Remembering the bootleg preacher

By J. Brent Walker, BJC Executive Director
When that self-described “bootleg preacher,” Will Campbell, died June 3, heaven became richer and the earth poorer.

From the July/August 2013 Report from the Capital

TN Judge Orders Mother to Change “Messiah’s” Name

Written by Don Byrd
A judicial magistrate in Newport, Tennessee has decided a couple’s proposed name for their child is just too religious for her taste. So she picked a name she liked instead. Jaleesa Martin was in front of Child Support Magistrate Lu Ann Ballew because she and her newborn’s father couldn’t agree on the child’s last name. But when Ballew saw the child’s first name was “Messiah,” she ordered it changed to Martin.

Keeping the Church Relevant but Separate

Written by Don Byrd
In today’s NYTimes, religion reporter Samuel Freedman profiles a unique partnership in Portland, Oregon between a suburban evangelical church and a public school in a low-income neighborhood. I love this story because it demonstrates what appears to be the successful navigation of tricky church-state concerns. When a church congregation wants to provide service in the community as part of its religious mission, and sees great need within public institutions like school systems, how should they be Christian servants without crossing important church-state safeguards?

7th Circuit to Employers: Listen to Your Employees for Religious Needs

Written by Don Byrd
Last week, the 7th Circuit reversed the dismissal of an employment discrimination case in which a Nigeria-born employee of Heartland Sweeteners was denied time off to participate in burial rites for his father as required by his religious beliefs. The court ruled the employer has responsibilities to understand the breadth of religious exercise, even when as here the employee, Sikiru Adeyeye, did not explicitly refer to religion or faith in requesting accommodation.