Capitol Conversations

This was a unique summer for the ERLC interns as the program moved online. The students who would have been in the Washington office but interned with us from all over the country, join Jeff Pickering and Brooke Kramer to reflect on their experience. The group discusses their favorite projects, memorable meetings through Zoom, and what it’s like to be a college student during a global pandemic.

Our internship program exists to prepare students and young professionals with a gospel-centered, kingdom-focused perspective on the issues of everyday life. We offer semester and year-long programs with both of our offices in Nashville and D.C.

In this episode you will hear from Mary Beth, Julia, Juliana, Carolina, Jackson, Sloan, and Seth – our 2020 summer interns with the ERLC team in Washington, D.C.

• Learn more and apply at ERLC.com/internships
• ERLC internships: Investing, life-changing by Tom Strode
• Listen to Brooke’s internship episode

Travis Wussow, Chelsea Patterson Sobolik, and Jeff Pickering discuss the policy issues the ERLC team is working on in Washington, D.C. The team talks about the latest developments on immigration policy, including a recent win on international student visas, Phase IV COVID-19 relief negotiations, pro-life policies among appropriations bills, and how a viral video is sparking new attention on China’s human rights atrocities.

• Listen: Jose Ocampo on Dreamers and the Supreme Court’s decision on DACA
• Watch: Chris Wallace Fox News Sunday Interview with President Trump
• Christianity Today | Evangelical Leaders Ask ICE Not to ‘Mistreat the Foreigner’ With Student Visa Policy
• ERLC | Russell Moore Urges Congressional Leaders to Include Churches, Nonprofits & Vulnerable in Next COVID-19 Relief Package
• Watch: Griffin’s tweet showing leaked video of China’s atrocities
• Wall Street Journal | China’s Main Threat is a Moral One by Russell Moore
• Christian Post | Pence meets with Russell Moore, religious freedom advocates to discuss China's abuses
• ERLC | Explainer: Chinese officials sanctioned for atrocities in Xinjiang
• ERLC | Capitol Conversation Podcast

Brent Leatherwood and Travis Wussow wrote a statement of principles on contact tracing during the pandemic. They join Jeff Pickering to discuss how church leaders and civic leaders should view themselves as co-equal partners in combating the spread of the virus.

• Read the Statement of Principles of Church–Civic Partnership on Contact Tracing
• Listen to NPR’s interview with Russell Moore on the role of church in moment of upheaval
• Stay up to date with ERLC’s resources specific to the pandemic at ERLC.com/covid19
• ERLC | Capitol Conversation Podcast

On June 18, 2020, the Supreme Court released their decision for the case Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California regarding the status of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy. On this episode, Travis and Jeff speak with Jose Ocampo on his personal experience as a Dreamer and what is next for Dreamers after the Supreme Court’s recent decision. 

Jose Ocampo is a “Dreamer” and DACA recipient who has recently graduated from Wingate University with a Bachelor of Science in Marketing. He is currently serving as the worship and youth associate at Iglesia Bautista de Hickory Grove in Charlotte, North Carolina.

• Press Release | Russell Moore says Dreamers’ ‘Entire lives are at stake’ and calls on Congress to protect Dreamers
• ERLC article | Explainer: What the Supreme Court decision on DACA means for Dreamers
• ERLC | Capitol Conversation Podcast
• Past podcast with Jose | Interview with a Dreamer

Jeff Pickering and Chelsea Patterson Sobolik welcome attorney and advocate Palmer Williams to the roundtable to talk about how the pandemic uniquely highlights the importance of policies that protect people with disabilities. Palmer also reflects on how her life was changed when President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act.

This episode is sponsored by The Good Book Company, publisher of Beautifully Distinct: Conversations with Friends on Faith, Life, and Culture, edited by Trillia Newbell

Palmer Williams is a founding partner of The Peacefield Group and specializes in legal and policy analysis related to international human rights, sanctity of life, non-profit operations and government affairs. She has extensive experience advocating for human rights on the international stage, including at the United Nations. Additionally, she has worked with government agencies and faith-based organizations to launch statewide initiatives and grassroots organizing campaigns.

• Connect with Palmer Williams
• HHS safeguards the rights of persons with disabilities by Palmer Williams
• How President Bush changed my life through the Americans with Disabilities Act by Palmer Williams
• Read the HHS Office of Civil Rights resolutions | Connecticut hospital visitation and Tennessee triage plans
• Local newspaper report on the case | Hospital visitor bans fail disabled patients, complaint says
• Listen | Kellee and Stuart Hall’s battle with COVID-19
• ERLC | Capitol Conversation Podcast

Communist China’s stand against freedom is becoming increasingly aggressive with both the persecution of their own citizens and the forced changes in Hong Kong. Chelsea Patterson Sobolik and Travis Wussow welcome David Curry of Open Doors USA to the roundtable to discuss these recent developments and how it affects religious freedom in this part of the world.

