Religious Liberty Essay Scholarship Contest

The annual Religious Liberty Essay Scholarship Contest engages high school students in church-state issues by directing them to express a point of view on a religious liberty topic. Essays are judged on the depth of their content, the mastery of the topic, and the skill with which they are written. The annual contest is sponsored by the Religious Liberty Council of the Baptist Joint Committee.

Details for the 2019 essay contest will be released in the fall of 2018.

2018 Contest Results

For the 2018 Religious Liberty Essay Scholarship Contest, students were asked to discuss whether public school calendars should accommodate religious holidays. 

Return to this page in the future for additional information!

Previous Contest Results

Since 2006, the annual essay contest has engaged high school students in church-state issues. To read excerpts from winning essays, view the archived October issues of Report from the Capital. Winning entries from recent years are listed below.

2017: Yusra Ahmed (Also: Listen to the podcast of her conversation with Charles Watson Jr.)

2016: Alyssa Bragg

2015: Zoe Almeida

2014: Daniel Ingham

2013: Christian Belanger