Transforming Itself to Transform the Culture

ARLINGTON, Va. March 9 (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.

As he travels across the country and meets with members and prospective members, the new president of the organization is reiterating his vision for the evangelical umbrella organization that has been struggling with its identity.

"We are healthy churches moving in unity to transform our culture," he told denominational and ministry leaders gathered in this Washington suburb for the group's annual meeting, which ended Wednesday.

But as the NAE seeks to transform others, it more immediately is attempting to transform itself.

The board of directors Monday 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, Ill., to the Los Angeles area.

And this year's convention was held jointly with AMEN, a Hispanic evangelical organization whose acronymn stands for Alianza de Ministerios Evangelicos Nacionales (Alliance of National Evangelical Ministries).

Mannoia 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 also belong to members of more liberal groups like the National Council of Churches.

"This is not a statement of weakness, of capitulation or of dilution," Mannoia, a bishop of the Free Methodist Church of North America, said 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, who succeeded the Rev. Don Argue in July, 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.

"We are anxious to maintain a very close relationship with NBEA and even beyond the NBEA, with African-American denominations throughout the country," he said.

Both the Rev. Jesse Miranda, president of AMEN, and the Rev. Aaron Hamlin, executive director of NBEA, spoke of being in "partnership" with the NAE but said their groups intend to maintain their independence.

Beyond embracing more of those within the church, Mannoia said NAE members need "to roll up our sleeves and to get our hands dirty in the culture."

While continuing its work in Washington, the political center of the country, Mannoia said he also wants to turn his organization's attention to Hollywood, the cultural center now in the back yard of NAE's headquarters. Now located in temporary space in Glendora, Calif., he plans to move it to permanent space in the neighboring community of Azusa.

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