Two historians will headline upcoming events sponsored by Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty.
Catherine Brekus
Catherine Brekus, the Charles Warren Professor of the History of Religion in America at Harvard Divinity School, will give BJC’s annual Walter B. and Kay W. Shurden Lecture on Religious Liberty and Separation of Church and State May 31 in Boston.
She will address how the myth of American “chosenness” has shaped U.S. history. Brekus is currently writing a book about the relationship between American nationalism and Christianity.
The Shurden Lecture is one of the two major events presented each year by BJC.
The other, the BJC Luncheon, will take place in Atlanta June 30. Adam L. Bond will be the featured speaker.
Bond serves as pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Richmond, Va., and will begin serving as associate professor of religion at Baylor University Aug. 1. His address will focus on reimagining religious freedom.
Adam L. Bond
Bond is the author of The Imposing Preacher: Samuel DeWitt Proctor and Black Public Faith and is currently working on a history of African American Baptists titled Read the Text First: Black Baptist Leaders, Race Literature, and the Salvation of America.
Bond’s keynote speech at the BJC Luncheon will be part of a broader program introducing the BJC Center for Faith, Justice and Reconciliation. Led by Sabrina E. Dent, the center was acquired by BJC earlier this year to produce scholarship and house BJC’s Project on Race and Religious Freedom.
While the BJC Luncheon is held in conjunction with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship General Assembly, you do not have to attend the General Assembly to attend the luncheon. Tickets for the BJC Luncheon are $55 for an individual attending the event, $600 for a reserved table of 10, or $5 for a ticket to watch the online stream.
This year’s Shurden Lecture will take place at Old North Church in Boston, the site where two lanterns were hung in 1775 as a signal to Paul Revere that the British were coming by sea, igniting the American Revolution.
Brekus’ lecture will be followed by a panel discussion. Carol Gallager, assistant bishop in the Episcopal Church’s Diocese of Massachusetts, and Michael Hoberman, professor at Fitchburg State University, will join Brekus for the panel. It will be moderated by Jaimie Crumley, a member of the BJC board and professor at the University of Utah. During the 2022-2023 academic year, Crumley serves as research fellow at Old North Illuminated, the secular nonprofit that preserves the Old North Church and interprets its history.
Advanced reservations for the lecture are required but are free.