In a world increasingly shaped by polarization and partisanship, American evangelicalism is undergoing a quiet and profound transformation. This has largely been overlooked by media stories and political commentators, says Rev. Walter Kim, president of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE). He argues that American evangelical stories are far more diverse, subtle and hopeful than they are commonly portrayed.
Kim, who became the first person of color to lead the NAE in 2020, spoke with Christian Daily International in an in-depth interview about his personal journey, the changing face of the evangelical church, and what he sees as the deepest challenge and promising opportunity for followers of Jesus Christ in America today.
“We interact with people on both sides of the aisle.”
Founded in 1942, the National Evangelical Association serves as a unified voice and platform for over 40 Protestant denominations and hundreds of related ministries and nonprofit organizations. These range from Presbyterians and Pentecostals to Wesleyans, Mennonites and Methodists, and include Christian universities, seminaries, campus ministries and humanitarian institutions.
“We are a multinational company representing a variety of traditions,” Kim explained. “And there has been significant growth in recent decades, especially with the number of evangelical nonprofits that are part of the NAE, whether they focus on education, relief and evangelism.”
The NAE’s mission is based on shared evangelical beliefs. It is an active faith expressed through biblical authority, the work of Christ’s sin salvation, and through personal disciples and social engagement. But it is also vast in scope, reflecting the overall understanding of the gospel’s relevance to all areas of life.
One arm of that mission is to salvation the world, the humanitarian institution of the NAE. Historically, World Relief, one of only ten organizations recognized by the US government to resettle refugees, connects new arrivals of all backgrounds with local churches. “Make sure that refugees are not only resettled, but are located in the community,” Kim said. “This is done in the name of Jesus.”
Another known area of engagement is the NAE’s pastoral program. It certifies and endorses evangelical pastors who are increasingly serving in the military, healthcare, educational and business worlds. “We see the market as a growing mission area,” Kim pointed out.
And in the realm of public life, the NAE is actively and aggressive in advocacy, but intentionally does not support political candidates. “NAE will never support the candidate,” Kim emphasized. “But we try to speak to people on both sides of the aisle in every administration and policies that reflect our beliefs about the common good.”
“My story as a son of refugees and immigrants is increasingly a story of American evangelicalism.”
For Kim, these commitments are not merely professional, they are personal. His life has been shaped by the highly evangelical ministries he now represents.
His father was a North Korean refugee who fled south during the war and eventually resettled in South Korea. “It was a time when many evangelical organizations were helping Korea rebuild their country, including world salvation and world vision,” Kim said. “They were part of their lives that benefited from evangelicals who do this overall gospel work.”
His parents then moved to the United States, where Kim was born in New York City. He grew up in a vibrant Korean Presbyterian church, then moved to a predominantly white coal mining town in Pennsylvania. There he began to save his faith through a local Baptist youth pastor using four spiritual laws created by another evangelical ministry affiliated with the NAE (Campus Crusade for Christ at the time).
“I went to the seminary in Boston and later served at Park Street Church,” Kim said. Park Street helped to establish NAE in 1942.
His journeys in life span across cities and countryside, immigration and majority, majority, reform and Baptist cultures, sects and regions. “This is evangelical story,” he said. “And the fact that I am the son of refugees and immigrants. I think this is an increasingly American evangelical story.”
Evangelicals are diverse, but “media doesn’t like nuance.”
Despite the widespread and depth of evangelicalism and its increasing diversity, public understanding of it remains limited. Kim said, especially outside the United States, “American evangelicals are not monoliths.” “Perhaps it would be better to talk about multiple evangelicalism, namely American evangelism.”
Kim highlighted important internal diversity within evangelical communities shaped by geography, denomination, ethnicity and history. “You’ll find people who share theological beliefs and perhaps even sing the same worship songs, but you’re living your faith in a very different way,” he said.
However, this diversity is often flattered in media portrayals. This tends to focus on the loudest and most polarized voices, making up only 5%.
“The wings are often the loudest,” Kim said, comparing it to Bell’s curve. “They have a megaphone for social media and mainstream media, but the majority of evangelicals actually have a much more nuanced view.”
That nuance is difficult to grasp in today’s media environment. “We don’t live in an era where nuances are highly regarded,” Kim added. “The media doesn’t like nuance. It doesn’t work on social media. Politicians don’t work well across the aisle. And we don’t have patience with people from different ideological backgrounds.”
