Introduction The mission of the Lutheran Center for Religious Liberty (LCRL), The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod’s (LCMS) two kingdom, First Amendment organization in Washington, D.C., is to ignite and fuel a uniquely Lutheran response to increasing intrusions by the government in the realm of the church while educating, encouraging, and equipping LCMS members and organizations to take informed action in support of religious freedom for the sake of the Gospel ministries of LCMS churches, schools, and universities.
Purpose and Services
The LCMS, through the LCRL, monitors and protects the church’s First Amendment rights—guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution—in the public square so that LCMS churches, schools, and universities can continue to boldly preach Christ crucified as the power of God for salvation without government coercion or interference. The LCRL equips Lutherans and Lutheran organizations to: 1. engage federal and state officials through advocacy and defensive legal strategies; 2. educate future generations about serving God through vocations in government, law, and public policy; and 3. connect with Lutherans involved in government affairs.
Why This Matters
We are living in a time when Christian values and morals are under attack—culturally, legally, and politically—from cultural and political forces throughout society that are committed to: • aggressively chipping away at Americans’ most basic religious liberties despite the protections of the First Amendment;
- rapidly de constructing and redefining, through law and litigation, the biblical definitions of marriage and the family— the very building blocks of our culture;
- discarding as inconsequential, despite Roe v. Wade’s defeat, the lives of 64 million pre born Americans;
- politically and legally targeting LCMS schools and preschools, regardless of their constitutional protections, because of our biblical teachings on marriage and sexuality; and
- politicizing and demonizing the public expression of our Christian faith, even its main teaching of “We Preach Christ Crucified,” and seeking to silence any form of publicly “testifying to the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27), the catalyst and calling that is the heartbeat of who we are as Lutherans.
An evaluation of current faith-based entities and think tanks in Washington, D.C., indicates a plethora of groups and institutions that support the protection of religious liberty. However, none offer the distinctly confessional Lutheran understanding of Luther’s two-kingdom theology:
“One is the kingdom of this world. Into it we are born; in it we sustain our bodies and do our work. The other is the Christian Church, in which we have become members by faith. In it we do our spiritual tasks; in it we pray, serve the Church, and do mission-work. This is the purpose for which we have been placed on earth.”—Dr. Theodore Graebner, 1937 Synod in convention This void is now filled by the growing voice of the LCRL for the betterment of the country and in opposition to any movements, views, or legislation that would harm the right to religious freedom in the public square. The LCRL office offers advantages, specifically that it: • creates a direct presence of the LCMS and like-minded Lutherans in the nation’s capital;
- enables the LCMS to monitor and communicate impending legislation as well as infringement on religious liberty and other matters of concern to LCMS members, congregations, recognized service organizations, and other LCMS institutions;
- provides a venue and a process to engage, encourage, and equip Lutherans of all ages to exercise their vocations as part of God’s preserving work through government or political engagement; and
- offers proximity to a growing list of partner organizations and offices to help build coalitions, thus strengthening our First Amendment voice in Washington, DC.
The LCRL’s Four Primary Tasks 1. Advocacy and Encouragement on Capitol Hill a. With an active presence on the Hill in various advocacy meetings, visits to members of Congress and the executive branch, and the expanding radio voice of the LCRL Washington, D.C. radio program, The Liberty Action Alert with Greg Seltz, LCRL is ensuring that the needs of LCMS churches, schools, and universities are heard by those who represent us. LCRL is also supporting and encouraging the work of those who defend LCRL on the Hill. 2. Education and Assistance a. The LCRL, through our growing body of resources, seeks to educate laity on major issues facing the country, the Lutheran doctrine of vocation (in particular Christian citizenship), and two-kingdom theology. It also prepares them for cultural engagement in service to the protection and mission of Christ’s Church. b. The LCRL, through our partners, also connects Christians with legal defense when they suffer persecution (e.g., arrest, lawsuits, and so on) for public-square speech and actions that agree with Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions but conflict with the culture and government. LCRL’s partnerships with Alliance Defending Freedom, First Liberty, and the Becket Fund allow us to connect churches with the information and the support they need. 3. Advocacy, Advocacy Training, and Support across the Synod a. LCRL’s Champions for Liberty Network of churches, with our various levels of training and coaching, continues to grow to meet the needs of LCMS churches, schools, and
universities, empowering laity for service in God’s lefthand kingdom. 4. Publication and Communication a. We partner with other voices on the Hill to present LCMS views to governing bodies and policymakers regarding the orthodox Lutheran, two-kingdom view on cultural issues.
Alignment with LCMS Priorities 1. Sustain and revitalize Lutheran churches: This office exists to protect the public voice and the religious liberty of LCMS churches, missions, schools, and universities for the sake of mission. 2. Theological education: As mentioned above, the LCRL is building a network of churches trained to deal with issues in culture and politics for the sake of the mission of the Church. This training program, network of influence, and leadership may continue to grow into an academic program, training the next generation of leadership for the LCMS. 3. Collaborate to enhance mission effectiveness: The LCRL effort, in all its teachings and literature, emphasizes why and how two-kingdom cultural engagement is vital to effective mission al outreach.
