Gardner-Webb University Hosts National Advocate for Faith Freedom on Oct. 22

Executive Director for the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty Amanda Tyler Featured Speaker for Mary Washburn Wilson Lecture Series

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C.—Amanda Tyler, the executive director for the Baptist Joint Committee (BJC) for Religious Liberty will be the featured speaker for the Gardner-Webb University School of Divinity’s Mary Washburn Wilson Lecture Series. The free event will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 22, at 1 p.m. in Dover Chapel. Tyler’s topic will be “How to End Christian Nationalism.”

Dean of the School of Divinity Dr. Robert Canoy praised the work of Tyler and her predecessors. “The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty (BJC) has been blessed with great leadership for many decades,” Canoy noted. “James M. Dunn and J. Brent Walker, leaders since 1981 and 1999 respectively, have been joined by current Executive Director Amanda Tyler since 2017. As an alumna of the University of Texas School of Law, Tyler’s leadership of the BJC continues its founding focus on religious liberty for all people without which Baptists could easily be silenced in America.”

Tyler is also lead organizer of the Christians Against Christian Nationalism campaign and co-host of the Respecting Religion podcast. As executive director of BJC, Tyler upholds the historic Baptist principle of faith freedom for all. Her constitutional law analysis and advocacy for religious freedom have been featured by major news outlets, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, CBS News, ABC News, CNN, and MSNBC.

In these roles, Canoy further recognized Tyler’s “exceptional capacities for looking past short-sighted rhetoric that seems to favor Baptists, but that unfortunately could lead to a loss of Baptist freedoms should others from other backgrounds and beliefs become the majority or more powerful religious voices in America.”

He continued, “Amanda Tyler understands that religious freedom for one means religious freedom for everyone. She promotes that message and principle wherever she goes and in everything that she writes.”

Religion News Service named Tyler one of “2022’s rising stars in religion,” and she regularly preaches in Baptist churches, speaks at denominational gatherings, and leads sessions on college campuses and with community groups of all sizes. She testified before Congress in 2022 about the ways in which Christian nationalism proves cover for white supremacy, and in 2018 she spoke about threats to religious liberty around the world.

A member of the Texas and U.S. Supreme Court Bar, she has experience working in Congress, in a private legal practice and serving as a law clerk for a federal judge. Tyler is a graduate of Georgetown University and The University of Texas School of Law.

Follow Tyler on Twitter: @AmandaTylerBJC

Auxiliary aids will be made available to persons with disabilities upon request 10 working days prior to the event.  Please call 704-406-4270 or email [email protected] with your request.

About the Mary Washburn Wilson Lecture Series

The lectures are supported by the Mary Washburn Wilson Visiting Scholar Endowment, which was established in honor of Mary Leigh Washburn Wilson (1922-2003) through a generous gift by her daughter, Rev. Tillie Duncan, a member of the GWU Gallery of Distinguished Alumni, along with Rev. Duncan’s husband Shannon Duncan. The lectureship is designed to expose students to new ideas and to make them aware of ideas not previously thought about in an intentional way.

About Gardner-Webb University

Gardner-Webb is North Carolina’s recognized leader in private, Christian higher education. A Carnegie-Classified Doctoral/Professional University, GWU is home to nine colleges and schools, more than 80 undergraduate and graduate majors, and a world-class faculty. Located on a beautiful 225-acre campus in Boiling Springs, N.C., Gardner-Webb prepares graduates to impact their chosen professions, equips them with the skills to advance the frontiers of knowledge, and inspires them to make a positive and lasting difference in the lives of others. Ignite your future at Gardner-Webb.edu.