Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission

ERLC logo

The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) is the public policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest non-Catholic Christian denomination in the United States, with over 16 million members in over 43,000 independent churches.[1] As of June 1, 2013, the ERLC is headed by Russell D. Moore[2] and is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, with an office in Washington, D.C.

History

ERLC logo until September 2013

Formerly known as the Christian Life Commission, the agency was founded in 1988 when the Southern Baptist Convention began reducing its involvement in the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty due to conflicts over separation of church and state and whether Baptist organizations should play a role in partisan politics. It was led at its inception in 1988 by Richard Land. Land announced his intention to retire effective October 23, 2013, after the uproar that ensued from his controversial comments about the Trayvon Martin case that resulted in an official reprimand by the ERLC's executive committee.[3] Russell D. Moore filled the post afterwards.[4]

The stated vision of the ERLC is an "American society that affirms and practices Judeo-Christian values rooted in biblical authority". Its stated mission is to "awaken, inform, energize, equip, and mobilize Christians to be the catalysts for the Biblically-based transformation of their families, churches, communities, and the nation".[5]

Activities

The agency has many ministries to carry out its stated missions, including voter registration,[6] a think tank called the Research Institute,[7] and the Psalm 139 Project, which donates sonogram machines to crisis pregnancy centers.[8]

ERLC is involved in legislative advocacy. Its achievements include:

See also

References

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