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The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) is an agency dedicated to coordinating cooperative ministry for evangelical denominations of Protestant Christians in the United States.

Contents 1 Mission statement 2 History 3 Overview 4 Initiatives 4.1 Global warming 5 Member denominations 6 Presidents 6.1 NAE Accepts Haggard Resignation 7 References 8 External link 9 Bibliography

"The mission of the National Association of Evangelicals is to extend the kingdom of God through a fellowship of member denominations, churches, organizations, and individuals, demonstrating the unity of the body of Christ by standing for biblical truth, speaking with a representative voice, and serving the evangelical community through united action, cooperative ministry, and strategic planning."

The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) was formed by a group of 147 people who met in St. Louis, Missouri on April 7-9, 1942^[1]. The fundamentalist/modernist controversy, and the related isolation of various fundamentalist and evangelical denominations and leaders, provided the impetus for developing such an organization. Early leaders in the movement were Ralph T. Davis, Will Houghton, Harold Ockenga, and J. Elwin Wright. Houghton called for a meeting in Chicago, Illinois in 1941. A committee was formed with Wright as chairman, and a national conference for United Action Among Evangelicals was called to meet in April 1942. Harold Ockenga was appointed the first president (1942-44).

Carl McIntire and Harvey Springer led in organizing the American Council of Christian Churches (now with 7 member bodies) in September 1941. It was a more militant and fundamentalist organization set up in opposition to the Federal Council of Churches (now National Council of Churches with 36 member bodies). McIntire invited the Evangelicals for United Action to join with them, but those who met in St. Louis declined the offer.

The tentative organization founded in 1942 was called the National Association of Evangelicals for United Action. In 1943 the proposed constitution and doctrinal statement were amended and adopted, and the name shortened to the National Association of Evangelicals. The National Religious Broadcasters was formed in 1944.

At the National Association of Evangelicals' 1982 conference in Orlando, Florida, NAE President Rev. Arthur Evans Gay, Jr. introduced President Ronald Reagan for what was to become known as his "Evil Empire" speech^[2].

The National Association of Evangelicals currently has 52 member denominations (listed below) and is headquartered in Washington, D.C.. There are 27 regional affiliates of the NAE.

In January 2006, the National Association of Evangelicals decided that it would not take a stance on global warming, and released a letter stating that "global warming is not a consensus issue." Twenty evangelical leaders, such as James Dobson and Charles Colson, signed this letter. In response, the Evangelical Climate Initiative released a statement on February 8, 2006 calling for action to fight global warming.[1]

On January 17th, 2007 it was announced that the NAE would join a group of prominent scientists in signing statements that demand "urgent changes in values, lifestyles and public policies to avert disastrous changes in climate."^[3] This statement is controversial among evangelicals, and demonstrates a widening gap between "old guard" evangelical leaders such as Dobson, Colson, and Franklin Graham, and new evangelical leadership that includes Rick Warren, Duane Litfin and David Neff that stands behind NAE's climate change position. ^[4]

These Protestant church groups were members as of 2004:

• Advent Christian General Conference (joined 1986)
• Assemblies of God (joined 1943)
• Baptist General Conference (joined 1966)
• The Brethren Church (joined 1968)
• Brethren in Christ Church (joined 1949)
• Christian Catholic Church (Evangelical Protestant) (joined 1975)
• The Christian and Missionary Alliance (joined 1966)
• Christian Church of North America (joined 1953)
• Christian Reformed Church in North America (joined 1943-51; 1988)
• Christian Union (joined 1954)
• Church of God (Cleveland) (joined 1944)
• Church of God Mountain Assembly, Inc. (joined 1981)
• Church of the Nazarene (joined 1984)
• Church of the United Brethren in Christ (joined 1953)
• Churches of Christ in Christian Union (joined 1945)
• Congregational Holiness Church (joined 1990-92; 1994)
• Conservative Baptist Association of America (joined 1990)
• Conservative Congregational Christian Conference (joined 1951)
• Conservative Lutheran Association (joined 1984)
• Elim Fellowship (joined 1947)
• Evangelical Church of North America(joined 1969)
• Evangelical Congregational Church (joined 1962)
• Evangelical Free Church of America (joined 1943)
• Evangelical Friends International of North America (joined 1971)
• Evangelical Mennonite Church (joined 1944)
• Evangelical Methodist Church (joined 1952)
• Evangelical Presbyterian Church (joined 1982)
• Evangelistic Missionary Fellowship (joined 1982)
• Fellowship of Evangelical Bible Churches (joined 1948)
• Fire Baptized Holiness Church of God of the Americas (joined 1978)
• Free Methodist Church of North America (joined 1944)
• General Association of General Baptists (joined 1988)
• International Church of the Foursquare Gospel (joined 1952)
• International Pentecostal Church of Christ (joined 1946)
• International Pentecostal Holiness Church (joined 1943)
• Mennonite Brethren Churches, USA (joined 1946)
• Midwest Congregational Christian Fellowship (joined 1964)
• Missionary Church, Inc. (joined 1944)
• Open Bible Standard Churches (joined 1943)
• Pentecostal Church of God (joined 1954)
• Pentecostal Free Will Baptist Church, Inc. (joined 1988)
• Presbyterian Church in America (joined 1986)
• Primitive Methodist Church USA (joined 1946)
• Reformed Episcopal Church (joined 1990)
• Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (joined 1946)
• Regional Synod of Mid-America (Reformed Church in America) (joined 1989)
• The Salvation Army, National Headquarters (joined 1990)
• The Wesleyan Church (joined 1948)
• Worldwide Church of God (joined 1997)

• Leslie Roy Marston (1940s)
• Arthur Evans Gay, Jr. (1980s)
• Don Argue (1995-1998)
• Kevin Mannoia (1998-2001)
• Leith Anderson (2001-2003)
• Ted Haggard (2003-2006)
• Leith Anderson (2006-)

Ted Haggard, President of the National Association of Evangelicals and founder of New Life Church, resigned his positions at his church and the National Association of Evangelicals on November 2nd, 2006, confessing to what he called "sexual immorality". The NAE posted a statement accepting his resignation with regret and are encouraging him to participate in the discipline process and oversight of his church. Leith Anderson was appointed as the new president on November 7, 2006. A press release is available in pdf here [2]

• Official Web Site

• Harold Lindsell, Park Street Prophet: The Life of Harold John Ockenga (Wheaton: Van Kampen, 1951).
• George Marsden, Reforming Fundamentalism: Fuller Seminary and the New Evangelicalism (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1987).
• James DeForest Murch, Cooperation without Compromise: A History of the National Association of Evangelicals (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1956).