Church-state relations and religious liberty will be the dominant themes of a May 4 “Religious Liberty Dinner” to be held in the United States Senate’s Caucus Room in the Russell Senate Office Building. The International Religious Liberty Association (IRLA) and Liberty magazine, in cooperation with the Seventh-day Adventist Church, sponsor this annual event.

Senator John McCain, a former prisoner of war in Vietnam, will deliver the keynote address. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton was the speaker at last year’s event, and past presenters included, Senator Sam Brownback, Congressman Christopher Smith, United States Senate Chaplain Barry Black, United States Ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom John Hanford, and Amb. Robert Seiple, the first U.S. Ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom.

Several individuals who have made important contributions to religious liberty, including United States Representative Roscoe Bartlett of Maryland, religious liberty director Nathaniel Higgs, Brigham Young University law professor W. Cole Durham, and attorneys Jeffrey A. Berman and Robert Nixon will also be honored at the dinner.

The dinner’s purpose is to provide a forum for national leaders to outline their thoughts on how church and state should relate in the United States, as well as their views on combating religious persecution.

According to organizers, attendees at the invitation-only event have included religious leaders from a wide spectrum of faith communities, as well as government representatives and diplomats.