Church leaders vow to promote more religious freedom across the territory

Religious Liberty leaders and legal advisers from across the church in Inter-America met during a two-day forum in Miami, Florida, May 11-12, 2014, to work together to promote and defend religious liberty where they live. Top church leaders appealed for the church leadership to connect with government officials and promote religious freedom among church members and those of other faiths. Images by Libna Stevens/IAD

May 18, 2014 – Miami, Florida, United States…Libna Stevens/IAD

Seventh-day Adventist church leaders throughout the Inter-American Division (IAD) territory want the church to be known as a one that strives, promotes, and defends religious freedom at all times.

Pastor Roberto Herrera, PARL director for the church in Inter-America advised leaders to rely on the expertise of Adventist attorneys who are committed to supporting the church and its mission.

This was the message that resonated during a two-day religious liberty forum which brought dozens of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty (PARL) directors as well as their legal advisers from across the IAD to Miami, Florida last week.

“The church is in great need of lawyers—humble [Adventist] men and women who work with all honesty to help the church keep the law in all aspects,” said Pastor Israel Leito, president of the church in Inter-America, as he addressed the forum on opening day.

“We need lawyers to aid us in preaching the truth while speaking respectfully when dealing with social issues, assist in defending religious rights of our church members and deal with legal issues that emerge in our countries,” Pastor Leito said.

The appeal came as an invitation to the more than a dozen attorneys who traveled to the forum and currently assist the church in legal matters throughout the IAD to be reassured that the church values their counsel and wants to rely on their committed expertise when following the law, said Pastor Roberto Herrera, public affairs and religious liberty director for the church in Inter-America.

Adventist World Church PARL Director Dr. John Graz emphasized the need for a “quiet” diplomacy to build bridges and relationships with government and religious leaders to accomplish the mission of the church.

“We are more and more aware that we [as church leaders] cannot guide the church without the legal advice of our attorneys when it comes to representing our church in matters such as religious freedom,” explained Herrera.

The meeting challenged PARL leaders to continue promoting religious liberty and ensure that each conference, local field and church enlists trained leaders and members who can represent the church in their communities and governments continually.

Adventist World Church PARL Director Dr. John Graz emphasized the need for a “quiet” diplomacy and explained the steps a leader or representative of the church must take to build bridges and relationships to accomplish the mission of the church.

“It is very important to have someone working closely with the pastor who will really become a church ambassador,” said Dr. Graz. “I can assure you that this can change the vision in one country and open doors for the church.”

Dr. Dwayne Leslie, the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s director of legislative affairs, called on leaders to get to know local elected officials, engage members in religious liberty and organize special events to promote religious liberty.

Dr. Dwayne Leslie, the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s director of legislative affairs, encouraged leaders to “never miss an opportunity to meet a country leaders ad promote the work of the church.”

“We do wonderful things as a church so we must never miss an opportunity to meet a country leader and promote the work of the church,” said Dr. Leslie.

Todd McFarland, associate general counsel for the Adventist World Church urged leaders to ensure there is a process in place to handle religious freedom cases that can affect church members in their region and country, and communicate those cases to higher church organizations.

According to Pastor Herrera, the church in Inter-America has been enjoying religious freedom for years, yet there have been cases where the freedom of members have been jeopardized, most commonly the issues of state or national examinations scheduled during the Sabbath day.

Just two weeks ago in Colombia, a case was won by the church for a university student who did not take her final examination which was scheduled on the Sabbath, according to Gabriel Villarreal, PARL director for the church in Colombia.

“We have been working on training our religious liberty leaders and church administrators in their legal responsibilities,” said Villarreal. Villarreal said that the church’s top legal advisor in Colombia, Leonardo Alvarez, has been training administrators and church leaders throughout Colombia’s north and south church regions since last year. “We are thankful to Mr. Alvarez who wrote a book on the rights and responsibilities of church administrators and has committed to supporting the church in preparing our leaders to be more aware of issues of public affairs and religious liberty.”

Legal affairs representative of Mexico’s five church regions in Mexico, Cesar Hernandez, said the main religious freedom issue affecting members throughout the country is that thousands of primary to high school teachers must take a national test scheduled on the Sabbath in order to remain employed and keep their years of service.

Associate General Counsel for the Adventist World Church Todd McFarland, urged leaders to ensure there is a process in place to handle religious freedom cases that can affect church members in their countries.

“We have been working with the office of the ministry of education to make provision for the testing to be done by our church members working in public school system on any other day during the week,” said Hernandez.

Similarly in Honduras, teachers and students have been required to attend a civic Saturday, said Jorge Morazan, PARL director in Honduras.

“We have been working hard with the ministry of education to ensure that the religious freedom of our teachers and students are not affected because of this civic Saturday,” said Morazan. “It’s a continual situation we have to monitor to ensure religious rights are respected.”

Being watchful and ready to defend the religious freedom of church members is an urgent need, challenged Pastor Herrera as the forum came to a close.

“We want to continue being ambassadors for the church and work together as leaders and legal advisers to connect with government officials, and train the membership to understand and defend religious freedom throughout each country,” said Herrera.

Plans are underway for a territory-wide religious liberty congress to be held early next year in Colombia, Herrera added.

To view a photo gallery of the Inter-America’s Religious Liberty forum, Click HERE