SB1146 is scheduled for committee vote August 11 and a vote in the full California Assembly August 19.

• Read, join, and share the statement in opposition to SB 1146.
• Christianity Today: Christian, Muslim, and Jewish Leaders: California, Please Protect Religious Liberty
• View existing signatories via ERLC.com
• Canon & Culture: In Higher Education, California is Becoming Anti-Choice

Other resources

• SB1146Discriminates.org
• Religious liberty trouble in California: An interview with the President of Biola Univerity – ERLC
• Biola, conscience and the culture war – Mere Orthodoxy

Andrew T. Walker serves as the Director of Policy Studies. In his role, he researches and writes about human dignity, family stability, religious liberty, public theology, and the moral principles that support civil society. He also helps direct the ERLC’s Research Institute. Andrew is currently a Ph.D. student in Ethics at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. His most recent book is Marriage is: How Marriage Transforms Society and Cultivates Human Flourishing. He is married to Christian, and they have two daughters. @andrewtwalk

Daniel Patterson serves as Chief of Staff at the ERLC. In this role, he directs the executive office of the president and helps lead strategic initiatives across the organization. He completed an MDiv and PhD in systematic theology at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He and his wife Molly have been married since 2010, and together they have two daughters, Emma and Claire. @dlpatterson

The post E25: Andrew Walker and Daniel Patterson on California’s SB1146 appeared first on Canon and Culture.

• VIDEO: Why go international with the ERLC?
• ERLC resources by Travis
• Reflections on the Marrakesh Declaration
• AUDIO: Jenny Yang on refugee resettlement
• AUDIO: Making disciples in Syria
• Asian-Pacific Religious Freedom Forum
• Religious Liberty Partnership

Travis Wussow,@traviswussow, serves as Director of International Justice & Religious Liberty and General Counsel for the ERLC. Travis leads ERLC’s first international office located in the Middle East. He received a B.B.A. in Finance from The University of Texas at Austin and a J.D. from The University of Texas School of Law. He and his wife, Katie, have two daughters.

The post E24: Travis Wussow, ERLC’s man in the Middle East appeared first on Canon and Culture.

Our conversation includes answers to the following questions, among many others:

• What does an executive vice president do, exactly?
• Is seminary only for pastors?
• What unique contributions does the ERLC provide a seminary curriculum?
• What events does the ERLC have planned for 2016?

Follow Phillip at PhillipBethancourt.com and @pbethancourt.

Education initiatives

• Big picture: ERLC Academy
• ERLC expands academic opportunities with Southern Baptist seminaries
• Google this.
• Baptist Press
• Louisville – Southern
  • Ph.d. in christian ethics, emphasis in public policy
• Wake Forest – Southeastern
  • Ph.D in public theology
• Kansas City – Midwestern
  • Midwestern Seminary announces Doctoral Partnership with ERLC
• All SBC seminaries, including in
  • New Orleans
  • Fort Worth
  • West Coast
• Training partnership with Ministry Grid

ERLC 2016 events

• All events
• National Conference: August, Nashville
• Annual Meeting of the SBC – June, St. Louis
  • ERLC / 9Marks

Phillip Bethancourt is Executive Vice President of the ERLC. He leads the ERLC team to develop innovative strategies to equip churches to address the key moral and ethical issues of the day. He completed an MDiv and PhD in Systematic Theology at Southern after attending Texas A&M University. Phillip and his wife, Cami, have been married since 2005, and have four boys.

The post E23: Phillip Bethancourt talks ERLC events & seminary programs appeared first on Canon and Culture.

• Articles about the HHS mandate at Canon & Culture.
• Case overview via Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF)
  • Visual explanation via TheLittleSistersOfThePoor.com
  • HHS Central via Becket Fund for Religious Liberty
  • Case details via SCOTUSBlog.
• Little Sisters, Big Case – by Russell Moore via The Hill (@thehill)
• Baptists are plaintiffs too:
  • Ten things that might surprise you about GuideStone’s Supreme Court case – OS Hawkins
• Standing Together, the 2013 multi-faith open letter in opposition to the HHS mandate

Gregory S. Baylor, Esq.,serves as senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, where he is the director of the Religious Schools Team. He litigates cases to protect the rights of Christian educational institutions across the nation. Since joining ADF in 2009, Baylor has focused his litigation efforts on protecting the religious freedom of Christ-centered educational institutions. He serves as religious liberty consultant to the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities. He also works to protect the First Amendment freedoms of students, faculty, and staff at public colleges and universities.

