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The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission is the public policy agency of the Southern Baptist Convention. It is headed by Richard Land and is headquartered in Nashville, TN with an office in Washington, DC.
The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.[1] is the social and moral issues agency of the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest non-catholic denomination in the United States, with over 16 million members in over 43,000 independent churches.
Formerly known as the Christian Life Commission, the agency has been led since 1988 by Dr. Richard Land, a graduate of Princeton University and the University of Oxford. The stated vision of the ERLC is an American society that affirms and practices Judeo-Christian values rooted in biblical authority.
The stated mission of the ERLC is to awaken, inform, energize, equip, and mobilize Christians to be the catalysts for the Biblically-based transformation of their families, churches, communities, and the nation.[2]
The agency has many ministries to carry out its stated missions including:
• For Faith & Family,[3] the communications arm of the agency that works through radio, a monthly magazine,[4] a weekly email newsletter, and other means.
• Ivotevalues.com, an effort to register Christians to vote, educate them to vote their values, and encourage them to pray for transformation in our nation.[5]
• The Psalm 139 Project purchases and places sonogram machines in crisis pregnancy centers around the nation. 100% of the donations to the project go to purchase and place sonogram machines. This effort was born of the understanding that women in crisis pregnancies who are allowed to see their child through a sonogram are 90% more likely to decide against abortion and for the life of their unborn child.[6]
With offices in Nashville, Tennessee and Washington, D.C., the agency reaches into the homes and churches of America as well as the halls of Congress and the Administration. From its base in Washington, D.C., ERLC staff monitor legislation, promote Judeo-Christian values, and work with a broad coalition of organizations to accomplish its mission. ERLC was instrumental in such legislative victories as The Sudan Peace Act,[7] The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA),[8][9] and The North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004.[10]
The Research Institute of the ERLC serves three chief functions for the agency: to provide a professional setting where conservative, evangelical scholars can discuss and comment on current trends in American culture; to apply a conservative biblical worldview to the moral, cultural, religious liberty, and public policy issues confronting American society; and to develop a comprehensive Judeo-Christian worldview to equip Christians to consider and get involved in the moral, social, and religious liberty issues confronting their families. Among its Fellows are theologians, seminary presidents, academic deans, doctors, lawyers, and pastors. The Institute is led by Dr. Barrett Duke, Vice President for Public Policy and Research,.[11]