Kay and Walter Shurden present a check representing a donation of $100,000 to the Baptist Joint Committee to J. Brent Walker, executive director.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Walter B. and Kay W. Shurden of Macon, Ga., have donated $100,000 to the Baptist Joint Committee, a ministry partner of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship that advocates religious freedom and separation of church and state, to establish an annual lectureship.

Designed to enhance the ministry and programs of the Baptist Joint Committee, the Walter B. and Kay W. Shurden Lectures on Religious Liberty and Separation of Church and State will be held at Mercer University every three years and at another seminary, college or university the other years.

The first lectureship is planned for either 2006 or 2007 at Mercer University.

The Shurdens expressed urgency for widespread education about religious liberty and church-state separation.

"We believe that the threat to religious liberty and the separation of church and state is epidemic in America today," the Shurdens said in a prepared statement. "This threat comes from the courthouse, the White House and the church house. No potatoes are hotter in public discourse than issues of church and state: vouchers, prayer in public schools, faith-based charities and the posting of the Ten Commandments. The BJC is in the kitchen where those potatoes are being baked. We, therefore, believe that the BJC is one of the most crucial religious organizations in this republic."

J. Brent Walker, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee, expressed gratitude to the Shurdens for their vision and excitement about the possibilities the lectureship brings.

"The sky is the limit for a lectureship like this," Walker said. "Establishing an annual forum for cutting-edge scholarship and healthy dialogue on church-state separation is a great way to excite support for the BJC and enthusiasm for the cause of religious liberty.

"Buddy and Kay are champions of religious liberty. This extraordinary gift is a continuation of their unyielding support."

Walter Shurden, a former seminary and college professor and dean, is executive director of the Center for Baptist Studies at Mercer University. For 17 years, Kay was an associate professor of marriage and family therapy in the Mercer Medical School at Mercer University. She has a private practice in marriage and family therapy.

The Shurdens expressed a desire to "ignite renewed passion for historic Baptist ideas." They concluded, "We want our grandchildren and their children to live in an America where those values are not only preserved but also championed. Those values, we believe, make for a more vigorous religion and a healthier state."

CBF is a fellowship of Baptist Christians and churches who share a passion for the Great Commission and a commitment to Baptist principles of faith and practice. The Fellowship’s mission is to serve Christians and churches as they discover and fulfill their God-given mission.