c. 1999 Religion News Service

UNDATED _ A 43-year-old bishop in the Free Methodist Church of North America has been chosen as the new president of the National Association of Evangelicals.

The umbrella organization of the nation’s evangelical Christians _ which has been struggling to shed its reputation as a group of aging leaders _ seems to have made a symbolic move in appointing Bishop Kevin Mannoia.”I am not the secret formula,”said Mannoia, who was introduced at the NAE’s annual meeting, which concluded Tuesday (March 2) in Orlando, Fla.”Clearly, I represent something that they have a desire to become. … They know what I represent and my vision and my call and they know that ultimately, the complexion and the nature … of this group is going to change.” The Rev. Don Argue, Mannoia’s predecessor, has been often quoted as saying the organization was”too old, too white and too male.” Mannoia, who is white, said the organization will need to”move through fairly significant paradigm shifts”in the way it deals with its mission and structure. The evangelical movement will have to be decentralized so that local church leaders _ lay and clergy _ can”engage the culture where it is,”he said.”It becomes kind of an all-terrain vehicle with engines in each wheel instead of one central engine,”he said.”I’m talking about centralizing the vision and the values and the mission of the evangelical movement while decentralizing the passion, the initiative and the creativity.” Mannoia said he will continue Argue’s efforts to seek reconciliation with a variety of groups.

During the NAE meeting, he met with the executive committee of the National Black Evangelical Association to continue plans for a joint summit of leaders of NAE and NBEA that was postponed from January because NAE did not have a president at the time.”We have reconfirmed with the NBEA executive committee that we want to get that back on track for the year 2000,”he said.

Mannoia currently oversees the western United States and Asian conferences of his conservative Methodist denomination from a regional office in Azusa, Calif. The denomination, based in Indianapolis, has about 400,000 members worldwide and about 79,000 members in the United States.

Although he technically holds the NAE presidential post now, he won’t work for the organization full-time until July 8, when the quadrennial meeting of his church concludes.

The Rev. Richard Cizik, interim director of the NAE’s Office for Governmental Affairs, cheered Mannoia’s unanimous election by the organization’s board.”It’s a symbolic decision by our leadership to confer the mantle of leadership upon the new generation,”Cizik said.”And we’re confident that this is a symbol of what many evangelical institutions are going to need to do in order to face the challenges of the 21st century.” (OPTIONAL TRIM _ STORY MAY END HERE)

During the annual meeting, attended by about 350 delegates, four resolutions were unanimously adopted.

The statements addressed a range of topics, including the NAE’s concern about genocide and religious persecution in Sudan.

The resolution on Sudan urges more limits on commercial deals between the United States and the northeastern African country and further steps to reduce religious persecution and famine there.”The National Association of Evangelicals declares that for too long the world has been silent in the face of the starvation, enslavement and genocide conducted by the Sudanese regime against its own people,”the resolution reads.”Silence is unconscionable in the face of this continuing evil.” Cizik said the resolution urged evangelical support for the work of the Student Campaign of Conscience for Sudan, which has involved secular and religious college campuses.”We felt deeply this is an issue that needs to galvanize religious and secular people against the incredible violations of human rights that are occurring in Sudan,”he said.

Another resolution addressed the Y2K computer bug by encouraging a”positive, proactive response”by evangelical groups, including the creation of task forces at local and denominational levels.”Any response to this challenge that focuses only on personal survival falls short of a biblical model to serve others, whether they be those of the household of faith who may need spiritual and physical assistance, or those without faith who can experience the reality of our faith and love by the works we do before them.” Other resolutions supported legislative initiatives aimed at”community renewal, economic empowerment and educational opportunities for low-income families”and condemned the”horrendous degradation of women and children”in the international sex industry.

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