When Rich Cizik's 28-year career as Vice President for governmental affairs at the National Association of Evangelicals ended in December, many evangelicals responded not only by expressing their profound admiration for Rich, but also by calling on NAE leadership to appoint a successor who shared his commitment to a broad political agenda including issues such as poverty, human rights and environmental stewardship.

It appears that this continuity will be realized. Today Sarah Pulliam reported in Christianity Today that the NAE appointed World Relief advocacy and policy director Galen Carey as their new Vice President of Governmental Affairs. Some background:

Several media outlets reported during the 2008 election that evangelicals have recently broadened their agenda to address climate change and poverty, but Carey argues that the trend has been ongoing for a long time.

"Evangelicals have been more apt to be directly engaged in addressing issues like poverty or HIV/AIDS on the community level. As a result, we recognize a public policy dimension, which leads us into more political engagement," said Carey, who attends a multicultural church in Maryland. "It's probably people in the mainstream belatedly discovering that evangelicals do have quite a variety of interests."

Carey also spent 14 years in Chicago working with churches and refugees, worked for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Croatia, and directed disaster relief in Indonesia.

President of World Relief Sammy Mah said he had recommended Carey for the job because his experience allows him to navigate different cultures and ideologies.

We've been in touch with our friends at World Relief, and they're thrilled that such a dynamic leader is taking such an important post. And it's gratifying to see the NAE continuing its faithful commitment to addressing issues such as poverty and the environment by appointing a new vice president with extensive experience working with affected and vulnerable communities in the US and around the world. We hope and expect that he'll continue making a difference for these people in his new leadership role at the NAE.