Dr. Joel C. Hunter, a member of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) North American Council, was appointed to President Barack Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships on Thursday, February 5.
Dr. Hunter, senior pastor of Northland, A Church Distributed in Longwood, Florida, will initially serve for a one year term on a team of 25 leaders who will advise the President and the Executive Director of the Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships on several priorities including poverty, abortion reduction, responsible fatherhood, and interfaith relations.
“I hope to be a part of mobilizing millions of Americans for service to their communities and to the world in general,” Dr. Hunter said.
“To a Christian, that has always been an important part of our witness for Christ. Service was embodied in the example of his life and envisioned in the final judgment he renders in Matthew 25,” he said. “It is especially important for a U.S. Christian to want to enhance the perception of Christianity by engaging in service, dialogue and cooperative ventures.”
The WEA International Director Dr. Geoff Tunnicliffe congratulated Dr. Hunter on his appointment, saying he is an 'ideal candidate' for the position.
“ Dr. Hunter is a globally aware person of great wisdom, insight and humility,” Dr. Tunnicliffe said. “He has deep compassion for the poor and marginalized in society. He can build bridges between diverse groups of people while at the same time remaining true to his biblical convictions and ethics. He is an ideal candidate to serve on President Obama’s advisory council. His contribution will be significant.”
Since June 1985, Dr. Hunter has served as senior pastor of Northland Church, a congregation of 12,000 at four sites around Metro Orlando and provides interactive webcast services to worshippers around the world. He is the author of A New Kind of Conservative, a book which outlines a non-partisan approach to political involvement.
“I think one of the priorities - Interfaith Dialogue - needs to be not only a domestic priority but a global one,” Dr. Hunter noted. “I have made it clear that I am a part of the Board for the WEA and I hope that somewhere along the line we can access WEA's experience in boundary spanning diplomacy and development. I am at least sure that this appointment could make more people in the U.S. aware of WEA.”
World Evangelical Alliance (WEA): World Evangelical Alliance is made up of 128 national evangelical alliances located in 7 regions and 104 associate member organizations. The vision of WEA is to extend the Kingdom of God by making disciples of all nations and by Christ-centered transformation within society. WEA exists to foster Christian unity, to provide an identity, voice and platform for the 420 million evangelical Christians worldwide.
[Source: WEA Press Release]
