religious freedom

California Christian University President Reflects On COVID Impacts On Religious Freedom

California Christian University President Reflects On COVID Impacts On Religious Freedom

This month the Supreme Court issued an order that overturned California’s limits on religious gatherings in people’s homes, such as prayer meetings and scripture readings. Religion Unplugged interviewed Dr. John Jackson, President of William Jessup University, a California-based private Christian university in the Sacramento area. In our conversation, Dr. Jackson explored the spiritual and practical impacts of COVID-19 on the Jessup community, reflected on recent jurisprudence challenging religious freedom during the pandemic and offered a vision of religious freedom lived responsibly and stewarded for the benefit of others during the pandemic.

Supreme Court Unanimously Upholds Religious Freedom For Foster Parents

Supreme Court Unanimously Upholds Religious Freedom For Foster Parents

On Thursday, June 17, 2021, the Supreme Court of the United States, in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, unanimously upheld the religious freedom of foster parents Sharonell Fulton and Toni Simms-Busch, advancing their ability to continue partnering with Catholic Social Services (CSS) to provide loving homes and families for vulnerable children.

This Obscure Law Shielded An Episcopal School From A Lawsuit And Raises Concerns About Accountability

This Obscure Law Shielded An Episcopal School From A Lawsuit And Raises Concerns About Accountability

A Texas court ruling is sparking debates about an obscure First Amendment doctrine that exempts religious institutions from certain civil lawsuits to protect them from government interference in their internal matters. The ruling’s interpretation raises concerns about how lay people can hold these institutions accountable when abuses happen.

Biden Re-Establishes White House Office For Faith-Based Partnerships

Biden Re-Establishes White House Office For Faith-Based Partnerships

On Feb. 14, President Joe Biden signed an Executive Order reestablishing the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships — an office largely ignored by the Trump administration — and announced Melissa Rogers as executive director. Rogers served the same role in the Obama administration.

Inside The Supreme Court Order Reversing California’s Indoor Worship Ban

Inside The Supreme Court Order Reversing California’s Indoor Worship Ban

The Supreme Court recently reversed California’s discriminatory ban on indoor worship in a case brought by two churches against Governor Gavin Newsom. The churches claimed the state’s extreme prohibitions on all indoor religious services discriminated against religious institutions while permitting other large indoor venues to open, like Hollywood soundstages and large, nonessential department stores.

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Making a Sacred Impact During COVID-19: One Church's Response

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Making a Sacred Impact During COVID-19: One Church's Response

Victory Church, a 2018-2019 participant in Sacred Sector Community, has a longstanding, mutually-beneficial relationship with the Center for Public Justice. In this interview with pastor(s) Jamé Bolds and Mark Shanks, Sacred Sector Director Chelsea Langston Bombino talks with both pastors about how they see Victory Church and CPJ’s Sacred Sector initiative strengthening each other as they seek, in community with other congregations and faith-based organizations, to live out their sacred animating beliefs, in every area of their organizational lives. In light of the current COVID-19 pandemic, Pastor Bolds sees the health crisis as an opportunity to live into his congregation’s faith-based commitments in everything they do, with respect to how they engage their own faith community, how they serve the broader community, how they coordinate with other churches and community-based organizations, and how the church interacts with government. This principled pluralist, public justice framework shapes Victory Church’s approach to living into God’s good purposes as a congregation, and recognizes that each institution in society must live into their God-given strengths and innovate based on those strengths, while at the same time, encouraging and working with other social institutions and government to live into their right roles.