Head of Religious Broadcasters Resigns

NASHVILLE--The president of the National Religious Broadcasters resigned after complaints about a newspaper interview in which he said the group should not lose focus on spiritual issues as it pursues political goals.

The board of the broadcasters group voted to accept the resignation of Wayne Pederson, who had served in the post since October. Some of the group’s 1,490 members threatened to leave over what they perceived as Pederson’s desire to change the organization’s mission, which has traditionally been to take stands on a mix of spiritual and political issues.

In a Jan. 5 interview with the Star Tribune of Minneapolis, Pederson said, “Sometimes, in taking our stands we’ve allowed ourselves to be typecast, and the effectiveness spiritually has been diminished.”