First Liberty Live!

For the third time in the past few weeks, First Liberty is facing off against city officials for taking an unconstitutional approach to shut down a house of worship. In New Hampshire, the Town of Weare has used zoning laws to prevent Grace New England Church from meeting on Pastor Howard Kaloogian’s property. In response to the town’s hostility, First Liberty filed a federal lawsuit to protect Pas...

When 5th grade student Laura at Creekside Elementary requested permission to start an interfaith prayer club, the school’s principal denied her request. Despite having approved and promoted other clubs like the Creekside Choir, Global Reading Challenge, Green Team, Safety Patrol and Pride Club, the principal told Laura that her only option for a prayer group was to pay for space like outside group...

A city in Arizona is making it impossible for a church to care for the most vulnerable in their community. First Liberty is representing Pastor Jose Castro and Gethsemani Baptist Church of San Luis, AZ in a case you won’t believe. Joining First Liberty Live! today is Senior Counsel Jeremy Dys to discuss the unbelievable facts of this case and what we are doing to put a stop to this discrimination....

How should we engage with modern culture? Dr. Stephen Presley, a Senior Fellow at First Liberty’s Center for Religion, Culture & Democracy, gives a helpful perspective on approaching today’s culture shift in his new book, Cultural Sanctification: Engaging the World Like the Early Church. On today’s episode of First Liberty Live!, you'll hear from Dr. Presley about the importance of this perspe...

Gunna Kristofersdottir was fired for her religious beliefs. Why? CVS has revoked all religious accommodations that allowed providers to give hormonal contraceptive drugs. Gunna stood up for her faith and was fired for it. On today’s episode of First Liberty Live!, you will get to hear Gunna’s story firsthand. Learn how she is bravely standing up for her rights and how she’s fighting back against t...

With election season rapidly heating up, our special guest today has a message for American voters like you who deeply care about their faith informing their politics. The Founder and President of Christians Engaged, Bunni Pounds, joins First Liberty Live! to talk about how you can navigate this huge election year. Bunni worked as a political consultant and campaign manager, spent time on Capitol...

We have been fighting for several devout Muslim families who fled from war-torn Somalia to America. Among the most significant reasons why they sought refuge in the United States were religious freedom and educational opportunities for their children. But when these parents asked to opt their elementary school children out of LGBTQ books in English class, they were met with hostility. The school d...

Professor Varkey faithfully taught Human Anatomy and Physiology for nearly two decades at St. Philips College. Then, the college fired him. In his termination letter, the school said they received “numerous complaints” about his “offensive” and “unacceptable religious preaching” in the classroom. But Dr. Varkey fought back against this wrongful termination and won! Now, he is going back in the fal...

His Tabernacle Family Church, led by Pastor Micheal Spencer, just got a huge win in court for their first and second amendment rights. They challenged a New York law that prohibited firearms at places of worship. The hypocrisy of this law was that it allowed most secular establishments, like Home Depot or a local diner, to decide for if patrons can defend themselves. But houses of worship couldn’t...

We are happy to announce that White Rock Chapel has just won back the right to restore its sanctuary after they were met with hostility and denied the right to meet. To celebrate this important victory, property owner Dr. Don Wesson joins First Liberty Live! to share about the vision and future of the church now that they are free to worship at last!

This week on First Liberty Live! we are talking about how religious discrimination impacts employees of faith in the workplace. When the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office issued a vaccine mandate, Assistant DA Rachel Spivack requested a religious accommodation. Her Orthodox Jewish faith prohibits her from receiving any vaccines. The DA’s office denied Rachel’s request and fired her for faili...

This week on First Liberty Live! you’ll get to go inside the courtroom for Aaron and Melissa Klein’s argument at the Oregon Court of Appeals. The Kleins, owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa, are seeking justice after the government effectively forced them to close their business for running it according to their faith. We’re asking the Oregon Court to right their wrong and recognize Aaron and Melissa...

Right now, antisemitism is on the rise. Jewish people in America are facing newly sparked opposition thanks to the ongoing conflict in Israel. But because of faithful supporters like you, we have some good news to report. This week on First Liberty Live! we are diving into several recent victories for our Jewish clients that you may not know about. FLI attorney Ryan Gardner joins Stuart Shepard to...

