RICHMOND – The teaching of religious liberty in churches is the purpose of a new DVD-ROM resource produced by the Center for Baptist Heritage & Studies. Our Story DVD contains a 20-minute video recounting the 18th-century Baptist struggle in Virginia to secure religious liberty. An understanding of the history offers an opportunity to also present current concerns over church-state issues.
Also included on the disc are several resources designed to assist teaching this historic Baptist principle in many different ways. When the disc is placed in a computer, there are two different lesson plans designed for adult group study, a sermon by William Powell Tuck, a paper on James Ireland to help understand his contribution to the struggle, several articles by Fred Anderson on the topic of religious liberty and a complete lesson for teaching the principle to children. The children's resource contains a lesson, a game, the story of James Ireland for children and a reproducible handout. A final resource is a play about the imprisonment of James Ireland which could be studied and dramatized during worship by a youth group.
Our Story was produced in part by a grant from the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Virginia. The DVD premiered at the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship's general assembly in Washington, D.C. Fred Anderson, executive director for the Center, and Jon Messer, education coordinator, presented a workshop on teaching religious liberty in local congregations.
“Baptists must teach this principle to their children, youth and adults if we are to continue to enjoy this freedom,” stated Messer. “We must be diligent because this freedom is quickly eroding away.”
The entire collection of materials is offered for $15 plus shipping and handling. Our Story can be obtained by writing the Center for Baptist Heritage & Studies at P.O. Box 34, University of Richmond, VA 23173 or calling (804) 289-8434.