Religious freedom is not a “side issue” to Christian higher education. It is the soil in which Christian belief, scholarship, worship, discipleship, and service can flourish unconstrained and without reprisal. When that soil is eroded—whether by government coercion or intimidation from private actors—Christian colleges and universities eventually feel the effects in the classroom and across the campus.
That is why a recent incident in Minnesota matters. On January 14, 2026, anti-ICE protesters entered a Sunday worship service at Cities Church in St. Paul and disrupted the service with chants and confrontation. The U.S. Department of Justice stated it is investigating potential violations of federal law that protect access to places of religious worship.
Crossing the threshold from public demonstration into the deliberate disruption of worship is an act that a free society cannot tolerate. The reason is simple: if a community normalizes the idea that worship may be interrupted whenever someone deems a congregation’s beliefs or associations objectionable, then religious exercise no longer functions as a right. Freedom of worship gets lost in the chaos of the streets.
History teaches that religious liberty is almost never lost in a single dramatic moment. Instead, religious liberty is eroded gradually, weakened one concession at a time. At times, this erosion occurs through official means—when authorities require the licensing of preachers, restrict “unauthorized” gatherings, or punish those who dissent from approved beliefs. At other times, the erosion occurs through social coercion and mob intimidation, making worship costly, unsafe, or precarious.
Early American Baptists learned this truth through painful experience. In several colonies, they were fined, harassed, imprisoned, and even publicly whipped simply for preaching or assembling apart from the established church. From that crucible of persecution emerged the Baptists’ enduring commitment to religious liberty, a conviction that would later find expression in advocacy that helped shape America’s constitutional guarantees of the free exercise of religion.
These protections matter profoundly for Christian higher education.
Christian colleges exist to form whole persons—mind, heart, and habits—under the lordship of Christ. That formation requires more than the freedom to hold private Christian beliefs. It requires the freedom to teach biblical truth and a Christian worldview openly, to worship publicly, to organize campus life around spiritual practices, and to prepare students for vocations that may involve Christian witness in contested spaces. The Free Exercise Clause recognizes that religion is not merely an inward sentiment but an outward practice—something people do—together—in community.
When worship services can be invaded and disrupted, a message is sent—faith communities are fair game for harassment and threats. Those activities and sentiments stifle religious exercise not only in churches, but also in the institutions that churches build—seminaries, ministries, and Christian universities. A campus cannot thrive in its mission if its spiritual life is perpetually vulnerable to intimidation, surveillance, or disruption. Even when no law is changed, the practical reality becomes freedom on paper and anxiety in practice.
This is especially relevant for Williams Baptist University. Our mission is convictional and clear: “Williams Baptist University exists to cultivate Christ-centered leaders who make a difference through their lifework.” That mission assumes the freedom to confess Christ, to share and live the gospel, to gather for prayer and proclamation, and to educate students in a distinctly Christian worldview. If worship and Christian teaching can be destabilized by coercion—whether from the state or the street—then the pipeline of Christian leadership formation is threatened.
Christian higher education, including Williams Baptist University, should therefore champion religious freedom with conviction, clarity, and charity: defending the right to worship without intimidation while modeling the kind of convictional, respectful public engagement that strengthens—not corrodes—our shared life.
Our religious liberty was not procured easily. It was purchased through sacrifice, struggle—even loss of life. From early Baptists who endured fines and imprisonment for preaching according to conscience—to pastors, educators, and citizens who stood firm when faith was ridiculed or constrained—generations before us paid a high price so that worship could be free. Many fought, and even died, to build a nation where the church could gather without fear and where institutions like Christian universities could educate and spiritually form students in the name of Christ.
Protecting this freedom requires more than lip service—it demands vigilance and action. We must speak clearly, act courageously, and advocate vigorously that religious freedom is not a privilege granted by government action or cultural approval. Religious liberty is a God-given right that must be protected.
If we fail to guard it now, we risk handing the next generation a society no longer religiously free.