This lack of nuance is particularly prominent in how political and social status are reported. For example, regarding immigration, Kim points to a co-sponsored study by the NAE and Lifeway studies, indicating that 90% of evangelicals believe in strong boundaries. And almost 80% support the long-term, undocumented immigrants’ path to citizenship that contributes to society.
“We don’t hear that in the media,” he said. “But it’s the thoughtful, biblical-informed approach that many evangelicals actually hold.”
The face of evangelicalism is changing. Majority minorities are becoming the norm
Perhaps the most important shift ongoing in American evangelicalism is demographics. While the media often focuses on “white evangelicals,” Kim emphasizes that evangelical churches are increasingly multiethnic and multicultural.
“In the last decade or so, we have been experiencing one of the most transformative inflection points in American religious history,” Kim said. “Many denominations are approaching or already become minorities of the majority” means that a single ethnicity does not represent a congregation of more than 50%.
This transformation has been driven largely by the growth of the immigrant church. “I personally have this product,” Kim said. “And many sect leaders say their fastest growing congregations are migrant-initiated.”
Boston, where Kim was previously a pastor, is one example. Boston, considered one of America’s most secular cities, has seen the number of 300 to 600 churches doubled between 1965 and 2014.
“We had churches in Haiti, churches in East Africa, and evangelical churches that spoke Portuguese,” Kim said. “It’s a quiet revival.”
Kim believes these developments are reconstructing the face of evangelicalism. “It more and more reflects Revelation 7:9 – from people gathered from all tribes, tongues and nations.”
But even the often-cited “white evangelicals” are different from what many might think, Kim says. “It’s important to acknowledge that white evangelicals are more diverse than they are presented in the media.”
“It would be easy to overdevelop it according to the latest polls, but polls don’t get the nuance,” he says. It emphasizes the importance of the questioning framework, which feeds a particular story.
“Even among those who could vote in a certain way, they actually had these very diverse views of white evangelicals who voted for President Trump, who could be perceived as holding a very specific and narrow view on immigration,” Kim says.
He points to the findings of Lifeway studies that paint far more accurately than many polls mentioned in mainstream media.
“Yes, we need to strengthen our borders, but we need to unite our families. Yes, we need to deport criminals, but we should give them a way for those who have contributed to their community. That’s complicated.
Disciple’s gap: “We have no rich theology for public life.”
There are encouraging developments, such as the growth of immigrant congregations and increased church diversity, but Kim is concerned about the deeper issues beneath the surface: the disciple gap.
“American evangelicalism is incredibly entrepreneurial, practical, populist with the sense that it is a grassroots movement and personal,” he said. “These are great strengths. They helped the movement grow. But they also have an inside out.”
It warns that the downside is shallow theological formation, especially when it comes to official expressions of faith.
“We know how to lead someone to save their faith, to disciple someone to personal morality and ensure that they have a healthy marriage. We are truly good at calling the altar of personal salvation,” he said. “But we don’t have a rich theology for public life, because of work, government and citizen involvement.”
He said he has forced evangelicals to define perspectives on cultural issues by political commentators and influencers. “We outsourced our disciples to cable news and social media, and they have far more impact on shaping us as public Christians than in the Bible and the church.”
Kim called for intentional and theological renewal of his disciple. It equips followers not only for personal ethics but for public engagement. “We need to cultivate cultural theology, institutional theology, government theology. It’s what ethics means not only in these spaces, but in our ethics.”
“Beautiful” compassion and innovation give hope
Despite these concerns, Kim sees signs of hope. This is rooted in the same grassroots spirit that has come to define evangelicalism in the United States.
“I think in fact, the evangelical entrepreneurs are holding the solution,” he said. All over the country, Christians have set up clinics, care for single mothers, welcome refugees and advocate for people with disabilities.
“The Evangelical Church has a spirit of compassion and innovation,” Kim said. “And it’s beautiful.”
He believes that if the church can restore its theological depths and resist the temptation that reflects cultural divisions, it can offer something unique and transformative.
“If I could ask for one thing, it would be a prayer.”
When asked what he would say to evangelicals in other parts of the world, Kim replied, “If I could ask for one thing, it would be a prayer to become an evangelical in the way Jesus is an evangelical.”
He referenced Luke 4. There, Jesus declares good news to the poor, prisoners, blind, and oppressed. “He was the first person to declare Evangel. Good news,” Kim said.
“It’s the overall gospel. For the transformation of society as a whole, it’s the individual and the public. I invite churches all over the world to follow in the footsteps of people we in America that have actually been good news.”
