Rick Warren, Richard Land among Time’s top 25 evangelicals

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)—Joining Billy and Franklin Graham on Time magazine’s list of the 25 “Most Influential Evangelicals in America” were Southern Baptists Rick Warren, Richard Land, Chuck Colson, and Tim and Beverly LaHaye.

“American Evangelicalism seems to defy unity, let alone hierarchy,” Time said in its Feb. 7 issue. “Yet its members share basic commitments. Time’s list focuses on those whose influence is on the rise or who have carved out a singular role.”

Time dubbed Warren “America’s New People’s Pastor,” noting that his book, The Purpose-Driven Life, has sold more than 20 million copies over the past two years and is the best-selling hardback in United States history.

Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics Religious Liberty Commission, filled the slot of “God’s Lobbyist” on Time’s list. The magazine focused on Land’s connections to the White House and his influential role in shaping the Bush administration’s social policies.

“The men around his longtime friend George W. Bush don’t sit around waiting for Land’s call,” Time said. “They reach out to him, individually and as part of a weekly teleconference with other Christian conservatives, to plot strategy on such issues as gay marriage and abortion.”

Colson, once imprisoned for his role in the Watergate scandal as an aide to President Richard Nixon, made Time’s list as “Reborn and Rehabilitated.” The founder of Prison Fellowship was commended by Time for helping to define compassionate conservatism and provide a model for faith-based initiatives. Today he is active in politics and lobbying against same-sex “marriage,” Time said.

As “The Christian Power Couple,” Tim and Beverly LaHaye share a spot on Time’s list. Tim LaHaye helped found Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority, and coauthored the “Left Behind” series, which has sold more than 42 million copies.

Beverly LaHaye founded Concerned Women for America, one of the most influential pro-life, pro-traditional marriage organizations in Washington.

Evangelists Billy and Franklin Graham also share a spot among the 25 most influential evangelicals as “Father and Son in the Spirit.” Time said while the father has had the ear of presidents for five decades, he has largely kept his distance from politics and devoted his life to saving souls. The son, on the other hand, is more eager to step into the political spotlight and give his opinion on issues such as homosexuality or the Iraq war, Time noted.

Others on Time’s list of the 25 Most Influential Evangelicals were James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family; Rick Santorum, the Senate’s third-ranking Republican and a Catholic leader in pro-life and pro-family social causes; Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the American Center for Law Justice; Richard John Neuhaus, a Catholic priest who counsels President Bush on religious matters; Mark Noll, a scholar who contends that a high view of the Bible and high-level participation in American intellectual life can coexist; J.I. Packer, an Oxford-trained theologian, executive editor of Christianity Today and author of the cross-denominationally celebrated Knowing God; David Barton, vice chair of the Texas Republican Party and a loud voice in the church-state separation debate; Doug Coe, director of the Fellowship Foundation which hosts the National Prayer Breakfast; and Stuart Epperson, co-founder of Salem Communications, a religious and political broadcasting powerhouse.

Also on the list: Ted Haggard, president of the National Association of Evangelicals; Diane Knippers, president of the conservative Institute on Religion and Democracy; Bill Hybels, founder of Willow Creek Community Church near Chicago; Michael Gerson, a former Bush speechwriter; Howard and Roberta Ahmanson, savings-and-loan multimillionaire philanthropists from Irvine, Calif., who have advanced the cause of faith-based activism; Luis Cortes, a Philadelphia minister who builds houses in poor communities and offers start-up loans to Hispanic businesses; T.D. Jakes; Brian McLaren, a nondenominational Maryland pastor; Joyce Meyer; Stephen Strang; and Ralph Winter, director of the Frontier Mission Fellowship.