BJC Executive Director Amanda Tyler will deliver a keynote address at the Forgotten Luther Symposium on Friday, Oct. 25, held at Saint Lake Lutheran Church in Silver Spring, Maryland.
BJC is excited to introduce the 2024 BJC Fellows, our newest group of emerging leaders dedicated to dispelling myths about religious freedom and defending faith freedom for ALL in their own communities.
While all eyes are understandably focused on the national election right now, these stories are good reminders that what happens in state legislatures and agencies has an enormous personal and immediate impact on religious freedom.
After attending the BJC Fellows Seminar, the Rev. Dane Martin knew he couldn’t sit on the sidelines anymore. Hear about why he created a program to introduce college students to new ideas and prepare them to interact with the world in different ways.
The three areas we work to see change in at BJC are awareness, advocacy and local organizing. But community development work drives change as well.
It can be tempting to throw our hands up and withdraw from the increasingly toxic political environment. But such a response, I believe, would betray Jesus’ teaching for us to give to God the things that are God’s and to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s.
Jonathan Davis is the director of development at BJC, leading all of our fundraising and donor stewardship activities.
The Ten Commandments carry deep religious significance for many observant Americans. Unfortunately, that has made them ripe for exploitation by those who seek to use the institutions of government to promote a religious perspective.
As the weather heats up, so does the pace of Supreme Court decisions. On our season 5 finale of Respecting Religion, Amanda and Holly recap some recent decisions and discuss what we can expect in the next month. Religion is still at play in several cases, even if religious legal statutes aren’t the questions being considered. Plus, they look at some recent statements from Supreme Court justices during extracurricular activities and share what those reveal about the justices themselves and the work at the Court, including a rare – and surprising – statement one justice gave directly to the media.
LGBTQ rights and religious freedom are often pitted against one another, but they are not mutually exclusive. This episode of Respecting Religion looks at the recent decision by the United Methodist Church to repeal its ban on LGBTQ clergy and same-sex weddings as well as the broader conversation. Holly Hollman is joined by guest co-host Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons, BJC Communications Director. He shares some of his personal story, then he and Holly reflect on work bridging differences between LGBTQ rights advocacy and religious groups that oppose LGBTQ protections. They highlight the Respect for Marriage Act as one hallmark of bipartisan consensus building that achieves civil rights protections and safeguards religious liberty.
Dr. Sabrina E. Dent, director of BJC Center for Faith, Justice and Reconciliation, will speak at a summer course for William and Mary Washington Center in Washington, D.C.
For the 100th episode of Respecting Religion, Amanda Tyler and Holly Hollman answer listener questions, ranging from the law surrounding the tax-exempt status of religious institutions to their favorite Supreme Court justices. They also look at some of the big Supreme Court decisions and the shifts on the Court since this podcast began four years ago, sharing some of their favorite and most impactful episodes.