Commentary by Daniel Whyte III, President of Gospel Light Society International:

Daniel Whyte III, President of Gospel Light Society International, who has for over two decades called on Bible-believing Christians to stop calling themselves 'Evangelicals' and start calling themselves 'Christians,' as they were first called in Antioch, because the name 'Evangelical' is a compromised, unbiblical, political name used to appease a God-hating, Jesus Christ-hating, Bible-hating world. The name 'Evangelical' is also associated with the satanic Judas-Jezebel-Laodicean church spirit of taking the 30 million pieces of silver to deny God, Jesus Christ, and the Bible to collude with the government and the world and to be accepted by the world. Whyte is also responsible for the term 'The Evangelical Files,' which is a play on the gross 'Epstein Files' because of the abominable and gross sins of pastors and so-called church leaders who have molested and sexually assaulted children and who have covered it up. Whyte briefly explains the Evangelicals' evil influence over the entire Protestant movement when he was addressing another tragic case of a pastor molesting a child: "Daniel Whyte III, President of Gospel Light Society International, says this case represents yet another tragic chapter in the ongoing child molestation crisis plaguing the modern Evangelical, Protestant, Baptist church." (SPECIAL NOTE: Even though we do not have time to get into this issue here, Whyte has taught in recent years that the Evangelicals who traditionally are the intelligentsia and the Pharisees and Sadducees of the Protestant church because they are the most educated, and they write the most books, and therefore, they have influenced all Protestant denominations because the pastors of the churches, over the past fifty years, feed at the trough of the Evangelical bookstores. Therefore, the Evangelicals, intentionally or unintentionally, influence the entire Protestant movement across America. That is why we include Baptists, Charismatics, and Methodists in The Evangelical Files when they do some of the same things the Evangelicals have done.) He states that it is a grievous sin when a man who is called to be a shepherd of God's flock uses his position of authority to prey upon the most vulnerable among us — little children — instead of praying for them. As our Lord Jesus Christ declared in Matthew 19:14: "Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven." How dare any man, especially a pastor, stand in the way of a child coming to Jesus by violating that child in the most unspeakable manner? How dare any man who claims to represent the Lord Jesus Christ commit such an abominable act against one of these little ones whom Jesus loves and welcomes with open arms?

The Evangelical Press Association — a 300-member group of evangelical journalists whose ranks include Christianity Today, Decision magazine, and the Christian Chronicle — has voted on whether to drop the word “Evangelical” from its name and rebrand as the “Christian Communicators Network.”

The group’s board recommended the change back in early August, and voting closed on October 7. In a letter to members, the board said the word “Evangelical” “increasingly carries political, cultural, and sociological meanings that often obscure its theological intent,” while the word “Christian” is “immediately understood around the world.”

Mark Dreistadt, an adviser to the EPA board and president of the Christian marketing firm Infinity Concepts, was blunt about the reason: “evangelical has a lot of baggage.” He said the association knows many people who simply will not use the term anymore, and he admitted that shrinking membership was part of the motivation — a new name, he hopes, might draw new members in.

But the theology isn’t changing. Even under a new name, members would still be required to affirm evangelical beliefs. The name would change; the doctrine would not.

The numbers tell the story of why the board is nervous. A 2024 study commissioned by the EPA itself found that among Protestants whose beliefs about Jesus, the Bible, and evangelism line up with evangelical doctrine, only 61 percent say the term “evangelical Christian” describes them — 39 percent say it does not. And among the American public at large, just 24 percent hold a positive view of the word; 49 percent are neutral and 27 percent view it negatively.

Not everyone is on board with the rebrand. Mark Kellner, a longtime EPA member and journalist, called the move short-sighted and tied to the current political moment — particularly the movement’s association with President Trump. “There is no reason for anyone to be ashamed of the name evangelical,” Kellner said, noting that Trump leaves office in two years, but evangelical churches will outlast him.

Bonnie Kristian, deputy editor of Christianity Today and author of “In Defense of Evangelicalism,” plans to vote no. She argues the new name creates more problems than it solves, since the group would still be evangelical in every meaningful sense — a generic “Christian” label, she says, would mislead mainline, Catholic, and Orthodox believers. “Evangelical,” she maintains, remains “the most useful one we have” to describe theologically conservative Protestants.

The debate reflects a deeper reality documented by Pew Research: the word “evangelical” now functions as both a religious identity and a political label. White evangelicals and Black Protestants share similar theological beliefs but vote very differently — a tension that has loaded the term with political meaning far beyond the church doors.

Source: Bob Smietana, Religion News Service, via Roys Report, October 6, 2026.