Conservative evangelicalism is changing, driven by an admirable zeal for confessional orthodoxy, Reformed theology, and pastoral leadership. Rising from the ashes of what Rolland McCune called “the failed promise of evangelicalism,” a loose network of conservative pastors and theologians have deliberately distanced themselves from the pragmatism, postmoderism, and cultural infatuation that marred the broader evangelical movement. Because these movements are still in development, it has become difficult to sort out all of the overlapping organizational structures.

“Evangelicalism has had tendency for about a hundred years at least to an incredible proliferation of institutional organisms that actually compete with each other,” Ligon Duncan said during a recent Gospel Coalition question and answer session.

“Can we ever get to the point where we have too many movements?” a moderator asked Duncan.

“All of these groups believe God has a plan for taking the gospel to the world and it is called the church,” Duncan answered. “There is no Plan B.” Describing the emphasis on the local church shared by the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, Together for the Gospel, and the Gospel Coalition, Duncan said, “There may be a day when it is just one group…we don’t know.”

Here is a summary of the three developing groups:

The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals (www.alliancenet.org) began in 1949 as Evangelical Ministries, a private foundation to support Donald Grey Barnhouse’s radio program, Bible Study Hour. Between 1950 and 1988, Evangelical Ministries also published Eternity magazine. The original organization played a key role in organizing the 1978 International Council on Biblical Inerrancy, which produced the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy. This statement is widely regarded as an important defense of Biblical truth. Several GARBC leaders attended the 1978 meetings and Robert Gromacki was a cosigner of the document.

Reorganizing in 1994 under its current name, the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals hosted a major meeting of evangelical scholars in 1996, producing a statement known as the Cambridge Declaration. The Alliance website refers to this document as “a call to the evangelical church to turn away from the worldly methods it has come to embrace, and to recover the Biblical doctrines of the Reformation.” The statement ignited a new interest in adherence to the five “solas” of the Reformation.

The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals is governed by a council of evangelical leaders, and describes itself as “a broad coalition of evangelical Christians from various denominations, including Baptist, Congregational (Independent), Anglican (Episcopal), Presbyterian, Reformed, and Lutheran.” It is not an organization of churches or ministries; rather, it is a loose organization of conservative evangelicals committed to orthodox doctrine. The Alliance produces an online magazine, www.reformation21.org, four radio programs including the original Bible Study Hour (now featuring James Boice), a series of booklets on doctrine and contemporary issues, and several books.

The Gospel Coalition (www.thegospelcoalition.org) describes itself as “a group of (mostly) pastors and churches in the Reformed heritage who delight in the truth and power of the gospel, and who want the gospel of Christ crucified and resurrected to lie at the center of all we cherish, preach, and teach.”

The group was organized in 2004 by D. A. Carson (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Ill.) and Tim Keller (pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, New York ). Growing to include a council of about 50 pastors and ministry leaders who met privately for three years, the Coalition released a Confessional Statement and a Theological Vision for Ministry. In 2007 the Gospel Coalition hosted an inaugural event at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, attended by about 500.

The Gospel Coalition publishes the online theological journal Themelios and sponsors a loose coalition of ministries known as the Gospel Coalition Network. Potential members are asked to affirm the Gospel Coalition’s foundation documents-a structural device that is still under development. For instance, one page of the website describes the Gospel Coalition as “a fellowship of evangelical churches,” but the affiliations remain somewhat loose and undeveloped. At the 2009 Gospel Coalition conference, organizers announced formation of an online community to be known as The City, describing the venture with Zondervan as “community building software” that allows community groups and ministry service teams to “continuously share life together as it unfolds.”

Together for the Gospel (www.t4g.org) began in 2006 as a Bible conference hosted by four friends (Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, C. J. Mahaney, and Albert Mohler) who shared similar views on the content and centrality of the gospel. Interestingly, they also shared serious concerns about the modern evangelical church, releasing a doctrinal statement that said, “Compromise of the Gospel has led to the preaching of false gospels, the seduction of many minds and movements, and the weakening of the church’s Gospel witness.”

The original participants then asked four other pastors (Thabiti Anyabwile, John MacArthur, John Piper, and R. C. Sproul) to join them in signing a doctrinal statement that details their consensus views on the centrality of the gospel.

The eight men plan to host a conference every two years (alternating with the biannual Gospel Coalition conference) with the stated goal of encouraging pastors to stand together for the gospel. Over time, the conferences have also evolved into a loose network of pastors who affirm the T4G doctrinal ideas. The T4G website asks participants to “contact like-minded pastors in your area, pray publicly and privately for their churches, support one another’s needs, and demonstrate the unity we have in the gospel.”

Kevin Mungons is managing editor of the Baptist Bulletin.