By Jordan Edwards, BJC Communications Associate
The Columbia Union Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church honored the work of the Baptist Joint Committee and Executive Director J. Brent Walker with the Adrian Westney Religious Liberty Award, recognizing “sustained and conspicuous advocacy of religious freedom.”
Columbia Union Executive Secretary Rob Vandeman presented Walker with the award Sept. 28 after Walker preached at Sligo Seventh-day Adventist Church in Takoma Park, Md.
“Rarely a day goes by that we don’t have some contact with Adventists,” Walker said before beginning his sermon, “as we stand together — Baptists, Adventists and others — to extend and defend religious liberty … for all of God’s children.”
Walter E. Carson, the Columbia Union’s vice president and general counsel, said the award was in “recognition of Baptist leadership in the advocacy of religious freedom in the United States of America,” in a statement.
“I am delighted that the BJC merited this recognition from a valued coalition partner who understands the importance of religious liberty for all,” Walker said.
Organized in 1907, the Columbia Union represents nearly 700 churches throughout the Mid-Atlantic. Its headquarters are in Columbia, Md.
From the October 2013 Report from the Capital. Click here for the next article.
