God in Government: NAE Names New Lobbyist to Replace Richard Cizik

NAE Names New Lobbyist to Replace Richard Cizik

By Jacqueline L. Salmon

The National Association of Evangelicals has kept it in the family in naming a new lobbyist to replace the Rev. Richard Cizik, who was forced to resign last December after he voiced support for same-sex civil unions. The new NAE lobbyist is Galen Carey, who comes to the NAE from World Relief, the NAE's relief and development arm, the group announced this morning.

Stepping in after the larger-than-life Cizik leaves him "large shoes to fill," Carey said in one of his first interviews. "I respect him a lot."

The soft-spoken Carey, who will be NAE's director of government affairs, vows to stick to the NAE's top priorities, spelled out in its 2004 declaration, "For the Health of the Nation: An Evangelical Call to Civic Responsibility."

Among other goals, it embraces "creation care" -- that evangelicals have a biblical responsibility to the environment -- along with care for the poor and protecting the sanctity of life.

Cizik was ousted after an interview on NPR in which he said he was "shifting" on gay marriage and now believed in civil union. That was too much for the NAE, which was already facing unhappiness from some evangelical leaders that Cizik had been expanding the evangelical agenda far beyond its bread-and-butter issues of gay marriage, abortion and sexual morality. In particular, Cizik had embraced environmental activism and had campaigned against global warming.

Carey is "the real thing," said Leith Anderson, president of the NAE, one of the more higher-profile evangelical groups in Washington D.C. For Carey, "it's not just arguing some theory. It's out of his life experience that he comes to these issues."

At World Relief, Carey was most recently regional program adviser, stationed in Burundi. He's also worked in Indonesia, Kenya, Mozambique and Croatia. He's no Washington D.C. neophyte, though. He served as World Vision's director of advocacy and policy from 2002 to 2004.

One big attraction NAE saw in Carey: He is fluent in Spanish and is well-versed in immigrant issues. Prior to his international stints, he spent 20 years living among the poor in Chicago, working with immigrant and refugees.

Reaching out to immigrants, said Carey "is a natural part of our outreach."
That is because the membership of the NAE, which represents 60 denominations in Washington, is increasingly Hispanic. This fall, it is expected to release its position on comprehensive immigration reform, and Carey will no doubt find that one of his top priorities. World Relief has already come out in favor of reform, which is expected to include a path to citizenship for millions of the nation's illegal immigrants.

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NAE Names New Lobbyist to Replace Richard Cizik

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