Kristen K. Waggoner, Esq., serves as senior counsel and senior vice president of legal advocacy with Alliance Defending Freedom, where she leads the organization’s legal and media efforts. Waggoner joined ADF in 2013 to support thousands of allied attorneys in their efforts to preserve religious freedom. She has trained allied attorneys and organizations on religious liberty issues and rights of conscience. She has also provided allies with legal support on cases pertaining to life, marriage, and family.

The post E22: Oral Arguments in Little Sisters v. Burwell appeared first on Canon and Culture.

For more information about our guests, Micheline and Mouna, and their ministries please email me (Matt) via mhawkins (at) erlc.com.

To support them financially, visit my friends at The IRD:

1. Go here.
2. On the “Designate your gift” menu, choose “Other.”
3. Then, write “Syria Project” in the blank that says “Tell us where your gift should go:”

The post E21: Making disciples in Syria appeared first on Canon and Culture.

• NRB.org
• Annual Conference: Proclaim 16, Feb 23-26 – Nashville, TN
• John Milton Project
• NRB Government Relations
• Follow Aaron’s work at @NRBAdvocate
• The ERLC is delivering content to NRB TV. Friday nights at 8:00pm.
  • How to view NRB TV?

Sidebars, as mentioned

• What happened in Houston?
• CCCU’s American Studies Program

Aaron Mercer is the Vice President of Government Relations for National Religious Broadcasters (NRB). Overseeing NRB’s Capitol Hill office, Aaron is an advocate for NRB members as he communicates with officials of the White House, the United States Congress, the Federal Communications Commission and other government institutions. Aaron spearheads NRB’s efforts to protect and promote our cherished First Amendment rights – particularly religious liberty and the freedom of speech.  Prior to coming to NRB, Aaron worked for a decade in government and non-profit sectors in Washington, DC. While in the office of U.S. Senator Sam Brownback (KS), Aaron served as the chief organizer of the Senate Values Action Team. He became a leading voice among Congressional staff for finding creative avenues to honor the sanctity of human life, to promote healthy families, and to ensure respect for religious freedom and our nation’s faith-filled heritage. Aaron is a graduate of Cedarville University in Ohio, he and his family are active members of South Run Baptist Church in Springfield, VA.

The post E20: NRB’s Aaron Mercer defends Internet freedom appeared first on Canon and Culture.

• Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance
• Stanley Carlson-Thies – Biography
• Book: Free to Serve by authors  Stanley Carlson-Thies and Steven Monsma
  • “This book speaks precisely to the most pressing crisis in American domestic politics.  The gay marriage controversy has put religious liberty on a collision course with the sensibilities of the modern social orthodoxy in a way that presents immediate dangers to Christian institutions. Monsma and Carlson-Thies employ their expertise and their convening power to address the problem in a way that is well-calibrated. Religious liberty needs to be defended on many levels, but one of the most important is as a public policy matter. This book makes a substantial contribution to our public thinking about religious freedom.” —Hunter Baker, university fellow at Union University, author of The End of Secularism, and Research Fellow on the ERLC’s Research Institute
• Christianity Today 2016 book awards
  • CT Interview: How Christian Institutions Can Stay Christian Amid Secular Pressure

Stanley W. Carlson-Thies (PhD, University of Toronto) is director of the Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance, a division of the Center for Public Justice (CPJ), in Washington, DC. He is a senior fellow at CPJ and at the Canadian think tank Cardus. He convenes the Coalition to Preserve Religious Freedom, a multi-faith alliance that advocates for the religious freedom of faith-based organizations to Congress and the federal government. Carlson-Thies served with George W. Bush’s White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives and served on a task force of President Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. He has appeared on NPR and in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Christianity Today. He has coauthored several books including The Freedom of Faith-Based Organizations to Staff on a Religious Basis.

The post E19: Stanley’s adventures in institutional religious freedom appeared first on Canon and Culture.

