Tomorrow a group of evangelicals in the US are going to try to take a word back.
Evangelical - Good news.
I don’t think they have a prayer.
 Evangelical has become a word so entangled with the US Republican party and special interest groups, it’s meaning has changed forever in the minds of many in the world.
Which is the point of the exercise after all. 
This document is said to be self-critical (which I believe the universal church should be).
No sub-group in this group gets off the hook.

The statement, called “An Evangelical Manifesto,” condemns Christians on the right and left for “using faith” to express political views without regard to the truth of the Bible, according to a draft of the document obtained Friday by The Associated Press.

That way faith loses its independence, Christians become `useful idiots’ for one political party or another, and the Christian faith becomes an ideology,” according to the draft.

…All too often we have attacked the evils and injustices of others,
…while we have condoned our own sins.
…we must reform our own behavior.”

We’ll see.
The release of a document in Washington via press conference is a political act.
Perhaps the word has become so snared, a bold media conference and a bold declaration is needed.
Or perhaps this manifesto will sink out of the collective consciousness like many things do in the first part of this busy century. There is little in the world that seems moderate however what seems is not what is. No harm in reminding ourselves now and then.
The signers seek to broaden their voice in public life and move beyond single issue politics such as abortion and gays that have dominated discourse and religious media coverage.

Given economic woes in the US the timing of this manifesto makes some sense. 
The manifesto will most likely be notable for who wasn’t consulted or included such as the very vocal leaders in the Southern Baptist Convention (which is not only acknowledging membership is declining but that giving is down after years of raking it in).
James Dobson of Focus on the Family? Nope.
Tony Perkins of The Family Research Council who may take another stab at Louisiana politics in the future? Nope.
Tim LaHaye got left out, Jonathan Falwell (Jerry’s kid) and others who have made a living getting face time for their pet causes. We’ll know tomorrow.

The media will say the religious right is dead or dying.
They’ll find out they are wrong when the war of words starts, the religious right isn’t going anywhere, we’ll all just be wishing they have.
80 US evangelical leaders are said to have signed this. Interesting this manifesto will be trumpeted as a Republican party analyst thinks conservative evangelical support is maxed out.

Os Guiness is one of the people who is involved in tomorrows news conference.    According to Melissa Rogers he is known for The Williamsburg Charter, a religious freedom statement written in 1988 to celebrate Virginia’s 200th anniversary of a call for the Bill of Rights.  Guiness will be joined by John Huffman of St. Andrews Presbyterian Church; Richard Mouw of Fuller Theological Seminary; David Neff of Christianity Today; Richard Ohman of Colonial Penn Insurance; and Larry Ross of A. Larry Ross Communications.  We’ll find out who the rest are who signed tomorrow, not all of them can or will be political heavyweights.
 
Leaving self-made leaders out of the consultation of a manifesto is a very political act, perhaps a wily one;  the ones left out on this aren’t the type to miss a good word war when they think their world view isn’t being heard or their money isn’t buying their way in. It could get mean, because mean has become the default position. The left out voices are known for what they are against, and what they are not initially included in is something they will be against.  Repentance, criticism and not being at the head of the table is harder for some than others,  in the court of public opinion he who yells loudest tends to win. That is if people are listening.

I don’t think the western evangelical church in her many shapes and forms is going to shake off it’s  self-conscious, aggressive group angst any time soon; while evangelicalism is a broad tent, we sometimes have trouble playing well with others.

Update: The Evangelical Manifesto (in .pdf. That’s a pretentious way to release it - if they can afford Adobe they can afford to put it on the web in a readable fashion, I’ll catch up to it later. The media centre didn’t load because it was video top heavy and the weather is poor here. I’ll catch up to that later also) The signatures are here. It’s rather refreshing the vast majority of names are not in the spotlight of media, a wide range of professors, NGO’s. It’s understandable blogs would be picking this up quicker, all US, one Canadian. Bruce Prescott: The Elephant is still in the room -

There is much to commend in their statement. Most of it would have been of much more value had it been said years ago — no, decades ago. It is much too little and way too late.

This statement comes at a moment when evangelical Christianity has lost all credibility because it is so closely identified with the American political right. More than any other group in America, the world knows that evangelicals are the political base for an administration that has disrupted the peace and tranquility of the entire world by fighting wars under false pretenses, undermining human rights, and condoning the use of torture.

Now that the political influence of evangelicals is declining, you’ll find numerous admonitions that evangelicalism must be defined theologically and not politically. Now that the media megaphone is slipping away from evangelicals, you’ll find many lamentations about the lack of civility in America’s “culture wars.” What you won’t find is any clear apology for the role that evangelicals have played and are still playing as cheerleaders for a worldwide “clash of civilizations.” In fact, the document itself singles out the religious extremism of “Islamist violence” for censure while ignoring the many examples of “Christian violence” bombing abortion clinics and federal buildings.

You’ll find several admissions of human sinfulness and fallibility and many appeals for repentance and reform, but not a single confession regarding the failure of American evangelicals to address this nation’s militarism, human rights violations, and abuse of prisoners.

While US evangelicals release a Manifesto, Canadian Catholics will be taking to the streets in Ottawa for the 11th National March for Life.  I say it’s a march backward, but march if you must, Ottawa is a good a place as any to walk and talk this time of year.