Introduction—LCRL Basics 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 advance a distinctly Lutheran response to increasing government intrusions into the life of the Church, while educating, encouraging, and equipping LCMS members and organizations to take informed action in defense of religious freedom for the sake of the Gospel ministries of our churches, schools, and universities.
Purpose and Services The Synod, through the LCRL, monitors and protects the church’s First Amendment rights—guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution—in the public square so that our 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 will equip 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. Where the government, the culture, and faith conflict, Lutherans can and must speak up and out in support of religious liberty.
Why This Matters We are living in a time when Christian values and morals are under attack culturally, legally, and politically, with cultural and political forces throughout society committed to • aggressively chipping away at Americans’ most basic religious liberties, despite the protections guaranteed by the First Amendment;
- rapidly de constructing and redefining, through law and litigation, the biblical understanding of marriage and the family, the foundational building block of our culture;
- discarding as inconsequential, despite the defeat of Roe v. Wade, the lives of more than 67 million pre born Americans;
- politically and legally targeting Christian schools and preschools, in defiance of constitutional protections, because of their biblical teachings on marriage and sexuality; and
- politicizing and demonizing the public expression of the Christian faith, including its central proclamation of “Christ alone crucified,” in an effort to silence any faithful public witness to the whole counsel of God—the very heartbeat of our Lutheran identity and calling.
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, “Christian Citizenship,” essay for the 1937 English District convention)
This void is now filled by the growing and expanding voice of the LCRL for the betterment of the country and in opposition to any movements, views, or legislation that would harm the right of religious freedom in the public square. The LCRL office offers advantages. • It maintains a direct presence of the LCMS and like-minded Lutherans in the nation’s capital.
- It enables the LCMS to monitor and communicate impending legislation, infringement on religious liberty, and other matters of concern to LCMS members, congregations, recognized service organizations, and other LCMS institutions.
- It provides a venue and a process through the Champions for Liberty Religious Network 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.
- It offers proximity to a growing list of partner organizations and offices to help build coalitions, thus strengthening our First Amendment voice in Washington, D.C.
Four Primary Tasks 1.
Advocacy and Encouragement on Capitol Hill: Through our active presence on Capitol Hill—including advocacy meetings (Values Action Team meetings with Senate and House), direct engagement with members of Congress and the Executive Branch (personal as well as via radio), and our expanding broadcast outreach through The Liberty Action Alert—we work to ensure that the concerns of LCMS churches, schools, and universities are faithfully represented before civil authorities. We also encourage and support those who labor in public office to uphold religious liberty and the God-given rights of the Church. 2. Education and Assistance a. Through its expanding body of resources, the LCRL equips Synod laity with a faithful understanding of major cultural and legal challenges, the Lutheran doctrine of vocation (especially Christian citizenship), and the theology of the two kingdoms. In this way, believers are prepared to serve their neighbors in the civil realm while supporting and preserving the Church’s Gospel mission. b. Through trusted partnerships (with Alliance Defending Freedom [ADF], First Liberty Institute, Liberty Counsel, and the Becket Fund), the LCRL assists Christians and congregations in securing legal support and critical resources when they face opposition, litigation, or government action for confessing and living according to Holy Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions. 3.
Advocacy, Training, and Support: Through our Champions for Liberty Network, the LCRL provides advocacy training, strategic coaching, and ongoing support for Synod congregations, schools, and universities. This work equips laity to live out their Christian vocation in God’s left-hand kingdom with clarity, courage, and confessional faithfulness. 4.
Publication and Communication: In partnership with like-minded organizations and public leaders, the LCRL communicates an orthodox Lutheran, two-kingdom perspective on cultural, legal, and public policy matters to governing authorities, ensuring that a clear and faithful Lutheran witness is maintained in the public square. Resources in this regard include the webpage LCRLFreedom.org, the Liberty Action Alert (podcast), the Word from the Center, Prayer Partner Thursdays, the Champions Advocate Weekly, and Mom and Pop Papers.
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Alignment with LCMS goals
Partnership with ADF, First Liberty, and Liberty Counsel in various efforts to offer both our two-kingdom voice/training coupled with their legal support to the issues that beset our churches and schools today.
1. Mission planting: This office exists to protect the public voice, the religious liberty of our churches, missions, schools, and universities for the sake of mission. 2. Theological education: The LCRL is building a network of churches who are trained and deployed with a “2KG [two-kingdom] Civics” mindset to deal with the 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 our church as well.
- 3. Collaborate to enhance mission effectiveness: The LCRL effort will, in all its teachings and literature, emphasize why and how “two-kingdom cultural engagement” is vital to effective mission al outreach.
LCRL established and has grown the main LCRL website, lc rl freedom.org, the two-kingdom web resource for LCMS churches and schools. o
Great Opportunities Seized in 2023–26 • LCRL established a growing LCMS two-kingdom citizenship voice in Washington, D.C., including the following activities. o
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 Southern Baptist ERLC group, the Religious Liberty Network (RLN), the Religious Freedom Institute (RFI), the Heritage Foundation, and the Weyrich Luncheon, all seeking to under gird religious liberty, the sanctity of life, traditional marriage, and educational freedom.