• World Relief
• Bio, @JennyYangWR
• How you can help Syrian refugees – ERLC.com
• WeWelcomeRefugees.com, @WelcomeRefugees
• Helping resettle a refugee family in Georgia – by Bryant Wright
• Marietta Baptist Church helping Syrian refugees resettle in Georgia – Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Coverage of ERLC Capitol Conversation

• Christian response to refugees & Muslims discussed – Baptist Press
• ERLC panel denounces anti-Muslim policies – WORLD Mag

Related resources

• Stop pitting security and compassion against each other in the Syrian refugee crisis – Russell Moore
• Why Christians must speak out against Donald Trump’s Muslim remarks – Russell  Moore
• The Way that Religious Liberty Ends – Bart Barber
• Evangelical leaders call for compassion for refugees
• Explainer: What you should know about the Syrian refugee controversy – ERLC.com

Jenny Yang is the Vice President of Advocacy and Policy, providing oversight for all advocacy initiatives and policy positions at World Relief. She has worked in the Resettle­ment section of World Relief as the Senior Case Manager and East Asia Program Officer where she focused on advocacy for refugees in the East Asia region and managed the entire refugee caseload for World Relief before their arrival to the United States. Prior to World Relief, she worked at one of the largest political fundraising firms in Maryland managing fundraising and campaigning for local politicians. She is co-author of Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compas­sion and Truth in the Immigration Debate, is Chair of the Refugee Council USA (RCUSA) Africa Work Group which brings NGOs and government partners together on the protection of African refugees, and was recently named as “50 Women to Watch” by Christianity Today.

The post E18: Jenny Yang on refugee resettlement appeared first on Canon and Culture.

• ChinaAid.org
• Washington Post editorial, “China’s anti-Christian crusade.”
  • 2 Christian pastors detained
• Letter to President Obama
• Kody Kness, biography
• @KodyKness
• Book: God’s Double Agent: The True Story of a Chinese Christian’s Fight for Freedom
  • by Bob Fu, President of China Aid

Related news items

• WSJ – Xi Jinping’s Visit and Human Rights
• WSJ – China’s Ailing Prisoners
• Kody’s visit to Chinese prison
  • WSJ – Behind China’s Prison Walls
  • Washington Post Chinese prison officials thwart Virginia doctor’s effort to visit ailing dissident
  • Washington Times U.S. doctor denied visit to sick Chinese democracy activist

Other resources

• China 18
• U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF)
  • What you need to know about USCIRF via ERLC.com
• State Department: Ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom
• Defending Freedoms Project

Kody Kness is currently Vice President of China Aid, previously serving as Deputy Executive Director for Sudan Sunrise; Advocacy Manager for the Better World Campaign at the United Nations Foundation; International Human Rights Advisor for U.S. Senator Sam Brownback, advising on foreign policy issues such as religious freedom, Internet freedom, human trafficking, conflict commodities, and rule of law; Associate Director for Government Relations and Outreach at the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, where he worked closely with non-governmental organizations, the U.S. Congress, and both the George W. Bush and Obama Administrations to promote religious freedom and related human rights abroad.

The post E17: Kody Kness on prisoners of conscience in China appeared first on Canon and Culture.

Mark serves as president of the Institute for Religion and Democracy (IRD).

• Book: Methodism & Politics in the Twentieth Century (Amazon)
• Book: The Peace that Almost Was
• IRD
• IRD blog: Juicy Ecumenism
• Bio

Prior to joining the IRD in 1994, Mark worked eight years for the Central Intelligence Agency. He is a graduate of Georgetown University and is a native of Arlington, Virginia. A lifelong United Methodist, he has been active in United Methodist renewal since 1988, when he wrote a study about denominational funding of pro-Marxist groups for his local congregation. He attends a United Methodist church in Alexandria, Virginia.

The post E16: Mark Tooley on Methodism and politics appeared first on Canon and Culture.

• Bio, Rep. Diane Black
  • @RepDianeBlack
• Health Care Conscience Protection Act
  • ERLC 2015 Legislative Agenda
• Resolution Condemning Persecution of Religious Minorities
• Position still vacant: Special Envoy to Promote Religious Freedom of Religious Minorities in the Near East and South Central Asia.
  • Washington Post, Aug 2014

Daniel Darling (@dandarling) is the ERLC’s Vice President for Communications. He is a contributor to Leadership Journal, Homelife, Crosswalk.com, Stand Firm,” and a variety of other evangelical publications. He has written several books, including his latest, Activist Faith. He blogs and podcasts at danieldarling.com.