Great Opportunities Seized from 2019–2023 1. Established a growing LCMS two-kingdom citizenship voice in Washington, D.C. a. LCRL engaged in regular member participation with various advocacy groups, such as the Values Action Team of the House and Senate, the National Right to Life, the March for Life, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, the Liberty Radio Network, the Religious Freedom Institute, the Heritage Foundation, and the Weyrich luncheon. These groups are all seeking to under gird religious liberty, the sanctity of life, traditional marriage, and educational freedom. b. Advocacy visits on the Hill included conversations and interviews with representatives and thought leaders in government. c. In response to the COVID-19 shutdown of the Capitol, the LCRL established and grew the radio program The Liberty Action Alert with Greg Seltz, which both advocates for our positions with leaders in the country as well as in forms LCMS congregations about issues, advocacy, and action in interviews with thought leaders on the Hill. d. Partnership with Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) in various efforts offered both LCRL’s two-kingdom voice/ training and ADF’s legal support to the issues that beset our churches and schools today. o
Challenge: While the LCRL’s presence has been established in Washington, DC, the next phase of development needs to further launch our unique voice regarding the cultural/political issues of the day. The challenges of the next steps in advocacy are to expand LCRL’s role on committees and our radio voice as well as become a go-to resource for two-kingdom answers to the issues surrounding religious liberty, life, marriage, and education.
2. LCRL established and grew the main LCRL website— LCRLfreedom.org—the two-kingdom web resource for LCMS churches and schools. a. Presently, the site is populated with timely and easy-toread resources to inform and instruct our people how “to put their temporal liberties to work for the sake of the eternal liberties of Christ.” Available resources are (1) the weekly “Word from the Center” devotions and op-eds; (2) “Mom and Pop” and two-kingdom papers on issues of the day; and (3) podcasts of all the “Liberty Action Alerts” with its various guests and topics. o
Challenge: The resources, which are many and growing, need to be more accessible and easily investigated for use and application. LCRL is presently addressing this issue.
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Challenge: Social media use is necessary, if also a necessary evil, to LCRL’s awareness, growth, and usefulness to churches and ministries. LCRL is presently expanding our social media platforms to meet those challenges and opportunities.
Presently, LCRL defers to organizations such as Alliance Defending Freedom, First Liberty, and the Becket Fund.
Goals for 2023 and Beyond 1.
LCRL seeks to grow our advocating and encouraging presence on the Hill.
a. In spite of the change of tenor in the present administration, the LCRL seeks to grow our presence as a thought leader in the various partnerships and meetings presently attended. b. Post-COVID-19, LCRL is returning to a more robust visitation of our Lutheran representatives on the Hill and reinstating its two-kingdom roundtable events that gather various LCMS workers on the Hill to relay and under gird our two-kingdom perspective on various issues. c. LCRL will continue to be an encouraging voice to congressional leaders by supporting them in prayer, visitation, and the Word from the center devotions, which are meant to give them strength for the important work that they do.
3. LCRL established a growing “Champions for Liberty” network of churches. Members are trained not only in two kingdom engagement of various issues in our culture but stand ready and equipped in service to the mission of the church rather than in political ideologues.
2. LCRL looks to expand our Champions for Liberty Network of churches.
a. LCRL hired a Champions for Liberty Network director. As the need for training laity grows, the LCRL has recently called the Rev. Mark Frith to expand the network and to make it a support network for our churches and people throughout the country.
b. LCRL will strive to increase our weekend Champions for Liberty events around the country to better train and equip laity.
b. LCRL created a Champions for Liberty educational process. Through both lecture and application, LCRL prepares and equips Christians for differentiating God’s preserving and saving work, thus being more effective in the left-hand kingdom work in service to the mission of the church. LCRL is intentional to do so without politicizing the Gospel, as many advocacy groups are tempted to do.
a. LCRL has plans to expand its web resources and more effectively utilize social media for the work of the LCRL.
3. LCRL will expand our partner base and resources to ensure that we have the capability to meet the growing needs of LCMS churches in this present partisan environment in the public square. a. While God continues to bless LCRL with the support that it needs, LCRL’s next opportunity for growth is to build our capacity—both concerning financials and staff—to meet growing opportunities and challenges more effectively. b. To do that, the LCRL is now partnering with Meyer+Partners, a consulting and fundraising agency, to unlock the potential of LCMS churches and people with regard to the efforts that the LCRL is making on behalf of all of us.
c. LCRL hosted Champions for Liberty weekends. From 2019 to present, LCRL has conducted some 80 events with churches and schools to empower pastoral and lay leaders to engage these seminal issues. d. Due to COVID-19, LCRL’s university initiative with Concordia University, Nebraska (CUNE) was tabled until further notice. The university was also changing presidents, grappling with the challenges of COVID-19, and absorbing students from Concordia University, Portland. With so many uncertainties, the university decided not to go forward with the mutual plan to establish the two-kingdom minor in public engagement with internships in Washington, D.C. at that time. Due to expanding the Champions for Liberty Network, LCRL has not revisited this with CUNE but is open to such efforts in the future. o
Challenge: LCRL must continue to grow and streamline the delivery process of the Champions for Liberty Network educational process and ensure its application to the many needs of our congregations and schools.
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Challenge: LCRL must add a more definitive legal dimension to the resources it provides when a congregation partners with it through the Champions for Liberty Network.