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 Greetings from the Baptist Joint Committee in exile!
In exile?
No, there has not been a coup. And, no, we have not left town for a foreign country. We are still on Capitol Hill, but we have recently left our familiar digs on the third floor of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Building — where we have been for nearly 50 years — and moved to temporary quarters one floor down, where we will be for the next three to four months.
Why? We are making way for our expanded, improved and altogether welcomed new quarters, a Center for Religious Liberty on Capitol Hill.
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 Across the country, churches and other religiously affiliated entities are engaged in community service. In many communities, religious organizations are uniquely positioned to provide effective social services. In some instances, they do so in cooperation with government. Religious entities can and do compete for government funding to provide secular social services. Because such collaboration involves taxpayer dollars, important legal considerations come into play. These partnerships can enjoy great success, but they must also meet constitutional standards that require separation of church and state. A recent case in a Massachusetts federal district court illustrates the Establishment Clause concerns that arise when private organizations impose religious restrictions in a tax-funded program.
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Lambert: America is both religious and secular, sometimes in tension
 MACON, GA — Strong defense of the separation of church and state and religious liberty is necessary today because of the false claims of so-called evangelical historians and their concerted effort to re-write history said Purdue University history professor Frank Lambert in a series of lectures sponsored by the Baptist Joint Committee April 17-18 on the Mercer University campus.
Lambert’s three presentations, comprising the annual Walter B. and Kay W. Shurden Lectures on Religious Liberty and Separation of Church and State, addressed three claims made by the “ultra conservative, highly partisan sectarians” that play the role of historians.
“They have all the answers. No historical examination is necessary,” Lambert said in a mocking tone.
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Click here to view videos of all three lectures.
Click here to view photos from the event.
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Critical questions remain unanswered in the White House's new guidelines on public/private partnerships, and you can read more about that issue in the May edition of