The post E15: Rep. Diane Black (TN-6) appeared first on Canon and Culture.

• Religious Freedom and Business Foundation
• Bio: Brian Grim, PhD
• Brian blogs at The Weekly Number
• Follow Brian on Twitter @brianjgrim, and @RFBF_US
• Essay: Seven Reasons Why Religious Freedom is Good for Business
• Brian’s TEDx Talk at the Vatican: Religious Freedom by the Numbers (YouTube). Text highlights.
• Via @FirstThingsMag: What Christianity Contributes to China’s Economic Rise

Brian J. Grim, Ph. D., is President of the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation and a leading expert on the socio-economic impact of restrictions on religious freedom and international religious demography. Brian is a member of the World Economic Forum’s council on the role of faith. He is an associate scholar at the Religious Liberty Project at Georgetown University and an affiliated scholar at Boston University’s Institute on Culture, Religion & World Affairs (see full CV). Prior to becoming the Foundation’s president in 2014, Brian directed the largest social science effort to collect and analyze global data on religion at the Pew Research Center. He also worked for two decades as an educator in the former Soviet Union, China, Central Asia, the Middle East and Europe. Brian holds a doctorate in sociology from the Pennsylvania State University and is author of numerous articles and books including The Price of Freedom Denied (Cambridge Univ. Press).

Matthew Hawkins (@mthawk) serves as Coalitions Director for the ERLC, working with other groups in Washington, D.C. to achieve common objectives. He is presently studying ethics and public affairs at George Mason University.

The post E14: Brian Grim & What has religious freedom to do with business? appeared first on Canon and Culture.

• Advocates International
• Bio (PDF) of Brent McBurney, President and CEO of AI
• Follow Brent on Twitter @AIPrez.

Brent McBurney serves as President and CEO of Advocates International (“AI”). Prior to joining AI, he served the Body of Christ through the Christian Legal Society (“CLS”) where he was Director of Legal Aid Ministries, Director of Attorney Ministries and Editor-in-Chief of The Christian Lawyer magazine. Brent served for a number of years as a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington.

Brent grew up in Marble, Colorado, received his BA in Russian Language and Political Science from Baylor University and his JD from George Mason University School of Law. Brent is licensed to practice law in New York and the District of Columbia and is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court and a number of other federal courts. Brent and his wife Elizabeth reside in Northern Virginia with their son, Ian, and daughter, Sarah Louise.

Matthew Hawkins (@mthawk) serves as Coalitions Director for the ERLC, working with other groups in Washington, D.C., to achieve common objectives. He is presently studying ethics and public affairs at George Mason University.

The post E13: Brent McBurney and global religious freedom advocacy appeared first on Canon and Culture.

• Houston, we have a Constitution – Russell Moore
• Why Not Just Hand the Sermons Over? – Russell Moore
• Houston’s problems with the First Commandment and the First Amendment – Andrew Walker
• Three reasons that Houston’s subpoenas are a big deal – Matt Bowman, ADF
• #4Houston5: Stand with Houston pastors – ERLC
• Baptist leaders sign letter to Houston mayor – ERLC
• Mayor Parker: Reuniting divided Baptists since 2014 – @mthawk

• California’s abortion insurance mandate spotlights the Left’s 40-year devolution on conscience – Casey Mattox
• Churches forced to cover abortion file federal complaint against Calif. agency – ADF
• Seven things all churches should have in their bylaws (PDF) – ADF
• Should Christian marriage chapels be legal? Should they even exist? – Russell Moore and Andrew Walker via The Gospel Coalition

Casey Mattox serves as senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom. His litigation efforts focus on sanctity of human life issues, including waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer dollars by the abortion industry. Prior to serving with ADF, Mattox litigated for the Christian Legal Society Center for Law & Religious Freedom, as well as the Rutherford Institute, and clerked for Justice Champ Lyons of the Alabama Supreme Court. Mattox earned his J.D. from Boston College Law School and is a member of the bar of the U.S. Supreme Court, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and numerous federal courts.

