Meeting last month at its annual convention, the National Association of Evangelicals (NAB) honored its 1987 Layperson of the Year and went on record by adopting a number of resolutions. Among the actions taken:
- U.S. Rep. Daniel Coats (R-Ind.) was named Layperson of the Year. On receiving the honor, Coats joked that when he had told a friend of the award, the friend responded: “It must have been a down year for laymen.”
- There was no debate before a resolution was passed calling on Christians to “fulfill their responsibility to be peacemakers, and in so doing to avoid the most common errors of the political left—opposition only to American military power; and of the political right—support of all defense programs.” The resolution further calls on the executive and legislative branches of the federal government to recognize the link between peace and human rights. States the resolution: “We believe this consideration, coupled with the right of a free people to be secure, must underpin any arms control or other international agreements.”
- The NAE also adopted a resolution calling on Christians to join in prayer for the churches of Nicaragua, praying specifically that “freedom for all churches be restored, that radio stations with religious programming be permitted to reopen, and that permission be granted for church publications, now forbidden, to be published and mailed.”
