The Weekly is a highlight of the work the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission is doing to strengthen you and our churches for God’s glory.

Explainer: Judge Kavanaugh and the Supreme Court confirmation process

This week Judge Brett Kavanaugh appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his Supreme Court confirmation hearing. Here is what you should know about Judge Kavanaugh and the Supreme Court confirmation process.

Who is Brett Kavanaugh?

Brett Kavanaugh, age 53, is currently a federal judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (appointed by George W. Bush). He was born in Washington, D.C., and educated at Yale University (B.A.) and Yale Law Law School (J.D.). He served as associate counsel and then senior associate counsel to the president, and as an assistant to the president and staff secretary to the president before being appointed by George W. Bush as a judge to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

This Week at the ERLC

• We were glad to welcome all of the ERLC Trustees to Nashville for our annual Board of Trustees Meeting. We are continually grateful to serve alongside them to carry out the mission of our organization. Some highlights from this year’s meeting include:

  • John Perkins, J.D. Greear, Albert Mohler, Sen. James Lankford, Governor Bill Haslam, Kevin Ezell, and others helped the trustees surprise Russell Moore to celebrate his first five years as president of the ERLC.

  • ​The Board voted to award Albert Mohler with the Distinguished Christian Service Award and Kristen Waggoner with the Religious Liberty Award for their service and commitment to our values and mission.

  • Elizabeth Graham was appointed to the ERLC cabinet, and Andrew Walker was promoted to ERLC director of research and senior fellow of Christian ethics.

• One of the highlights of working at the ERLC is how our organization invests in younger leaders through our internship program. Read this BP news story to learn more about this program.

• Don’t miss Dan Darling’s latest, Why gospel proclamation requires social activism:

“We shouldn’t have to choose between sharing with someone the good news that their Creator has rescued them from the enemy and demonstrating, by our lives of service, the unique dignity they share as God’s image-bearers. When we choose one or the other, we leave a giant, gaping hole in our gospel. When churches, for instance, refuse to apply the gospel to the issues of injustice in their contexts, they essentially baptize the status quo by their silence.”

What You Need to Know

• Our 2018 ERLC National Conference, The Cross-Shaped Family, is coming up in October, and you can help send a deserving couple for free! Read this article for contest entry details and guidelines. Nominate your favorite couple today!
   

• Did you see the viral photo of a beautiful baby girl surrounded by over 1,100 IVF needles? The picture is touching and shocking, posing questions for the Christian about the ethics of IVF. Andrew T. Walker highlights some of the problems worthy of consideration in his latest article.

“One of the greatest dilemmas around IVF is how commonplace it has become, even among Christians. Because there is no verse that explicitly prohibits IVF, many Christians see the availability of this technology as evidence of God's common grace to bring relief from infertility. Advanced technology that brings new questions to the experiences of life and the limits we are willing to impose on such technology is one of the greatest challenges facing the Christian church.”

News From Capitol Hill

• Southern Baptists are committed to the religious freedom of all people. The ERLC policy team continues to carry out that commitment internationally in support of H.R. 390, the Iraq and Syria Genocide Emergency Relief and Accountability Act. The grave injustices of recent years committed against our neighbors in Iraq and Syria demand our attention because a belief in human dignity demands justice in response to atrocity. Southern Baptists were encouraged by the United States' decision to formally declare as genocide the massacre against religious minorities in Iraq and Syria. The House passed the bipartisan HR 390 in June 2017. We now call upon the Senate to pass and move this bill to the President’s desk.
  
  For more on the ERLC’s advocacy efforts, read this article by Travis Wussow and listen to this podcast interview with Congressman Chris Smith.

Featured Podcasts

From The Public Square

We Need a Dignity Revolution
Interview by Kathryn Jean Lopez

Rebooting with a Christian approach to politics and life.

A Faith-Based Adoption Agency Helped Me in Crisis. Now, These Agencies Are Under Attack.
Adrian Collins, The Daily Signal

Faith-based adoption providers in multiple states are being told to choose between practicing their beliefs or closing.

Army chaplain Squires cleared of all charges
Brandon Elrod, Baptist Press

The U.S. Army has dropped its investigation against Southern Baptist chaplain Jerry Scott Squires, fully exonerating the major of all charges today (Aug. 24).

198 Chinese Christian Leaders—and Counting—sign Joint Statement Affirming Religious Freedom
The St. Charles Institute 

On August 30, 2018, a group of Chinese Christian pastors and leaders issued a joint statement, a declaration for the sake of Christian faith. This statement comes at a time of increasing tension between the Chinese government and China’s Christian community. And many believe this marks a significant moment in the country’s church and state relations.

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