Several appointees of President Barack Obama's new President's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships have authored Christian books. Obama signed an executive order Feb. 5 establishing the new White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, which was known as the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives under President George W. Bush.

Composed of religious and secular leaders as well as scholars from different backgrounds, the 25 members of the advisory council-appointed to one-year terms--included Frank Page, Southern Baptist Convention president and author of The Incredible Shrinking Church (B&H Books/B&H Publishing Group); Richard Stearns, president of World Vision and author of The Hole in Our Gospel: What Does God Expect of Us? The Answer That Changed My Life and Might Just Change the World (Thomas Nelson, March 2009); Jim Wallis, president and executive director of Sojourners and author of God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It (HarperOne); and Joel Hunter, senior pastor of Northland, a Church Distributed in Longwood, Fla., and author of A New Kind of Conservative (Regal Books).

The office's top priority "will be making community groups an integral part of our economic recovery and poverty a burden fewer have to bear when recovery is complete," a White House statement said. "It will be one voice among several in the administration that will look at how we support women and children, address teenage pregnancy, and reduce the need for abortion."

"I'm pro-life," Hunter told The Washington Post. "I hate abortion. But this administration is trying to be very sensitive. They are trying to approach things in the least inflammatory, least contentious way so we can work together and have a more nuanced approach."

For a complete list of the President's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, visit http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/ObamaAnnouncesWhiteHouseOfficeofFaith-basedandNeighborhoodPartnerships/.

• Prev
• Next