In 1982, EMNR was formed as "a consortium of Christians in North America, seeking to help people distinguish authentic from in-authentic Christianity and strengthen evangelical Christian ministries to new religionists and cultists." The founders of EMNR adopted the Lausanne Covenant as our governing document to carry out this plea from Affirmation 7 of the Lausanne Covenant: "We urge the developme
nt of regional and functional cooperation for the furtherance of the Church's mission, for strategic planning, for mutual encouragement, and for the sharing of resources and experience." In the Fall of 2021, the board of directors voted to close down "Evangelical Ministries to New Religions" and create a new non-profit organization, "EMNR, Inc.", which is our legal name. That acronym may be expanded to "Evangelical Missions to Non-Christian Religions. EMNR will never assume a magisterial role or become a closed guild which diminishes the validity of other ministries who are not part of EMNR. Many devoted and Spirit-led Christian ministries and missionaries will never affiliate with EMNR, and in the providence of God, both our own ministries and EMNR itself will one day be drawn to a close. We pray that while we are now active in the service of Jesus Christ, we will bless and encourage our colleagues in the Gospel. As in any coalition, we expect to find believers with varying levels of competence, maturity, and experience. Some Christians have not developed the skills and knowledge necessary to present a balanced approach to this difficult field. Some of us have engaged in unjust or superficial judgments against others. On occasions some have judged presumptuously, making nonessential matters a test for Christian fellowship. Because Christians still struggle against fleshly desires and ambitions (Eph. 4:20-32), there are occasions when Christians sin against one another by attitude, tone, timing, or delivery in their attempt to correct. As a result, some have earned the label "witch hunter" or "heresy hunter." We need to be sensitive of such adjuration, and be ready to be instructed and corrected when the charges are valid.
