The Rev. Stephen Davey is an evangelical Christian. He views the Bible as the inerrant word of God. He believes Jesus alone can provide salvation. And he reads the Genesis story as a literal historical account of creation.

But Davey, senior pastor and founder of Colonial Baptist Church in Cary, does not believe the church should engage in political action. To the contrary, it should submit to government authority, he said.

That position -- held by the Triangle's largest Protestant church, and a conservative one at that -- is at odds with many national evangelical leaders, who have called on their congregations to press for political and social changes.

"The mission, energy and investment of the church is not to clean up the evils of society," Davey said. "The mission of the church is to evangelize society."

Davey's conviction comes at a time when evangelical influence in the corridors of power has never been stronger, especially among conservative Republicans. Evangelical churches helped reelect President Bush in 2004. They worked to pass heterosexual marriage amendments in more than a dozen states and urged the president to select two Supreme Court justices who oppose abortion. Evangelicals have the ear of Bush's chief political adviser, Karl Rove. They command growing numbers in the chambers of Congress.

"Reclaiming America for Christ," a slogan popular among many evangelical churches across the country, is also the name of a Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based center. And last month, the N.C. Republican Party asked churchgoers to share their membership directories to help the GOP with voter mobilization efforts.

"The most common view now is that Christians should be involved in the political process," said John Green, senior fellow at the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, based in Washington, D.C.

Davey, who draws about 3,700 people to his Tryon Road church each Sunday, is in the minority. Many other churches, such as the Upper Room Church of God in Christ or Mount Olivet Baptist, are eager to step up and fight these political battles.

But his dissent demonstrates that the evangelical movement is diverse.

"They're not all Pat Robertsons," said Christian Smith, a professor of sociology at UNC-Chapel Hill who has written widely on evangelical churches. "There's complexity. There's diversity. There's ambivalence within evangelical ranks."

Faith and authority

When he stands in the pulpit on a Sunday morning, Davey is little interested in small talk. He dives right into the passage at hand.

Reared in Virginia by Christian missionary parents, Davey wanted to teach history before he was called to the pastorate.

Much like a college history teacher, he outlines the major points in his sermons, and asks his listeners to repeat phrases and circle key words.

For the past five years, his church has been studying the book of Romans, one verse at a time. In Chapter 13, the apostle Paul called on Christians to submit to the governing authorities. During Paul's time, that was the corrupt Roman emperor Nero. And yet, Davey said, nowhere did Paul encourage early Christians to overthrow Nero or mount a culture war.

The same goes for today's culture, Davey said.

"I believe the greatest danger facing the evangelical church is not the destruction of its values but the distraction of its focus," Davey said.

Many of the church's members support Davey's position.

"The American church has become a voting bloc, a lobbying force," said Wayne Knowles, an elder. "That's never been our commission."

Churches were created to make disciples, Davey said, not to mobilize voters to vote for Christian-friendly officials or to change an immoral culture.

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