NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF EVANGELICALS

A voluntary association of American Protestant evangelical churches, schools, organizations, and individuals who are united without executive or legislative control on the basis of a commonly accepted statement of faith. The purpose of the Association is to provide national identification for evangelicals, fellowship in cooperative witness, and service in every major field of evangelical concern. The occasion for the foundation of the Association was dissatisfaction among evangelical Protestants with the then Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America (1905–50; see national council of the churches of christ in the u.s.a.). They objected that the Council had admitted to its membership a large number of "liberals" who, in their philosophy and theology, were un-Biblical and even anti-Biblical; that it had deliberately omitted or purposely neglected to include provisions for the preservation of all the values inherent in historic Protestantism; and that it had forced evangelicals to take protective measures to ensure their liberty in preaching the Gospel and in carrying out their church programs.

The first organized effort of evangelicals to unite among themselves was the formation in 1929 of the regional New England Fellowship. Its success led to a meeting of evangelical leaders in Chicago, Illinois, Oct. 27–28, 1941, and the unanimous decision to call a national conference in St. Louis, Missouri, April 7–9, 1942. Representatives from approximately 40 denominations agreed at the St. Louis meeting "to organize an Association which shall give articulation and united voice to our faith and purposes." In May of 1943 at Chicago, a constitutional convention worked out a statement of faith that was built on the Bible as the supreme authority in all matters of belief and conduct. With this creedal basis, the convention then adopted a permanent constitution. The national office is located in Los Angeles, California. Central to the Association is the Office of Governmental Affairs in Washington, D.C., which keeps a watch on legislation, the infringement of religious liberties, religious persecutions, and other matters of evangelical interest. The monthly magazine, United Evangelical Action, is the official publication of the Association.

Bibliography: j. d. murch, Cooperation without Compromise (Grand Rapids 1956).

[r. matzerath/eds.]