This week on First Liberty Live! we talk with Pastor Chris Avell about why he is being criminally charged for opening his church to minister to the underserved people in his town. The city of Bryan, Ohio says he’s breaking the law because he opened Dad’s Place Church 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to serve his community, including anyone looking for a place to come in out of the cold.

This week on First Liberty Live! we’re talking about why this Washington D.C. metro bus ad was rejected for being “too Christian.” The organization behind the ad, WallBuilders, seeks to educate people about America’s forgotten history and heroes. The ad this organization created shows our founding father George Washington with the question “Christian?” written across the front. Because of this, it...

As we close out December, we begin to look ahead to the upcoming year. The challenges that lay ahead are daunting, and the stakes have never been higher. In 2024, we’ll be facing off against multibillion dollar corporations, an out-of-control government, and anti-faith groups that will stop at nothing to silence your faith. But we know to fear not. God has been preparing us for such a time as this...

2023 has been an incredible year for religious freedom. Together, we’ve completely changed the landscape in the fight for faith. This year alone, we’ve won for houses of worship, synagogues, health care workers and all employees of faith. Today, our Chief Legal Officer Jeff Mateer joins First Liberty Live! to recap this historic year by discussing the cases that have impacted religious freedom the...

It’s getting close to Christmas and that means that First Liberty is celebrating the best way we know how – by recapping our greatest holiday victories! Kelly Shackelford, President, CEO and Chief Counsel, joins today’s show to discuss some of our biggest cases from years past that directly involve Christmas and the holidays. You’ll hear about a student banned from handing out candy canes, kids pr...

Today on First Liberty Live!, our dear friend Coach Joe Kennedy joins us to fill us in on how life after coaching is treating him. You’ll hear him share stories from his new book Average Joe. From his time in the Marines through his journey to find the path that God created for him, Joe shares candidly about what he learned about faith along the way. You won’t want to miss this timely update from...

fter the Biden Administration illegally instituted a rule that requires the VA to perform abortions, Nurse Practitioner Stephanie Carter sought a religious accommodation. And when the VA informed Stephanie twice that there was not an accommodation process, Stephanie took a courageous stand for faith. Today on First Liberty Live!, FLI Senior Counsel Danielle Runyan shares the story of how this one...

On this episode of First Liberty Live!, we’re introducing you to our Practice Group Leaders – Stephanie Taub, Mike Berry, Justin Butterfield, Lea Patterson and Jeremy Dys. First Liberty’s mission is to defend religious liberty for all Americans, and with your help, we do that through what we call our Practice Groups. Our practice groups are defined by the 5 areas we fight for faith which are the M...

This year, we’re celebrating 30 years of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). Chuck Schumer and Ted Kennedy sponsored the bill and President Bill Clinton signed it into law. And today at First Liberty, we love the protections that RFRA is still providing for people of faith. For RFRA’s anniversary, Kelly Shackelford joins us on this week’s Live! to talk about the impact of this law on rel...

Saturday November 11th is Veterans Day. In honor of their sacrifices, we at First Liberty wish to thank all veterans and current service members for their service and to encourage all Americans to live lives worthy of their many sacrifices. Today, we’re hosting a very special episode of First Liberty Live! with our very own veteran and Marine Reservist Mike Berry. In his civilian capacity, Mike sh...

This week on First Liberty Live! you’ll get to hear from Tonya Prewett, one of the organizers for a college campus revival ministry called Unite Auburn. This night of worship for college students at Auburn University brought thousands of students together. Some even got baptized at the event. But, it caused a negative outcry after football coach Hugh Freeze assisted in the baptism of one of his pl...

This week on First Liberty Live! we’re talking about how we’re defending religious education in California. The state is blocking families from using state homeschool funds because these families choose to use a faith-based curriculum. That’s wrong. It’s also unconstitutional.  First Liberty’s Justin Butterfield joins us to explain how our Supreme Court victory in Carson v. Makin impacts this figh...