The once-powerful Christian Coalition of America has suffered another setback.

The president-elect of the group has declined the job, saying the organization wouldn't let him expand its agenda beyond opposing abortion and gay marriage.

The Rev. Joel Hunter, who was scheduled to take over the conservative group in January from Roberta Combs, said he had hoped to focus on issues such as poverty and the environment.

"These are issues that Jesus would want us to care about," said Hunter, a senior pastor at Northland Church in Longwood, Fla.

Hunter announced his decision not to take the job during an organization board meeting Nov. 21. A statement issued by the group said Hunter left because of "differences in philosophy and vision." Hunter said he was not asked to leave.

"They pretty much said, 'These issues are fine, but they're not our issues, that's not our base,"' Hunter said.

His resignation is the latest setback for the once-powerful group.

The Christian Coalition, founded in 1989 by religious broadcaster Pat Robertson, and later led by Ralph Reed, became one of the nation's most powerful conservative groups during the 1990s. But it is coping with debt and the departure of some chapters from its fold.

The Christian Coalition of Iowa, one of the largest chapters, left the national organization last spring and renamed itself the Iowa Christian Alliance.

Stephen L. Scheffler, president of the Iowa affiliate since 2000, told the Washington Post, "The credibility is just not there like it once was.

"The budget has shrunk from $26 million to $1 million. There's a trail of debt. . . . We believe, our board believes, any Christian organization has an obligation to pay its debts in a timely fashion," he told the newspaper., but it has faced complaints in recent years about its finances, leadership and plans to veer into nontraditional policy areas. The group claims more than 2 million members.

Robertson, who once ran for the presidency, still leads the Christian Broadcasting Network in Virginia Beach, Va.

Reed resigned his leadership of the Christian Coalition in 1997. He lost the Republican nomination for Lieutenant Governor of Georgia earlier this year. And he was linked to disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff when widely published e-mails revealed his financial ties to Abramoff.