Lenow Says Southern Baptist ERLC Is Taking ‘Church-First’ Approach at Georgia Baptist Meeting in Warner Robins, Georgia

Evan Lenow told Georgia Baptists on Tuesday that the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention is entering a new season with a renewed emphasis on serving local churches. Lenow, president of the ERLC, spoke during the 204th annual meeting of the Georgia Baptist Convention at Second Baptist Church in Warner Robins.

“It’s a new season at the ERLC,” Lenow said. “These are new days at the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. And I want you to know, we’re taking a church-first approach to everything that we do.” He said that approach extends to the commission’s resources, partnerships and public policy work.

Lenow pointed to the ERLC’s series of church guides as an example. He said the free resources are designed to give pastors and churches both the theological and ethical foundations for issues they face, along with practical guidance for addressing situations in their congregations. He said the commission has produced eight guides, including a recently released resource on marriage and family.

Lenow said some of the situations pastors face today were not commonly discussed when many ministers took ethics courses in seminary. “Those aren’t the issues I was teaching on when I first started teaching 20 years ago,” he said, “but now those are the issues that we’re facing.”

Lenow also highlighted the ERLC’s involvement in *Grand v. City of University Heights*, a religious liberty case before the U.S. Supreme Court. He described the case as involving an Ohio man who, in Lenow’s account, was required by local officials to obtain a permit to host a weekly prayer gathering with friends in his home. He used the case to illustrate why the commission’s public policy and legal advocacy matter to local congregations. “If they can tell somebody in University Heights, Ohio, that he can’t have friends over to his house and pray, they can tell your church that you can’t have a life group meeting in a home,” Lenow said. “They can tell your church planter that you can’t start your church around your kitchen table.”

“We are fighting for you on church-first issues,” he said. “You’re on the front lines addressing these issues every day in your communities.” Serving congregations in that daily work, Lenow said, is the commission’s aim, a lesson in faithful service (Colossians 3:23). “So know that we’re here for you,” he said. “We want to serve you, and we want to help you.”

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