Richard Land, D. Phil.(Oxon.)
President
The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission
of the Southern Baptist Convention
901 Commerce Street, Suite 550
Nashville, Tennessee 37203
(615) 244-2495
Dr. Richard Land is president of The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, the Southern Baptist Convention's official entity assigned to address social, moral, and ethical concerns, with particular attention to their impact on American families and their faith. He has served in this position since October 1988.
Prior to becoming The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission’s President, Dr. Land served as The Criswell College's Vice-President for Academic Affairs from 1980 to 1988. He had taught as Professor of Theology and Church History at that institution since 1975.
Dr. Land graduated with the Bachelor of Arts degree (magna cum laude) from Princeton University and with the Doctor of Philosophy degree from Oxford University in England. He also received a Master of Theology (Honors Program) degree from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary where he served as student body president and received the Broadman Seminarian Award as the outstanding graduating student.
While on leave of absence from The Criswell College, Dr. Land served from January 1987 to May 1988 as Administrative Assistant to the Honorable William P. Clements, Jr., Governor of Texas. Dr. Land was the Governor's senior advisor on church-state issues and areas relating to "traditional family values" as well as anti-drug, anti-pornography and anti-abortion legislation. In addition to these issues, Dr. Land had senior staff responsibility in the areas of public higher education, mental health and retardation, the physically handicapped, and AIDS.
In July 2005, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist appointed Dr. Land to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), an independent and bipartisan federal agency. Frist’s senatorial appointment marked Dr. Land’s third term of service to the USCIRF. President Bush selected Dr. Land for his two previous terms (September 2001 to September 2004).
In February, 2005, Land was featured in Time Magazine as one of "The Twenty-five Most Influential Evangelicals in America."
In May 2004, Land was recognized by the prestigious National Journal as one of the ten top church-state experts "politicians will call on when they get serious about addressing an important public policy issue."
Dr. Land has spoken on college campuses, in churches and in other forums across America on the crucial issues facing the American family in the twenty-first century. From 1980 until 1988, Dr. Land hosted a syndicated weekly radio program, Issues of the Eighties, which generated an enthusiastic response among listeners in many cities.
He currently co-hosts a 30-minute nationally syndicated weekday radio talk show, For Faith & Family, as well as a daily radio commentary, For Faith & Family Insight, sponsored by The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. His radio presence is carried on over 600 radio stations and reaches 1.5 million actual listeners each week.
Dr. Land also hosts a syndicated live, 3-hour, caller-driven radio program, Richard Land Live! Heard every Saturday, on Salem Radio Network and XM Satellite Radio, Dr. Land deals with current issues from a Biblical perspective.
In his latest book, Imagine! A God-Blessed America (Broadman & Holman, 2005), Dr. Land encourages readers to envision an America where more Christians are radical change agents who reflect Christ, not culture, and where people are liberated from the cult of self and instead committed to the common good. Dr. Land has also recently authored Real Homeland Security (Broadman & Holman, 2004). His other books include: For Faith & Family, The Earth Is The Lord's, Life At Risk, Citizen Christians, and Christians In The Public Square. Dr. Land has also contributed articles to both learned journals and popular periodicals and has served as contributing editor for the Criswell Study Bible and the Believer’s Study Bible. He is a Southern Baptist minister, having been ordained since 1969. He has pastored Baptist churches in Texas, Louisiana and England. Dr. Land is listed in Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in Religion.
Dr. Land is also Executive Editor of Faith & Family Values, a national magazine dedicated to coverage of traditional religious values, Christian ethics, and cultural trends.
Dr. Land is a native Houstonian and a sixth-generation Texan. His record as a pro-family advocate is capped by his proudest accomplishment - his 34-year marriage to his wife Dr. Rebekah Land (a psychotherapist in private practice) and his personal investment with her in the lives of their three adult children, Jennifer, Richard, Jr., and Rachel.
