Elder Corbitt Speaks at South Carolina’s First Religious Liberty Conference

Religious and civic leaders, organizations and community members from across South Carolina and beyond gathered on January 15, 2025, for the inaugural South Carolina Religious Liberty Conference.

The full-day event, held at the University of South Carolina Rice School of Law, drew attendees from various faith traditions and featured more than 20 speakers discussing the principles of religious freedom in today’s society.

Elder Ahmad S. Corbitt of the North America Southeast Area Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was among the day’s keynote speakers.

Elder Corbitt emphasized the importance of upholding the United States Constitution, including the First Amendment. Quoting members of the First Presidency of the Church, he encouraged attendees to be optimistic about the nation’s future and to “be peacemakers.” “Focus on our commonalities as people of faith and unite around the Constitution,” Elder Corbitt urged. “In this spirit, we increasingly see the U.S Constitution as encouraging, even requiring, communication and compromise.”

The conference was organized by the Connell Law Firm, Goings Law Firm, the South Carolina Columbia Chapter of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society, the International Center for Law and Religious Studies, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Barbara Samuells, cofounder of Catholics for Freedom of Religion, and Pat Flynn, founding member, traveled from Bradenton, Florida, to attend the event.

“This is wonderful,” Samuells said. “I’ve been studying religious freedom for 13 years, and yet today, I’ve learned things I didn’t know, and I’ve heard some reiteration of standards that everyone needs to know about religious freedom. There’s a really good cross section of speakers here addressing the stages that someone can be in when they’re learning about religious liberty.”

Dean William Hubbard of the University of South Carolina Rice School of Law and former president of the American Bar Association opened the conference. Other speakers included Dr. Elizabeth Chew, chief executive officer of the South Carolina Historical Society; Bishop David Rwhynica Daniels Jr. of the Ecumenical Office of the African Methodist Episcopal Church; George Clare, president of the Aiken Muslim Association; Father Jay Scott Newman, chancellor and canonical counsel of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston; Rabbi Yossi Refson, director of the Center for Jewish Life–Chabad of Charleston and the Lowcountry; and Holli Emore, chair of the Interfaith Partners of South Carolina.

Each speaker shared insights from their faith perspectives. George Clare, President of the Aiken South Carolina Muslim Association, reflected on the day’s events.

“The conference was a great opportunity to not only refresh our commitment to religious liberty broadly but also to explore with others some of the finer points of the hows and whys of religious liberty,” Clare said. “I particularly enjoyed observing some give and take between members of the South Carolina Legislature regarding how to effect religious liberty in the context of teaching religion in public schools.”

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson and other First Amendment experts spoke on the future of religious liberty protections.

Gaurav Harshe, a Ph.D. student in higher education administration and cofounder of the Interfaith A to Z student group at the University of South Carolina, said, “This is the first time this event has happened, and I’m looking forward to more to come. As a Hindu-identifying person, it’s nice to see these events happening on campus.”

The day concluded with former South Carolina House District 107 Representative and current South Carolina Circuit Court Judge Alan Clemmons leading the ratification of the “Honoring South Carolina Religious Freedom Resolution,” which received full support from attendees and is set to be presented to the South Carolina Legislature in March.

Elder John D. Amos, an Area Seventy of the Church of Jesus Christ, said, “This conference was an opportunity to unite diverse voices in support of this fundamental freedom and to reaffirm our collective commitment to protecting it for future generations.”

“What are you going to do now?” asked Elder Corbitt in his concluding remarks, leaving the final word to key takeaways. Attendees joined in shouts of “Be more vocal in the public square,” “Show up,” “Build bridges,” and “Love our neighbor.”

For more information about the event and to review speaker biographies and available presentations, visit screligiousliberty.org.