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Advocacy visits on the Hill, including visits and interviews with representatives and thought leaders on the Hill.
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Creating and leading 2KG Roundtable Meetings on the Hill bringing together political leaders, LCMS leaders, and various supporters to enhance our witness on the Hill.
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Our growing D.C. radio program and LCRL podcast, The Liberty Action Alert with Greg Seltz (292 programs and counting), which both advocates for our positions with leaders in the country and in forms our congregations about issues, advocacy, and action in interviews with thought leaders on the Hill. Guests include Sen. Cynthia Lummis (LCMS), Sen. Steve Daines, Rep. Robert Aderholt, Sen. James Lankford, Os Guinness (culture), Eric Metaxas (culture), Dr. Victor Davis Hanson, (culture, politics), John Stone street (culture), Father Frank Pavone (life), Jeanne Mancini (life), Carrie Campbell Severino (judiciary), Mike Berry (judiciary), Kelly Shack el ford (judiciary), Mat Staver (courts, culture), Katharine Gorka (culture), George Barna (culture), Lt. Col. (Ret.) Allen West, Larry Elder, Tim Goeglein (culture), George Tryfiates (education), Jamison Coppola (education), and Dr. Ben Carson (politics, culture, education).
- Challenge: While the LCRL presence has been established, the next phase of development needs to further establish our unique voice in the cultural/ political issues of the day. Expanding our role on committees, expanding our radio voice, and becoming a go-to resource for two-kingdom answers to the issues surrounding liberty, life, marriage, and education are the challenges of the next step in advocacy.
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.” These include the weekly Word from the Center, Mom and Pop Two-Kingdom Paper, Liberty Action Alert podcasts, Prayer Partner Thursdays, and the Champions Advocate Weekly.
Challenge: The resources, which are many and growing, need to be more known, accessible, and more easily investigated for use and application by our people. We are working to index these.
Challenge: Social media use is a necessity. We are presently working to put our information on multiple platforms for the sake of our churches and ministries.
LCRL established a growing Champions for Liberty Network of churches, which are trained not only in two-kingdom engagement of various issues in our culture, but are also trained and equipped to engage this issue in service to the mission of the Church, not as political ideologues. Under the leadership of the Rev. Mark Frith, we have digitally uploaded our information and our lectures and have created a “Champion’s Training Process” that empowers pastors and laity to learn to put one’s “temporal liberties to work in service to the eternal liberties of the Gospel,” without politicizing our mission and witness. o
Rev. Frith is growing the Champions Network, making it the support organization for our D.C. presence as well as equipping our laity to serve in their home communities.
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He has digitalized our Champions for Liberty educational process, both lecture and application, to prepare and equip 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—without politicizing the Gospel, as many advocacy groups are tempted to do.
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From 2019 to present, LCRL conducted over 100 Champions for Liberty Weekends with churches and schools to frame and empower pastoral and lay leaders to engage the seminal issues of liberty, life, marriage, and educational freedom with a two-kingdom mind-set, good both for the culture and the mission of the Church.
Challenge: Continuing to grow and streamline the delivery process of the Champions Network educational process and to ensure its application to the many needs of our congregations and schools.
Challenge: Adding a more definitive legal dimension to the resources that we provide with a church’s partnership with us as a Champion Church. Presently, we defer to organizations such as ADF, First Liberty, Liberty Counsel, and the Becket Fund.
Goals for 2026 and Beyond 1. Membership expansion of web resource, radio program/ podcasts, vlogs, and cadre of 2KG writers in service to the Church. 2. In D.C., encourage Lutherans on the Hill; expand 2KG Roundtables, and increase personal connections to representatives and thought leaders on the Hill who align with our LCRL values. 3. Expand Card Initiative, Champions Advocate Email, and personal advocacy. 4. Become the go-to public resource on the Hill for two-kingdom perspectives on the issues of the day; assemble an LCMS two-kingdom collection that reflects successful voices like The Federalist, Daily Wire, etc. 5. Develop a maturing Champions for Liberty Network in service to the LCMS, acknowledged and supported by the various districts of the LCMS—20 new congregations. o
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The educational aspects of the network have been totally digitalized under the leadership of Rev. Mark Frith, who is also tasked to grow the network systematically through events around the country. Champions for Liberty events around the country train the laity for two-kingdom cultural engagement concerning liberty, life, marriage, and education, all in service to the Church’s mission. The LCRL is also expanding our LCRLFreedom.org web resource, utilizing social media more effectively.
6. LCRL staff-led development growth of financial partners (25 core donors, 10,000+ active regular donors). 7. While God continues to bless us with the support that we need, more effectively meeting the growing opportunities and challenges will require growing staff and support. In order to do the latter, the LCRL is now partnering with Meyer Partners to unlock the potential of our churches and people toward the efforts that the LCRL is making on behalf of us all.