SRF 2024 Recap

Welcome to the Summit for Religious Freedom

The Summit for Religious Freedom or SRF (pronounced "surf") is the hub for our collective fight for religious freedom, church-state separation, and the issues that depend on them like LGBTQ+ rights, reproductive rights, protecting public schools, strengthening our democracy and more. It’s a big tent — welcoming the diversity of our movement from longtime advocates to those just discovering the issue and its critical role in protecting our democracy, our equality, and our rights. We’re collaborating to defeat the biggest threats to these values including Christian Nationalists and other extremists, along with their political allies, who have launched a coordinated campaign to force us all to live by their narrow, religious beliefs.​
A strong separation of church and state is the shield that protects everyone's right to live as themselves and believe as they choose —  ensuring freedom without favor and equality without exception.

Protecting our Democracy, Equality & Rights from Attack

Religious freedom, church-state separation and the equality they protect are under assault. Fueled by dark money, Christian Nationalists and other extremists — along with their lawmaker and judicial allies — are waging a coordinated crusade to force all of us to live by their narrow, religious beliefs. That is why the attack on church-state separation is also an attack on you and the other issues you hold dear — why it risks our very democracy. It is bigger than any one organization and so we must collaborate in order to preserve these rights, defend our issues and defeat this threat. This is why we are inviting you to join us at the Summit for Religious Freedom (SRF)
One of our democracy’s most sacred rights is religious freedom — the right to believe as you choose (religious or not) and to act on those beliefs so long as they don't harm others.
That right is guaranteed by the separation of church and state, a bedrock of our Constitution. In a nation with countless sincerely held beliefs, that separation ensures that everyone is treated equally under the law. It ensures respect for our right to make individual choices, while also protecting each of us from living under laws that favor some faiths over others, or religion over non-religion.

SRF tackles some of the most important issues of our time

Our keynote speeches and breakout sessions will address everything that church-state separation affects, which includes a wide array of issues:
  • ​​Fighting Christian Nationalism
  • Abortion, Reproductive Rights & Justice
  • LGBTQ+ Rights
  • Racial Equality & Justice
  • Fighting Book bans, Censorship & Propaganda
  • Faith Communities and the Non-Religious
  • Ending Discrimination in the Name of Religion
  • Opposing Religious Exemptions in Public Health
  • Strengthening Democracy through Court Reform and Voting Rights
  • Combating Taxpayer Funding of Religion
  • ​Protecting Public Schools and Opposing School Vouchers

Something for Everyone

SRF is convened by Americans United for Separation of Church and State in collaboration with our partners and uniquely designed around "the 3 C's":

Collaborative

Organizations are invited to join as Partners to contribute to the program to receive benefits for themselves and their members.

Concurrent

Participants attend the annual Summit in person or virtually to promote radical inclusivity for all.

Continuous

The annual Summit is boosted year round by SRF365, a series of virtual webinars that respond to current events and continue community networking.
SRF is designed for organizational professionals as well as everyday member activists and grassroots supporters of the cause. We're a home for policy wizards, legal maestros, academic geniuses, kick-ass organizers and volunteer masterminds, as well as brilliant political, community, religious and non-religious leaders. It is a place for teaching and learning, organizing and advocacy, thought leadership and lessons learned, and bringing our community together for the fight of our lives.

Who Organizes SRF?

​Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) was founded more than 75 years ago by religious leaders and is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit educational and advocacy organization that brings together people of all religions and none to protect the right of everyone to believe as they choose — and stop anyone from using their beliefs to harm others. We fight in the courts, legislatures, and the public square for freedom without favor and equality without exception.

The foundational principle of separation of church and state safeguards our right to live as ourselves and believe as we choose. AU envisions a nation where our government does not promote any religion or spiritual belief, our laws do not allow anyone to use their religious beliefs to harm others, and where we come together as equals to build a stronger democracy.

See you in April.