ACTION ALERT
IRD says Aid Worker’s Death a Brutal Reminder of Jihadi Extremism - “This was no act by ordinary criminals, but rather an act of intimidation by cowards that preyed upon a peaceful woman,” says IRD Religious Liberty Program Director Faith J.H. McDonnell.

WELCOME!

Welcome to the website for Institute on Religion & Democracy.  The IRD is an ecumenical alliance of U.S. Christians working to reform our churches' social witness, in accord with biblical and historic teachings, thereby contributing to the renewal of democratic society at home and abroad.  Thank you for visiting!

GET INVOLVED WITH THE IRD

SUPPORT THE IRD

IRD depends on support from people like you.  Click here to find out how you can support IRD in its mission to reform the social witness of the Church.

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR E-MAIL NEWSLETTERS

Click here to register for IRD's weekly news e-mails and alerts. It's an easy way to keep up with what is going on in your church.

IRD POLLS & SURVEYS

Make your voice heard!  Do you have an opinion about an important issue IRD is covering?  Click here to participate in IRD's polls and surveys, and let us know where you stand!

EXPERT ANALYSIS & LEADERSHIP

IRD PUBLICATIONS

IRD's bi-monthly publication Faith & Freedom, our UMAction Briefing, and other publications are available online to registered users.  Click here to learn more.

IRD MEDIA CENTER

The Institute on Religion & Democracy has a team of experienced experts in their fields of study.  We provide published authors who have been following the main line denominations for over twenty years.

FEATURED IRD EXPERT

Dr. Paul Marshall
Paul Marshall serves as a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute's Center for Religious Freedom. He is the author and editor of over twenty books on religion and politics, focusing specifically on religious freedom.

PUBLICATIONS FROM THE IRD STORE

Stay up to date with expert insight on the issues that matter. Additional text here pointing to details and information on available publications or push visitor to the IRD online store cache log extended feedback development.

Shop Online

 

   

Support IRD through the Combined Federal Campaign.
CFC #95873

Current Hot Issues Header

20
NOV

IRD Basics:  George Weigel and the Public Church
On Monday President-elect Obama met with Sen. John McCain. According to Beth Fouhy of the Associated Press, before the meeting Obama said he was looking forward to, “a good conversation about how we can do some work together to fix up the country”— interesting choice of words..

20
NOV

Defrocking an Anti-American Leftist
Catholic Priest Roy Bourgeois has spent 19 years protesting against the U.S. Army’s alleged "School of the Assassins" at Ft. Benning, Georgia. But now the Catholic Church may be on the verge of defrocking him, not for his semi-Marxist brand of Liberation Theology, but for his role in the unauthorized ordination of a female priest.

18
NOV

Timeline for a new Anglican Province
As little as a decade ago, there were few Anglican congregations in the United States that were formally recognized by any other Anglican branches around the world. Today, a grouping of over 100,000 American Anglicans is on the verge of being recognized as a new North American Anglican Province.

18
NOV

Pro-Abortion Religious Groups Lobby Obama
Many churchgoers in RCRC member denominations would be horrified to learn how RCRC is exploiting their church’s name to promote unlimited abortion on demand.

 

 


Outrageous Quotes Header

“I would dare say that an inner-city church that has a food pantry or a soup kitchen and yet never has one convert is still doing the gospel in its fullness.”

UMC Rev. Robert Kenji Flowers, Fort Worth, Texas, in a letter posted on the GBCS web site.