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TBC Newsletter | |
| March 2006 |
Our Challenge - Their Future SECURING RELIGIOUS LIBERTY FOR OUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN BJC plans to establish Center for Religious Liberty on Capitol Hill |
WASHINGTON — Speaking recently about the campaign to establish a Center for Religious Liberty on Capitol Hill, Baptist Joint Committee Executive Director J. Brent Walker said the agency needed a facility “worthy of our potential to make a difference in the fight for religious liberty.”
Since 1936, the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty has waged its fight for religious liberty and the separation of church and state in the nation’s capital. In that time, it has built a solid reputation as a bridge builder, bringing together coalitions of diverse groups for a common cause. Yet, it provides a unique voice as the only religious group devoted solely to religious liberty and church-state separation. While primarily supported by Baptists – denominations, churches, and individuals – the BJC works for religious liberty for all.
From the time Roger Williams established a settlement in Rhode Island where religious liberty reigned, Baptists have labored to maintain religion’s vitality by keeping it free from government. But support for religious liberty for all is disappearing in America. Just as Colonial Baptists boldly opposed religious establishments, Baptists today must oppose threats that would destroy or erode our precious freedom.
OUR CHALLENGE IS TO ENSURE RELIGIOUS LIBERTY THRIVES.
Just as Roger Williams provided a home free from religious persecution, we must provide a home for the Baptist voice for religious freedom in our nation’s capital. We must provide a permanent settlement where Baptists set the example, remembering that our religious freedom is fragile and must be protected for the sake of religion.
THE BAPTIST JOINT COMMITTEE IS POISED TO LEAD.
Baptists, along with Jewish, Muslim and a host of Christian groups, count on the BJC for leadership at the intersection of church and state. Its effectiveness is tied to an unwavering commitment to the First Amendment’s twin guarantees that government should neither advance nor interfere with religion. Both religion clauses of the First Amendment require the separation of church and state, leaving religion free to flourish or fail on its own.
THE CENTER WILL HELP THE BJC FULFILL ITS POTENTIAL.
Celebrating decades of experience builds excitement about the future, shedding light on the BJC’s potential. Making headway in the struggle for religious liberty for all requires technology, partnerships, expertise and an emphasis on education. The Center for Religious Liberty on Capitol Hill will expand the BJC’s capacity in all of these areas by providing a state-of-the-art training center, where it will lead, listen and learn, engaging in dialogue with pastors and lay people, coalition partners and legislators. These activities are not an end in themselves, however. They serve the goal of defending and extending God-given religious liberty for all.
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Located within a few blocks of the U. S. Capitol, the Library of Congress and the Supreme Court, the Center for Religious Liberty will
• serve as the nerve center for the Baptist Joint Committee’s activities in Washington.
• provide a highly visible education space for those who cherish religious liberty.
• serve as a “monument” to the principle of religious liberty as the BJC ensures this precious freedom is protected for our children and grandchildren.
• provide an office suite for visiting board members, leaders of member bodies and for faculty and administrators of partnering schools on sabbatical, on official business, or exploring independent research.
• serve as a training center for youth, pastors, laity and others who actively advocate and advance religious liberty in their local communities.
• provide an extraordinary historical setting for meetings, receptions and events near the Capitol.
Programs of the Center and the BJC will help to broaden the constituency among Baptists and others who share a similar mission, provide an opportunity to develop new creative partnerships and appeals to youth, promote scholarly research, conduct on-site as well as teleconferencing discussions and seminars, and reach out to diverse groups across the country.