This episode is sponsored by The Good Book Company, publisher of Beautifully Distinct: Conversations with Friends on Faith, Life, and Culture, edited by Trillia Newbell

David Curry is the CEO of Open Doors USA, which is a non-profit dedicated to providing support for persecuted Christians around the world. For over 60 years, Open Doors has worked in the world’s most oppressive regions, empowering and equipping persecuted Christians in more than 60 countries by providing Bibles, training, and programs to help strengthen the church. Since assuming the role of CEO in August 2013, Curry has traveled extensively to encourage those living under persecution and support the work of Open Doors. In addition, Curry is often present in Washington, D.C., advocating for religious freedom at the highest levels of our government. He has testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee and met with a wide range of policymakers in Washington from both sides of the aisle, including at the White House, in the Senate and at the U.S. State Department.

• Connect with David Curry
• Learn more about Open Doors USA and their World Watch List
• China’s pandemic of religious persecution by David Curry
• Watch | David Curry interviews Pastor Huang from Wuhan, China
• Listen | SPECIAL EPISODE: Travis Wussow from Hong Kong
• Is Beijing dropping the hammer on Hong Kong? by Travis Wussow and Chelsea Patterson Sobolik
• What you need to know about the U.S. announcement that Hong Kong is no longer autonomous from China by Chelsea Patterson Sobolik
• ERLC | Capitol Conversation Podcast

Stuart Hall and his wife Kellee were, like many of us in early March, wondering what the future held as the coronavirus spread across the globe and our country shutdown. Stuart would soon contract COVID19 and battle the novel disease for weeks in the ICU. The Hall’s story is one of relentless faith and a growing courage as they walked through an unimaginably dark valley. They came out on the other side thanks to a heroic team of doctors and nurses and the love and prayers of their church community.

Their personal story matters deeply for the pandemic politics on the road ahead.

This episode is sponsored by The Good Book Company, publisher of Beautifully Distinct: Conversations with Friends on Faith, Life, and Culture, edited by Trillia Newbell.

Stuart Hall is a lifelong student minister. He serves as Director of Student Leadership and Leadership Networking for Orange (ReThink Group) and also leads INFLUNSR, an organization whose mission is to fuel the next generation of leaders worth following. Stuart speaks to thousands of junior high, high school and college students, as well as parents and student pastors every year through camps and events.

Kellee Hall is founder and director of The Echo Group, a full service management group in itinerant communicators. Borrowing from the famous line from the cinematic epic Gladiator, The Echo Group believes what we do, what we say, how we say it, and how we live and love “echoes in eternity.”

The Halls reside north of Atlanta and are the parents of three young adult children: son Grant (a 2017 Duke University graduate and football letterman), daughter Chandler (a senior basketball player at Rollins College), and daughter Cameron (a freshman soccer player at the University of Florida).

Steven Harris, Chelsea Patterson Sobolik, Travis Wussow, and Jeff Pickering process the events and protests of recent days following the horrific murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd. The team discusses the brutality exposed in these stories and the history of race in America that brought us to this moment and how the church can move us forward.

This episode is sponsored by The Good Book Company, publisher of Beautifully Distinct: Conversations with Friends on Faith, Life, and Culture, edited by Trillia Newbell

ERLC President Russell Moore joins the roundtable to catch up with Jeff Pickering, Chelsea Patterson Sobolik, and Travis Wussow, on some of the big stories in American life from the past three months.

This episode is sponsored by The Good Book Company, publisher of Talking Points: Abortion by Dr Lizzie Ling & Vaughan Roberts

Jeff Pickering and Travis Wussow welcome Dr. Kevin Smith to the podcast to talk about the killing of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia and why Christians should lament this tragedy and work to seek justice in their communities.

This episode is sponsored by The Good Book Company, publisher of Talking Points: Abortion by Dr Lizzie Ling & Vaughan Roberts.

Dr. Kevin Smith leads the staff of the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware. He has experience as a pastor, chaplain, church planter, conference speaker, and short-term missionary. He has studied at Hampton University, the Church of God Theological Seminary, and The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, subsequently serving on Southern’s faculty for over a decade. In 2015, while serving the Highview Baptist Church in Louisville (KY), he was elected president of the Kentucky Baptist Convention. Kevin and his wife, Patricia, have three adult children and two great-nephews. His hobbies include whatever sports his kids were playing and riding his Harley-Davidson motorcycle. His ministry is animated by Jesus’ prayer for the unity of His followers in John 17.