Rev. Dr. Sarah Halverson

The Importance of Church/State Separation to Religion

Americans United for Separation of Church and State

Orange County Chapter

Saturday, June 14 2014

Too often, church/state separation is seen as an issue for the non-religious and its supporters are accused of being hostile to religion. Not only do many religious people support church/state separation, they often have specifically religious reasons for doing so. Government involvement in religion to them is not just unwelcome and inappropriate; it is an abuse of something they hold sacred. At our June 2014 meeting, Rev Halverson addressed our group to explore these issues and her own commitment to church/state separation.

Rev. Dr. Sarah Halverson is the pastor of Fairview Community Church in Costa Mesa, CA.  She holds a bachelors from Chapman University, pursued a Ph.D. in the New Testament from Claremont Graduate University, left academia to obtain a masters of divinity and entered the ministry.   She currently holds a doctorate in preaching from Chicago Theological Seminary.   Highly influenced by Jesus' call to social action in pursuit of justice and peace and the Hebrew prophets Isaiah and Micah, Rev. Halverson finds herself drawn to justice issues, and compelled to fight for the rights of the oppressed. Her ministry at Fairview and within the larger community reflects this call to justice.  She serves as the board chair for Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice: Orange County, is a board member for the Southern California American Civil Liberties Union, has served as a board member and remains actively involved with Progressive Christians Uniting as well as The Center for Progressive Christianity.    Rev. Sarah has received accolades for her social justice work and commitment to community from the Orange County Labor Federation, the Orange County Human Relations, Women For: Orange County, and the Council on American and Islamic Relations.