Washington—The Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission has named Steven Harris as the director of advocacy in its Washington, D.C., office.

Harris, 29, who served during the last year as a ministry fellow for the Christian Union at Yale University, will advocate for the ERLC’s policy positions with Congress as well as the White House and the remainder of the executive branch. He also will provide analysis of legislative proposals and content for the ERLC’s website and its other media outlets.

Harris becomes the second African American to join the ERLC staff since Russell Moore became president in June 2013.

Christian Union’s ministry includes the development of Christian leaders at eight universities that have an exceptional impact on American culture. In addition to Yale, the other schools are Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn and Princeton.

In announcing Harris’ appointment, Moore described Harris as “one of the most dynamic young leaders in Baptist life today.”

“As we searched for someone to fill this key position, we found ourselves running into Steven’s name at every turn,” Moore said in an ERLC release. “He is well respected across the evangelical world and has deep experience building coalitions and getting things done.”

Before Harris’ time with Christian Union, he was an assistant pastor at Consolidated Baptist Church in Lexington, Ky., for three years. While serving there, Harris helped unite the Christian community to address public policy issues and represented the interests of churches with city government, according to the ERLC.

Harris received a master of divinity degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in 2011 and a master of arts in religion from Yale this year. His undergraduate degree is from Vanderbilt University.

Harris began his work with the ERLC July 6. (BP)