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January 18, 2007

Former Salvation Army leader named to NAE post

by Adelle M. Banks
Religion News Service

WASHINGTON — The National Association of Evangelicals has chosen a former top official of the Salvation Army to serve as its new executive director.
   
     W. Todd Bassett, the former national commander of the Salvation Army, has been a member of the NAE’s Executive Committee for four years.
   
     “We’re thrilled to have him do this,” said interim NAE President Leith Anderson, pastor of Wooddale Church in Eden Prairie, MN, on Jan. 17. “He brings enormous stature and experience and is well-connected with the evangelical community.”
   
     Officials of the umbrella organization explained that Bassett is not succeeding the Rev. Ted Haggard, who resigned last November as president amid a sex and drug scandal.
   
     "This is a new role that we used to have in years gone by and we now have,” said the Rev. Richard Cizik, vice president for governmental affairs.
   
     Reached in Calcutta, India, during a church missions trip, Anderson said that a key part of his role as interim president has been to focus on the staffing of the Washington headquarters of the association. Bassett’s appointment is a part of that, he said.
   
     “It’s a different style of organization and it strengthens the organization,” he explained. “It’s less dependent administratively on the position of president and provides just a breadth of organization and infrastructure.”