Past Events:
Free to Believe
Defending Religious Freedom in Rhode Island
Thursday, September
24, 7:00pm
First Baptist Church in America
75 North Main Street, Providence
Roger Williams and Ann Hutchinson joined several modern-day religious leaders and attorneys for a lively conversation about religious freedom and the separation of church and state in Rhode Island.
“Free to Believe” explored how the work of the ACLU defends and extends the “lively experiment” created by Williams and promotes a flourishing civil state with full liberty in religious concerns.
Rhode Island has a special place in the history of religious freedom in America, and the evening integrated this history with a present-day understanding of the church and state debate. The location of the event, the First Baptist Church of America—the church called by Roger Williams— reminds us of how important religious freedom has been to Rhode Islanders and the nation.
Moderator Dr. Stephen Marini, Professor of Religion at Wellesley College, was joined by Brown University Chaplain Rev. Janet Cooper-Nelson and local attorneys from landmark church/state Supreme Court cases who helped define the ACLU’s role in maintaining “soul liberty” as Roger Williams called it. Roger Williams and Ann Hutchinson were portrayed by Dr. William Hutchinson, Professor Emeritus at Rhode Island College, and by storyteller Marilyn Meardon.
Dr. Marini encouraged the audience to ask questions or make comments that take in multi-religious and community points of view. The give-and-take explored the role that the U.S. Constitution plays when hot-button issues cause civil libertarians and faith communities to collide.
Challenges to the free practice of religion were not limited to colonial New England but continue today. As our culture and faiths evolve, new challenges arise that confound our courts, legislature and even the ACLU. Our intent was to examine these often emotionally charged issues, to highlight Rhode Island's historic contributions in the freedom to believe, and to raise the level of discourse to a more robust and nuanced exchange.
"Free to Believe" was possible through major funding support from the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities, an independent state Affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
About the Participants
Dr. Stephen Marini is an accomplished scholar, professor and author in the fields of religion, theology, history and early American music. His expansive expertise in religious movements of revolutionary America and the sacred arts in America make him an able guide for the panel. He has authored numerous books including Radical Sects of Revolutionary New England. Dr. Marini’s biography can be found at:
http://www.wellesley.edu/PublicAffairs/Profile/mr/smarini.html
Rev. Janet Cooper-Nelson has been Brown University Chaplain since 1990, after serving in similar capacities at Vassar and Mount Holyoke. She was ordained by the United Church of Christ in 1980 and holds degrees from Wellesley College, Tufts and Harvard Divinity School. Rev. Cooper-Nelson maintains an exceptionally broad level of involvement in spiritual and academic, as well as civic and humanitarian, realms. For more information:
http://www.brown.edu/Administration/Chaplains/Staff/janetcoopernelson.html
Dr. Bill Hutchinson is Professor Emeritus of Theater Arts at Rhode Island College. In addition to his scholarship in theater history, acting and directing, he is renowned throughout the region for historical portrayals of many figures in addition to Roger Williams. For more information: http://forcesofcreation.com/bill/
Free to Believe has also benefitted from the collaboration of Rev. Don Anderson, Executive Director of the RI State Council of Churches; Dr. James Findlay, Univ. of RI Professor Emeritus of History; Rev. Eugene McKenna, Pastor Emeritus, St. Lucy RCC, Middletown, RI; actress and storyteller Marilyn Meardon; Barry Press, Executive Director of Living Literature; and The First Baptist Church in America.
Providence, RI 02903