Andrew Walker (@andrewtwalk, Ph.D. candidate, Ethics and Public Policy, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) serves the ERLC as Director of Policy Studies. His responsibilities include policy and cultural analysis, policy communication, content production and coalitions. Andrew came to the ERLC from The Heritage Foundation in August 2013. He is a graduate of Southwest Baptist University and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Matthew Hawkins (@mthawk) serves as Coalitions Director for the ERLC, working with other groups in Washington, D.C., to achieve common objectives. He is presently studying ethics and public affairs at George Mason University.

The post E12: Casey Mattox and the triple threat: Houston, Idaho, California appeared first on Canon and Culture.

• Kidd’s latest book: George Whitefield: America’s Spiritual Founding Father
  • via Yale University Press
  •  Amazon
• Bio, CV at Baylor.edu
• Dr. Kidd writes at the Anxious Bench (Patheos) and contributes at ERLC.com
• Follow him on Twitter @ThomasSKidd

Daniel Darling (@dandarling) is the ERLC’s Vice President for Communications. He is a contributor to Leadership Journal, Homelife, Crosswalk.com, Stand Firm,” and a variety of other evangelical publications. He has written several books, including his latest, Activist Faith. He personally blogs at danieldarling.com.

Matthew Hawkins (@mthawk) serves as Coalitions Director for the ERLC, working with other groups in Washington, D.C., to achieve common objectives. He is presently studying ethics and public affairs at George Mason University.

The post E11: Thomas Kidd and the most interesting man in American history appeared first on Canon and Culture.

During this conversation Matt and Ed discuss, among other things:

• How do we (in the West) discern what we hear about places like North Korea?
• What is life like for North Korean Christians who are not in concentration camps?
• What professions, particularly within academia might be a part of assisting and ministering to the global church?

About Ed & Stefanus

• Stefanus Alliance International  • @trosfrihet • On Facebook
• Contact Ed via ecb [at] stefanus.no
• Booklet by Stefanus Alliance (PDF): Freedom of Religion or Belief

Additional resources

• ERLC.com/Persecution
• Three ways pastors can cultivate a heart for persecuted Christians in their churches
• VIDEO: Persecution and the church, a conversation with Dan Darling and David Platt.
• (Book) Insanity of God by Nik Ripken
• (Book) Insanity of Obedience by Nik Ripken
• Bulletin insert from ERLC
• Part 1 of this series with Eric Foley.

The post E10: The Church in North Korea Part 2: Ed Brown appeared first on Canon and Culture.

The question up for discussion: What does life look like for Christians inside North Korea?

About Eric

• Bio
• Blog

Additional resources

• ERLC.com/Persecution
• Three ways pastors can cultivate a heart for persecuted Christians in their churches
• VIDEO: Persecution and the church, a conversation with Dan Darling and David Platt.
• (Book) Insanity of God by Nik Ripken
• (Book) Insanity of Obedience by Nik Ripken
• Bulletin insert from ERLC
• Audio: Part 2 of this series with Ed Brown

The post Episode 9: The Church in North Korea, Part 1 with Eric Foley appeared first on Canon and Culture.

• Book: Joy for the World: How Christianity Lost Its Cultural Influence and Can Begin Rebuilding It
• Dr. Forster at Acton University
• The Faith, Work, and Economics Program

Greg Forster is a program director for the Faith, Work, and Economics Program. He directs the Oikonomia Network, a national learning community of evangelical seminaries committed to equipping pastors with a theological understanding of faith, work, and economics, and how they relate to the pastoral calling. In addition to his duties at the Foundation, he is the editor of Hang Together, a group blog on religion, politics, and national identity; a senior fellow at the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice; the author of six books and numerous articles in both academic and popular publications; and a regular contributor to The Gospel Coalition, First Thoughts, and Jay P. Greene’s Blog. His writing covers theology, economics, political philosophy, and education policy. He received a doctorate with distinction in political philosophy from Yale University.

Education

• Ph.D. with Distinction in Political Science, Yale University, 2002
• M.A. in Political Science, Yale University, 2002
• B.A. summa cum laude in Political and Social Thought in Rhetoric and Communications Studies, University of Virginia, 1995

The post Episode 8: Greg Forster on Christianity and Cultural Influence appeared first on Canon and Culture.

• Values & Capitalism
• Books and more from V&C.
• Opportunities for faculty, students and professions.
• The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism by Michael Novak
• Adam Smith mentions included Wealth of Nations and his preface to WN, Theory of Moral Sentiments.
• Not mentioned but also recommended on this topic, Marvin Olasky’s Tragedy of American Compassion.

