Church-State Issues and Ministry Focus of Conference March 22-23
Church-state issues that regularly confront church leaders will be addressed during "Pitfalls to Avoid as Seen from the Pulpit" on March 22 and 23 at Baylor University. The conference, featuring some of the country's leading authorities on the theological and legal underpinnings of religious liberty and church-state separation, is co-sponsored by the George W. Truett Theological Seminary, the Religious Liberty Council and the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs (BJC).
Registration opens Monday at 3 p.m. in the Barfield Drawing Room of the Bill Daniel Student Center, with a conference overview session beginning at 4:30 p.m. in Barfield. At 6 p.m., U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards will be presented with the Barbara Jordan-Mark Hatfield Courage Award during a dinner on the fifth floor of the Cashion Academic Building of the Hankamer School of Business.
Conference speakers include Brent Walker, general counsel of the BJC; David Currie, executive director of Texas Baptists Committed; Dr. Rosalie Beck, associate professor of religion at Baylor; a legal issues panel, featuring Michael Bourland, William Korb Jr. and Sheila Korb of Bourland, Smith, Wall and Wenzel of Fort Worth; Charles Adams, pastor of Hartford Memorial Baptist Church in Detroit, Mich.; and James Dunn, executive director of the BJC.
Tuesday's breakout sessions include "Lobbying Is Not a Dirty Word," led by Phil Strickland, director of the Christian Life Commission of the Baptist General Convention of Texas; "Addressing Church-State Issues from the Pulpit," guided by Dr. Derek Davis, director of the J.M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies at Baylor; "'New Lights' and 'High Flyers': The Early American Baptist Witness for Religious Liberty," led by Dr. Bradley Creed, dean of Truett Seminary; "Telling Your Own Story: Your Role and the Media's," led by Larry Chesser and Kenny Byrd; and "We're Listening: Talk to the BJC."
For more information, call Truett Seminary at (254) 710-3755.