BJC Lectures
The Baptist Joint Committee takes church-state experts to college, university and seminary campuses across the country to engage students and communities with religious liberty issues. Visit the links below to learn more about our annual Shurden Lectures and other BJC lecture events.
Walter B. and Kay W. Shurden Lectures on Religious Liberty and Separation of Church and State
In 2004, Dr. Walter B. Shurden and Dr. Kay W. Shurden of Macon, Georgia, made a gift to the BJC to establish an annual lectureship on the issues of religious liberty and the separation of church and state.
The lecturers may be academicians, politicians, ministers, church historians, ethicists or activists. Above all, the Shurden Lecturer is someone who can inspire and call others to an ardent commitment to religious freedom and the separation of church and state.
The 2019 Shurden Lectures will be on the campus of Central Baptist Theological Seminary in Shawnee, Kansas, on March 26-27.
Faith-Based Activism and Service in American Public Life: A Baptist Joint Committee Symposium
Melissa Rogers delivered a lecture and participated in a panel discussion at McCormick Theological Semianry in Chicago on October 26, 2017.
Read about the symposium Visit the McCormick Symposium page
Religious Liberty and the Black Church: A Baptist Joint Committee Symposium
On Nov. 10, 2016, the Rev. Dr. Raphael G. Warnock headlined a lecture and panel discussion in Washington, D.C., focusing on religious liberty and the black church. The event took place speak on the campus of Howard University Divinity School and Law School.
Read about the symposiumVisit the Howard Symposium page
Lectures on Social Justice and Religious Liberty
In the fall of 2015, the Baptist Joint Committee sponsored a new lecture event with a focus on social justice. On Nov. 12-13, Judge Wendell Griffen gave two presentations on the campus of Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California.
At the Fuller event, Griffen examined the interplay of religious liberty and equal protection as well as issues of pastoral leadership and congregational discipleship. He is pastor of New Millennium Church in Little Rock, Arkansas; CEO and owner of Griffen Strategic Consulting, PLLC; and Circuit Judge for the 6th Judicial District of Arkansas, 5th Division.
Visit the Fuller Lectures page
