbrella organization has been struggling with its identity for a number of years. During its recent meeting, the board of directors approved a path-breaking change in the organization's bylaws, allowing denominations that are members of other ecclesiastical groups to have dual membership with the NAE. Last fall the NAE moved its headquarters from the traditional evangelical center of Wheaton, Illinois, to the Los Angeles area. And this year's convention was held jointly with AMEN, an Hispanic evangelical organization whose acronym stands for Alianza de Ministerios Evangelicos Nacionales (Alliance of National Evangelical Ministries).

Mannoia, who succeeded Don Argue in July, called the new membership rule "a fairly major change" that can make the organization more inclusive by allowing denominations that will commit themselves to NAE's statement of faith and mission even if they are also members of more liberal groups such as the National Council of Churches. "This is not a statement of weakness, of capitulation or of dilution," said Mannoia, a bishop of the Free Methodist Church of North America, in an interview. "This is a statement of maturity and strength as represented in the NAE. We have come to a point where we don't have to define ourselves in terms of being relative to anyone else."

The move from the Midwest to the West Coast also fits into the organization's new identity, he said. Mannoia believes it's important for the NAE to be in Los Angeles County, an area he says represents the urbanization, globalization and multiethnic nature of modern America. "Wheaton has served us well to this point, but it has the potential of giving an image that we are somehow theologically exclusive," he said. "It's a positive emphasis of saying we want to be in a place that is a reflection of what America is becoming."

Speaking to NAE members, Mannoia stressed the need to be open to those with differences in worship styles and theology. "It's beyond tolerance," he said. "It's an embracing of the wholeness of the body of Christ." The NAE, which has some Pentecostal members, gained its 52nd denominational member at the meeting, the charismatic Association of Vineyard Churches. Mannoia was pleased to have a joint meeting with Hispanic evangelicals. "It's an accurate reflection of the nature of the kingdom of God, which is not a segregated kingdom," he said. Mannoia said the organization also hopes for closer ties with the National Black Evangelical Association. Both Jesse Miranda, president of AMEN, and Aaron Hamlin, executive director of NBEA, spoke of being in "partnership" with the NAE but said their groups intend to maintain their independence.

Edward Foggs, the NAE's first African-American chairman of the board, said leaders are keeping in mind the organization's 58-year history and the influence of its senior members while forging ahead in new ways. "It ... across the years has come to be viewed as too male, too white and too aging," said Foggs, minister at large for interchurch relations for the Church of God (Anderson, Indiana). "There's nothing wrong with being male. There's nothing wrong with being white and there's nothing wrong with aging. We all do it. But if that becomes the primary basis by which an organization gets identified, it obviously becomes problematic."

Despite the optimistic tones of NAE's leaders, they admit there are some practical challenges ahead. Only about 300 people attended the annual meeting, down from last year's total of about 350. Foggs said the numbers reflect the time of transition, the lack of an early-registration discount this year, and the fact that the Washington area is not a "central location" for many members. And while the AMEN attendees took part in the general sessions of the NAE meeting--with Miranda, the group's president, addressing the closing banquet--there remained only a handful of black evangelicals in attendance.

But attendees were enthusiastic about the changes they could see--the more diverse NAE staff and the meeting's more contemporary worship style. Performers over the course of the meeting included gospel artists Andrae and Sandra Crouch, who received racial reconciliation awards, and a hip-hop choir. Miranda, president of AMEN, praised the opening night's worship rally during his speech at the closing banquet: "Inclusive worship, diverse people from the city, from the suburb, the black, the brown, the white. We were all worshiping God--a glimpse of heaven, of what it will be like when Jesus comes again."