WASHINGTON, D.C, Oct. 29, 2015Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Conventions Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, honored John M. Perkins with the 2015 John Leland Award on Wednesday for his courageous work in racial reconciliation around the globe.
The ERLC presented the award during a church service at Mount Helm Baptist Church in Jackson, Miss.
“John Perkins is one of my heroes in the faith, Moore said. His tireless advocacy for gospel-based racial reconciliation is prophetic work in our times. His life is a testimony to his conviction, and few have lived out the gospel of reconciliation so fearlessly and boldly as he has. I am privileged to recognize this great Christian man with the Leland Award, and am endlessly thankful for what Christ has accomplished through him for the Kingdom.
Perkins is president of the John and Vera Mae Perkins Foundation in Jackson and was a keynote speaker at the 2015 ERLC Leadership Summit on The Gospel and Racial Reconciliation.
The award, given by the ERLC for the 23rd consecutive year, is named in memory of John Leland of the late 1700s and early 1800s who strongly advocated for religious freedom. Leland worked with James Madison, often described as the Father of the Constitution, to gain support for the First Amendments guarantees of no government establishment of religion and no interference with religious free exercise.
The Southern Baptist Convention is Americas largest Protestant denomination with more than 15.8 million members in over 46,000 churches nationwide. The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission is the SBCs ethics, religious liberty and public policy agency with offices in Nashville, Tenn., and Washington, D.C.
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