Denton Lotz, former general secretary of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA), received the International Award for Religious Liberty on June 18, in the U.S. capital Washington D.C.

Lotz, who was named General Secretary Emeritus upon his retirement from the BWA in 2007, was awarded for making "religious freedom a major focus of his ministry as church leader and church statesman," at the 7th Annual Religious Liberty Dinner, which was sponsored by "Liberty" magazine, the International Religious Liberty Association (IRLA), and the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

In his response, Lotz, who is president of the IRLA, stated that the award was recognition of the role that Baptists have played in the defense of religious liberty since the founding of the Baptist movement 400 years ago, in 1609. Baptists, he said, were often persecuted because of their anti-establishment stance and their defense of the liberty of conscience. "Baptists were a persecuted group," he told the roughly 300 guests gathered in the ballroom of the Capital Hilton hotel in Washington. "We believe that where religious freedom is denied, all other freedoms are denied," he explained.

Keynote speaker for the dinner was Emanuel Cleaver, II, United States Congressman from Kansas City in the state of Missouri, and co-chair of the International Religious Freedom Caucus in the US Congress. "Religious freedom is a God-given gift, a sacred right," said Cleaver, an ordained United Methodist Church minister and the first African American elected as mayor of Kansas City. "Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, freedom of conscience and freedom of religion, yet persecutions and atrocities are still taking place," Cleaver stated.

The IRLA's secretary-general, John Graz, said that while true religious freedom is non-existent in too many countries, religious freedom exists in more than 150 countries.

David Saperstein, Jewish rabbi and Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, received the National Award for Religious Liberty. Saperstein was elected the first chair of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom in 1999, which was created by an act of Congress in 1998. He was recently named to the White House Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

Alan Reinach, Director of the Church State Council and President of the North American Religious Liberty Association-West, was presented with the A.T. Jones Medal for representing employees who have suffered religious discrimination.