BJC

📢 "Whether we worship at a church, mosque, synagogue, or temple, America has no second-class faiths." ^^From the Christians Against Christian Nationalism statement. No matter your religious belief – including if you choose not to practice a religion at all – each one of us is equal under the U.S. Constitution. We are opposed to attempts to elevate one faith above others or elevate religion over non-religion, ensuring that every person’s right to worship — or not — is respected and protected. Read the full statement: https://lnkd.in/egxSzhJ

We're glad to see the latest issue of Sojourners focused on #ChristianNationalism. It also shares an excerpt of Amanda Tyler's new book, "How to End Christian Nationalism." The book comes out Oct. 22. You can pre-order wherever books are sold. Preview the article here: https://lnkd.in/g95eFNdu

🚨NEW BOOK ALERT🚨 "How to End Christian Nationalism" releases October 22! Preorder now!! BJC’s Amanda Tyler wrote this book to help Christians name, dismantle, and end the dangerous ideology of Christian nationalism. Preorders help SO MUCH to get the word out about the book. You can preorder a copy wherever books are sold. We can't wait to get this book in your hands 🙌 https://lnkd.in/eBXNDTXE

We congratulate BJC's Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons on his new position as Senior Director of Policy & Advocacy with Interfaith Alliance and look forward to working with him in this capacity.

At BJC, our commitment to “being Baptist” in the best sense of our tradition can be helpful to our pluralistic democracy. As Baptists, we are guided by the “Four Fragile Freedoms”: Bible freedom, soul freedom, church freedom and religious freedom. This election year, we are seeing threats to all four of those. Read more from Amanda Tyler in her latest column here: https://lnkd.in/gfjePVGX

Say hello to David Rice, who joined the BJC team in July as Digital Strategist. Ordained in the American Baptist Churches USA, David will work for BJC from Michigan. He previously served in rural parish ministry and started his own communications consulting firm. He earned a Doctor of Ministry degree in missiology and organizational leadership from Western Theological Seminary and a Master of Divinity degree from the Seattle School of Theology and Psychology. His undergraduate degree is from Huntington University, where he studied youth ministry and Bible. BJC is also pleased to announce Karlee Marshall’s promotion to the new role of Media and Resource Manager. Karlee started at BJC as an intern in the spring of 2020. After her internship, she served as an independent contractor assisting with the Christians Against Christian Nationalism campaign. She joined the team full time in November 2022. 

Today we say farewell to two of our staff members: Julia Bradley and Georgia McKee. Julia joined the BJC team in 2021 as Donor Database Coordinator. Georgia started at BJC as an intern during the summer of 2022 and remained on staff following her internship as the Digital Communications Associate. We are grateful for all their contributions to our work advancing faith freedom for ALL and will miss them as colleagues. We wish them well in all their future endeavors!

This week is an exciting time for us at Christians Against Christian Nationalism: The campaign turns five years old! Our team wants to hear from you. Will you take five minutes to answer these five questions? https://lnkd.in/e6kvmaBF

Say 👋 hi to this year’s class of BJC Fellows! We are in Colonial Williamsburg this week for the 2024 BJC Fellows Seminar. This group of young professionals are participating in conversations about religious liberty, approaching it from perspectives rooted in history, archaeology, Baptist theology, and more Make sure you’re following us on Instagram and watching our stories to keep up with the #BJCFellows throughout the next several days. Follow us @bjconthehill

Since Louisiana passed a law requiring public schools to prominently display the Ten Commandments in all classrooms, BJC and our allies have been at the forefront, advocating for the religious freedom of all Americans. Government officials have no business forcing public schools to display religious texts. Doing so would elevate them above families and local religious leaders regarding religious instruction — something that many US citizens don’t want and that the Establishment Clause in the U.S. Constitution doesn’t allow. This could lead to a situation where children of different faiths or no faith at all feel excluded or pressured in their own schools. The Baptist Standard recently asked Holly Hollman, BJC's general counsel and associate executive director, for her thoughts on the new Louisiana law. In the article, she shares her concerns about the potential impact of the law on religious freedom and the constitutional rights of all Americans. You can read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/dNgf925J