Key resolutions from the 2021 SBC Annual Meeting

Earlier this week, messengers to the 2021 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting in Nashville, Tennessee, voted to adopt nine resolutions, seven of which were related to ERLC concerns, issues, and legislative priorities. Here is a recap of the ERLC-related resolutions.

This Week in Washington, D.C.

Yesterday, in a decisive win for religious freedom, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia that faith-based foster care and adoption providers, such as Catholic Social Services in Philadelphia, can continue serving children and families according to their convictions.

This decision in Fulton is a critical win for religious liberty and children in need. People of faith have a right to serve children in need free of discrimination from the state. Now that the Supreme Court has clarified protections under the First Amendment, CSS can continue serving in Philadelphia at a time in which the city has called for more homes due to a foster care crisis. The Supreme Court’s ruling means that more children will find safe, permanent, and loving homes, because CSS will continue to be able to serve those in need.

The child welfare system needs as many agencies seeking to care for vulnerable children as possible, and the Fulton decision simply means that the state should not punish providers and families for their faith. Children are best served when we all work together.

For further reading: Explainer: The Supreme Court affirms faith-based foster care and adoption providers

From The Public Square

Federal appeals court blocks sweeping Missouri abortion law
Associated Press

A federal appeals court panel has blocked Missouri from enforcing a sweeping state abortion law that bans the procedures at or after eight weeks of pregnancy.

Why The Supreme Court May Be Poised To Deliver The Religious Right A Big Victory
FiveThirtyEight

Over the past few decades, particularly this one, the U.S. Supreme Court has increasingly lent a sympathetic ear to those who say their religious beliefs are being trampled on, carving out one religious exemption after another to the First Amendment.

Another Reason Birth Rates Are Dropping: We Have Devalued Parenthood
Institute for Family Studies

The declining birth rate is not just a failure of the economy, but a failure of society to value nurturing and family above all else and to model our joy in parenting to the next generation.

Biden DOJ to Vigorously Defend Religious School Exemptions
Christianity Today

The Biden administration support of religious school exemptions is making news, but the Equality Act is still a major concern.

What You Need to Read

Policy Staff with Explainer: The Supreme Court affirms faith-based foster care and adoption providers

In a decisive win for religious freedom, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia that faith-based foster care and adoption providers, such as Catholic Social Services in Philadelphia, can continue serving children and families according to their convictions.

Jordan Wotten with Good leaders can change the world: An interview with Rich Stearns on his new book Lead Like it Matters to God

Rich Stearns, former president of World Vision U.S., has been a leader for a long time. Over the course of his life and career, serving within several organizations, he’s learned some important lessons about leadership, but none more important than being a leader with character and, as a Christian, one who is preoccupied with the will and way of God.

Chelsea Stanley with 5 prayers of thanksgiving on Father’s Day

As Christians, we should be the most grateful of all on Father’s Day. Ours is an even richer heritage because we have a Heavenly Father who has adopted us as his children and placed us into our earthly families as part of his good plan. We know that any love we receive from our parents is a glimpse of the Father’s love for us.

This Week at the ERLC

Featured Podcasts

This week, the Supreme Court handed down a decisive 9-0 victory for religious freedom in Fulton v. Philadelphia. Back in November, the ERLC DC team hosted Lori Windham, the Becket attorney who argued before the Court on behalf of foster moms and Catholic Social Services, on Capitol Conversations to discuss this important case.

In this episode of the WeeklyTech Podcast, Jason Thacker is joined by Dr. Geoffrey Fulkerson and Joel Chopp to talk about a new volume they co-edited, Science and the Doctrine of Creation: The Approaches of Ten Modern Theologians.