On Jan. 18, the Rev. Alexander Evans will be installed as pastor of Second Presbyterian Church, which was founded in 1845. Evans, a former history teacher, graduated from Union Theological Seminary in 1987. He follows the Rev. Benjamin Sparks, who served for 25 years. Prior to moving to Richmond on Dec. 1, Evans was senior pastor of Blacksburg Presbyterian Church and chaplain for the Blacksburg Police Department during the shootings at Virginia Tech.

Q. English writer G.K. Chesteron said that “America is a nation of the soul of a church.” If the president is, in turn, high priest of civil religion, what piece of advice can you offer him? A. I see Barack Obama as a new light for our country. I’m excited about his leadership, especially because he seems to care for many of the people who may have not gotten much attention in the last few years and the people who are really struggling. If he stays true to the things that he’s talking about, that shows great promise. And I think that is not only is honorable leadership from our president, it is faithful leadership. I don’t want to be political here but I do feel his platform has been about health care for everyone, about a better chance for those who have had less of chance lately. His platform has been about things that will bring everyone up to a higher level of living.

Q. Second Presbyterian’s founding pastor, Dr. Moses Drury Hoge, and certainly the previous pastor, Benjamin Sparks, believed that churches are called to speak politically. What will churches be called to speak about in 2009? A. I think Richmond has a history of race issues, of economic-disparity issues that are always going to need attention. We find ourselves in the downtown surrounded by a lot of people for whom life is very hard. We know our ministry is downtown, and we want to be seriously involved in urban ministry, with the needs of the poor. And we are also in the capital, where policy decisions are made about the poor. I don’t know how they will take shape, but I’m excited to be a part of it.

Q. We have had mayors who have also led churches, as does our incoming mayor. How do you view the role of religious leader who is also an elected official? Any minefields to avoid? A. The mayor of Roanoke was also a pastor. And I thought it would be a delicate walk to be the highest elected official and a pastor, especially in our land where we try to keep church and state separate. But I think, finally, it’s almost impossible to do that. They are going to run together. I think The Gospel is almost by nature is pushing us always for us to be involved in the world, in politics, involved in the city. I think it’s not possible to separate the two.

Q. What are the most pressing issues within your congregation? A. The interim period has been a little traumatic. Not only did Ben retire in May, but both associate pastors left for different churches. My most pressing calling is to help the church regroup and refocus on its next chapter — how we do things and how we can do it even better. Another one of my goals is to nurture the sense of community within the congregation, because people come from everywhere around the city and because our lives tend to be so fragmented, we need to give some energy to being church family and knowing each other better. Worshiping well, being a community, nurturing people in faith and faithfulness, and outreach to the world, well, that’s a nice snapshot of a church.

Q. Whom do you turn to when the pastor needs pastoral counseling? A. My group of contemporaries from seminary. They listen to my concerns and challenge me to do better. We e-mail, share our church newsletters. We get together two or three times a year and call it the “Great Preaching Seminar.” We don ‘t pretend to be great preachers, but we aspire to be. We have been doing this for 18 years. We golf, we hang out together, we worship together and we critique each other’s sermons. My father, he is a retired Presbyterian minister in North Carolina. He’s a phone call away and a nice confidante. My wife, who is equally devoted to the church and graduated from seminary in Christian Education. And Tommy McDearis, the pastor of Blacksburg Baptist Church [another police chaplain]. We’ve been through a lot of laughter and joy, and through the deepest, the most difficult ministry that one can imagine. He is preaching at my installation.

Q. You were asked to be a police chaplain in Blacksburg in 2003. You helped the department deal with the deaths of two law-enforcement officers who were shot in August 2006 and then with the Virginia Tech shootings in April 2007. Was there any time during those subsequent weeks of funerals and counseling when you said to yourself, “I don’t know if I can do this tomorrow?” A. I don’t know if I ever thought that, but I have said that you never know when your best gifts are called for. You never know when you are going to be needed as God’s agent of peace and hope and light in the midst of darkness, and you just do the best you can do. That darkness lasted many days, and I say it was the most difficult ministry I was ever involved with, and I hope it is the most difficult ministry I will ever be involved with, but it was some of the most important ministry I have ever done. I made some difference in people’s lives, I hope. For a month, that’s all anyone ever dealt with, talked about. I finally had to leave Blacksburg to go to a presbytery meeting in Radford, and as I was sitting in the meeting, I thought, “This is surreal. These people are talking about policies and procedures,” and what we had been through wasn’t about church, about policies, about practices. It was about life and death and hurting people. It was about trying to be a beacon of hope in the midst of horror.

Q. Oftentimes, the best leaders surround themselves with people they disagree with, as with Lincoln’s celebrated “team of rivals” and some of Obama’s cabinet picks. Who would be in your make-believe cabinet of advisors, people with whom you agree and disagree? A. It would nice to have Jesus at the table. Then I think it would be really cool to have Dietrich Bonhoeffer because of his perspectives on justice and righteousness, and he had a bravery that I admired. I’m a big Bono fan. And I don’t think I would agree with Mother Teresa on everything, but her compassion attracts me to her. As a pastor, our denomination is often struggling with tough issues. I want to sit at a table with those who disagree with me and strive to respect people’s faithfulness and honorable intentions. Even though we may not agree with their means, we can try to be community and try to be a church together. I’ll strive for that in this church and in this community. In my office I have sign that says, “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”