Josh previously spent four years as a consultant at ICF International, where he worked on responsible fatherhood and healthy marriage initiatives, in partnership with TANF welfare officials. He also worked on a national public-private partnership that served ex-prisoners, in collaboration with congregations and businesses.

Josh holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Covenant College and a master’s in Christianity and Culture from Harvard University, and he lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife and two children. His publications have appeared in National Review, The Weekly Standard, The Washington Times, Patheos, and Capital Commentary, and you can follow Josh on Twitter @josh_good_.

The post Episode 7: Josh Good on family, vocation, and economics appeared first on Canon and Culture.

• Ideas Have Consequences – by Richard Weaver
• The Man in the Middle – by Tim Goeglein
• Archive: Firing Line television program. Database.

Prior to his positions at Focus and the White House, Goeglein served as a communications director for Gary Bauer at the Campaign for Working Families, and also for U.S. Senator Dan Coats of Indiana. Goeglein and his wife, Jenny, reside in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and have two sons.

The post Episode 6: The Life and Times of Tim Goeglein appeared first on Canon and Culture.

Topics include this week’s oral arguments at the Supreme Court for Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood, both plaintiffs against the United State’s government contraceptive/abortifacient mandate. Will Kim make a prediction on the outcome?

Also, a retrospective on how Vanderbilt University squashed freedom of association on it’s campus. Oh, and Matt butchers a football metaphor (line of scrimmage, Hawkins, not hash marks).

Christian Legal Society (CLS).
Kim’s bio.
The Newseum celebrates 20 years of RFRA.
Join the ERLC to pray for the Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood court cases.
Russell Moore’s call to prayer.

The post Episode 5: Kim Colby on Hobby Lobby and Religious Freedom appeared first on Canon and Culture.

The post Episode 4: The Christian faith of conservative pundit Erick Erickson appeared first on Canon and Culture.

• A Call to Evangelical Engagement in the Arts, Duke’s essay at Canon & Culture.
• Duke’s “Christian in the Kettle” series:

Part 1: The role of Christians in public policy
Part 2: Engaging public policy in self-defense
Part 3: Engaging public policy for the sake of others
Part 4: Engaging for morality
Part 5: Public policy as stewards
Part 6: Citizens of Heaven and Earth
Part 7: Averting God’s judgment

• Bio
• @ERLCDuke
• Books mentioned:
  • The Liberation Trilogy by Rick Atkinson
  • Bonds of Imperfection by the O’Donovans

The post Episode 3: Barrett Duke on Christians and Public Policy appeared first on Canon and Culture.

• Matt Lewis at Daily Caller
• Matt Lewis Bio
• Matt Lewis’ interview with Hugh Hewitt.
• Matt Lewis’ podcast (iTunes)

The post Episode 2: Matt Lewis appeared first on Canon and Culture.

About Canon & Culture

Canon & Culture’s purpose is to help build and strengthen the church’s social, ethical, and moral witness by providing thoughtful content from leading thinkers that inspires a rising generation of evangelicals to think Christianly about the public square. More…

Who are these guys?

Andrew Walker is the managing editor of Canon and Culture, in addition to serving as the Director of Policy Studies for The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, the denomination’s entity tasked with addressing moral, social, and ethical issues. In his role, he researches and writes about human dignity, family stability, religious liberty, and the moral principles that support civil society. He earned his Master of Divinity from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Daniel Darling is the Vice President for Communications. He previously served five years as Senior Pastor of Gages Lake Bible Church. He is a contributor to Leadership Journal, Homelife, Crosswalk.com, Stand Firm,” and a variety of other evangelical publications. He has written several books, including his latest, Activist Faith. He personally blogs at danieldarling.com.

Matthew Hawkins serves as Coalitions Director, working with other groups in Washington, D.C., to achieve common objectives. After graduating from Belmont University, he joined the ERLC’s Nashville office to assist with broadcast efforts in 2001. Matt and his wife, Crystal, live in Arlington, VA, and are members of a church plant in Washington. He is presently studying ethics and public affairs at George Mason University.

The post Pilot Episode: What is Canon & Culture? appeared first on Canon and Culture.