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Evangelical leaders gathered at Jack Morton Auditorium last week to discuss the qualities they hope to find in a 2008 presidential candidate.

“There is a really interesting conversation going on in the Evangelical community,” said moderator Steve Waldman of Beliefnet.com. He opened the discussion by saying, “There is still a lot of stereotyping, people being put into boxes. Evangelicals are now looking at politics in a different way.”

Waldman pointed to the results of a recent survey of Evangelicals, which showed that issues such as the economy, cleaning up corruption in government and reducing poverty are more important than ending abortion and blocking gay marriage.

“A new generation is coming of age and wants its voice to be heard. There is a new moment, a new agenda,” Waldman said. “We are applying faith to the urgent threat of climate change, to immigration reform, and to HIV/AIDS and other pandemic diseases.”

Richard Cizik, vice president for governmental affairs of the National Association of Evangelicals, said an historic shift is occurring among Evangelicals, but that the national media isn’t looking for it and thus has not picked up on it yet.

“(Evangelicals) are no longer single-issue voters, we’re not going to blindly follow leaders,” Cizik said.

Bishop Harry Jackson of the D.C. Hope Christian Church spoke about the evolution of the Christian right more than 30 years ago.

“Thirty or 40 years ago, white Evangelists decided (they wanted) to affect politics, so they jumped on and rode the closest horse, (the Republican party),” Jackson said. “It was the right thing back then, but now we’ve lost the ability to be a nonpartisan conscience to the nation . Christians need to move beyond just being righteous to creating justice, too.”

Other members of the panel brought up illegal immigration, helping Africa and protecting the environment as items on the Evangelical agenda.

Lynne Hybels, co-founder of Willow Creek Community Church in Illinois, spoke about the slow-moving expansion and change among Evangelicals.

“As a whole, Evangelicals are now realizing that the church is global. We’re not just related by faith, but by issues,” she said.

The Rev. Samuel Rodriguez stressed the importance of Latino Evangelical voters in the upcoming election.

“The change (in Latino voting behavior) is as a result of the immigration reform debacle. Latinos are traditionalists, committed to strong family values. Immigration reform as a moral issue is top. We’re not negating abortion or gay marriage, but (we’re focusing) from womb to tomb,” he said. “Instead of Bishop Limbaugh, Reverend Hannity, or Apostle Lou Dobbs, the Latinos are still listening to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.”

Ultimately, the panel agreed that the direction the country will head depends largely on faith.

The Rev. Cheryl Sanders, a Howard professor said, “It’s not a matter of who has the best religion, I’m not voting for a person to be my pastor. I’m voting for someone to bring a credible solution and strategy, not someone using a trick or slight of hand to get votes.”