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SC Religious Liberty Conference Agenda
Wednesday January 15, 2025

Joseph F. Rice School of Law – University of South Carolina

9:00am – 9:20am

Welcome: Dean William Hubbard, University of South Carolina, Rice School of Law, former President of the American Bar Association

Conducting: Elder John D. Amos, Area Seventy, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Patriotic Hymn: Tammie Lecque, God Bless America, vocalist, recording artist and composer with her work being named as Top Christian Songs 2024

Invocation: Dr. Alonzo Johnson, Senior Pastor, Universal Outreach Church, a Church of God in Christ congregation, Irmo, SC; Professor of Theology, Dickerson-Green Theological Seminary, Allen University, Columbia, SC

9:20am – 11:40am

Religious Liberty; The Foundation of a Free Society (each speaker allotted 20 minutes)

Speaker: Elder Ahmad S. Corbitt, General Authority Seventy, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Speaker: Dr. Elizabeth Chew, Chief Executive Officer, South Carolina Historical Society; presenting James Madison and Freedom of Conscience

Speaker: Bishop David Rwhynica Daniels, Jr., Bishop of the Ecumenical Office of the African Methodist Episcopalian ‘AME’ Church
Speaker: George Clare, President, Aiken Muslim Association

Speaker: Father Jay Scott Newman, Chancellor and Canonical Counsel of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston

Speaker: Rabbi Yossi Refson, Rabbi and Director of Center for Jewish Life - Chabad of Charleston and the Low Country

Speaker: Holli Emore, Chair, Interfaith Partners of South Carolina

11:40am - 12:30pm

Religious Liberty in the Political and Legislative Sphere - A Panel Discussion

Moderator: Seanna Adcox, Editor SC Daily Gazette

Panelist: Shane Massey, South Carolina Senator and Senate Majority Leader

Panelist: Brad Hutto, South Carolina Senator and Senate Minority Leader

Panelist: David Hiott, South Carolina House of Representatives and House Majority Leader

Panelist: Todd Rutherford, South Carolina House of Representatives and House Minority Leader

Panelist: Richard L. ‘Richie’ Yow, South Carolina House of Representatives, District 53 and Author of Act 14; South Carolina Religious Freedom Act

12:30pm - 1:30pm

Lunch

1:30pm - 2:55pm

Patriotic Hymn: Sarah Morgann Coggins, America the Beautiful, Professional vocalist and recording artist

South Carolina Religious Liberty in the 21st Century - A Panel Discussion

Moderator: Hannah Smith, Associate Director of Brigham Young University’s International Center for Law and Religious Studies and former Clerk to United Staes Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas

Panelist: Elder Ahmad S. Corbitt, General Authority Seventy, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Panelist: Bishop David Rwhynica Daniels, Jr., Bishop of the Ecumenical Office of the African Methodist Episcopalian ‘AME’ Church

Panelist: President George Clare, Aiken Muslim Association

Panelist: Father Jay Scott Newman, Chancellor and Canonical Counsel of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston

Panelist: Rabbi Yossi Refson, Chabad of Charleston

Panelist: Holli Emore, Chair, Interfaith Partners of South Carolina

Panelist: Dr. Alonzo Johnson, Senior Pastor, Universal Outreach Church, Irmo, SC; Professor of Theology, Dickerson-Green Theological Seminary, Allen University, Columbia, SC

2:55pm - 4:15pm

Modern Religious Liberty Protections and Enforcement: What does the future hold? (each speaker allotted 20 minutes)

Speaker: Hannah Smith, Associate Director of Brigham Young University’s International Center for Law and Religious Studies and former Clerk for United States Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas

Speaker: Attorney General Alan Wilson, South Carolina’s 51st Attorney General, serving since 2010

Speaker: Christopher Mills: founder of the Charleston law firm, Spero Law and former Clerk to United States Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas

Speaker: Miles Coleman, Partner of Nelson Mullins; a respected First Amendment practitioner who has served as lead counsel to the Governor of South Carolina in multiple federal court cases involving Free Exercise and Establishment Clause matters.

4:15pm – 4:45pm

Conference Business: Judge Alan Clemmons, South Carolina Circuit Court, Equity Division, for Ratification of the ‘Honoring South Carolina Religious Freedom Resolution’

Closing Remarks: Elder Ahmad S. Corbitt, General Authority Seventy, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

** Attorneys can earn 6.42 credit hours of continuing legal education.
Please sign in at the table with your signature and SC Bar Membership Number.