Evangelical Press Group Considers Dropping Name

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Faith Desk

In Short: (RNS) — A group of prominent evangelical journalists is considering dropping the word 'evangelical' from their name, citing the term's increasing political baggage.

(RNS) — A group of prominent evangelical journalists is considering dropping the word 'evangelical' from their name, citing the term's increasing political baggage.

The Evangelical Press Association (EPA) board has recommended the change, noting that the word 'evangelical' now carries political, cultural, and sociological meanings that often obscure its theological intent.

Mark Dreistadt, an EPA board adviser and president of Infinity Concepts, a Christian marketing firm, said the group has been facing shrinking membership and felt a new name might help attract new members.

The EPA board emphasized that the group's theology will not change, and members will still have to affirm evangelical beliefs, even if they don’t use the name.

The recommendation comes as other evangelicals have become more aggressive in defending the reputation of their movement, arguing that critics focus too much on politics and not enough on the good works of evangelicals.

According to Pew Research Center, 76% of white evangelicals said they preferred the Republican candidate for the House of Representatives in their district, while 10% favored the Democratic candidate and 11% were not sure.

Evangelicals overall were more bipartisan, with 60% favoring the Republican candidate, 23% favoring the Democratic candidate, and 12% not sure.

Journalist Mark Kellner, an EPA member who has written for national publications like the Washington Times and NY Post, thinks the name change is unwise.

Kellner, who said he was speaking for himself, not the publications he writes for, said the word evangelical has clear theological meaning.

He ended up attending an evangelical church, which he said was a better match for his beliefs.

The word evangelical and the beliefs of evangelicals are now very, very important to me,' Kellner said.

There is no reason for anyone to be ashamed of the name evangelical, which, in its original meaning, stands for the good news,' he added.

What's still developing

But in the upcoming presidential election, candidates are chasing evangelical voters the hardest.
According to official data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics 2022 Census, 57 percent of Brazilians still identify as Catholic —more than 100 million people—while 27 percent say they are evangelical Protestant—about 47 million.
“It is not unreasonable to say that at least one in three Brazilians is evangelical,” writes anthropologist Juliano Spyer in his recently published book O Brasil dos Evangélicos ( The Brazil of Evangelicals ).
While Brazil is a “young force” in global Protestantism compared to the United States or Europe, it is founding new Christian branches and already sends many evangelical missionaries to other parts of the world, according to Dr. Spyer.
For decades, however, Brazil’s religious landscape has shown a steady trend: growth in the population identifying as evangelical—Protestant churches ranging from historical or traditional denominations to Pentecostal and neo-Pentecostal ones.
A historian of the movement surveys the five decades since “The Year of the Evangelical.” Get the most recent headlines and stories from Christianity Today delivered to your inbox daily.
"History also disproves what the ambassador is saying. The Romans intentionally adopted the name ‘Palestine’ as a replacement for ‘Judea’ in an effort to erase the Jews from the land, roughly a century after Christ was crucified," he added.
A leading American evangelical leader has condemned remarks made by a Palestinian official claiming the Bible as a "Palestinian book." Palestinian Ambassador to the U.K.
"We are the original Christians, all the names that you see here, all the saints that you hear about came from my land and I am so proud about that, spreading Jesus’ message worldwide." Critics contend the Palestinian Authority has sought to shape the international historical narrative surrounding the land through institutions such as UNESCO and the United Nations.
They point to UNESCO’s designation of the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron in the name of the "State of Palestine" in 2016 and its 2023 designation of Tell es-Sultan near Jericho as a World Heritage site in "Palestine." They also cite a 2021 U.N.
General Assembly resolution that referred to the Temple Mount, Judaism’s holiest site, only by its Muslim name, "Haram al-Sharif," as well as P.A.
Sixty-one percent said the term evangelical Christian describes them — but 39% said it did not.

Sources

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