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

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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.
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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.
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