Dobson quits leadership of Focus on the Family
He’ll continue to air his views through writings, radio show
DENVER – James Dobson is stepping down as chairman of Focus on the Family, the conservative religious group announced Friday, a change that comes as the political movement Dobson has long embodied is torn by questions over its direction and priorities.
Dobson, 72, will continue to broadcast his popular radio show, write books and newsletters, speak out on family issues and retain a prominent role at the Colorado Springs-based group that he founded in 1977.
“He’ll continue to be a voice to be reckoned with,” spokesman Gary Schneeberger said. “He’ll still be very front and center.”
Dobson will be replaced by retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Patrick P. Caruana, who has been on the organization’s board since 1996.
Jim Daly, who replaced Dobson as Focus’ chief executive six years ago, said the organization will “forever be committed to the fulfillment of the mission so definitively served by both Dr. and Mrs. Dobson – helping families thrive.”
The move comes as evangelicals around the nation are reconsidering their movement’s tie to the Republican Party and to wedge issues like gay marriage that Dobson has long emphasized.
“It’s very symbolic, the handing off of evangelical leadership to the next generation, whoever that may be,” said the Rev. Joel Hunter, senior pastor of Northland, A Church Distributed, in Orlando, Fla.
Dobson initially opposed Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in the 2008 Republican primary but grudgingly backed the eventual GOP presidential nominee against Barack Obama, whom Dobson sharply criticized.
Other evangelical leaders, such as Hunter, who offered the benediction at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, have been less confrontational with President Obama and are shifting their focus to issues like global warming and combating poverty.
“I think, if anything, it’s less enticing for him to be continuing to do this because the Republicans are out of power and because of the identity crisis” in the movement, said Bill Leonard, dean of Wake Forest University in North Carolina and a scholar of evangelicals. “His voice is less central, certainly, to the religious political issues and a new generation of evangelicals.”
Leonard added: “There really has been a shift and, in some ways, a fragmenting of American evangelism. … A new generation of evangelists is blogging their way around the old power structures and challenging many dogmatic ideas that people like Dobson set forth.”
But Focus on the Family and Dobson said Friday that his resignation had nothing to do with any rifts or changing attitudes within the evangelical community.
In a statement, Dobson said, “One of the common errors of founder-presidents is to hold to the reins of leadership too long, thereby preventing the next generation from being prepared for executive authority.”