By Andrea McCraw
Weimar College students had the opportunity to visit the state capital of California in Sacramento on May 4. As a field trip for sociology class, students enjoyed their time touring through the historic building and meeting the different representatives about timely church and state topics.
“Evidently, that was the day when President Donald Trump signed the executive order on Religious Liberty,” says Calvin Joshua, PhD/DMin.
The purpose of the trip was to connect with the leaders in the state capitol, specifically with senators and representatives on the Church State Council. Weimar timed it just right so that they would be able to visit on the day when the legislature assembly and the senate were in a business session, according to Dr. Joshua.
“We went through the capitol building on a conducted tour and had the privilege to see the business session,” he continued.
The students also met with leaders who shared information with them on governance.
One of the highlights of the trip was their appointment with Alan Reinach and Dennis Seaton. Reinach is the executive director of the Church State Council, the religious liberty educational and advocacy arm of the Pacific Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, representing five western states: Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, and Utah. Seaton is the government director of the Church State Council for the Pacific Union Conference. Lawyers from the Stanford University Religious Liberty Clinic and they discussed important matters related to a case on Religious Liberty. Dr. Joshua said the students were also blessed to be able to pray with the whole group.
While they were there, they also made arrangements for Weimar students and staff to return to the state capitol to hold a health expo right outside the building in Sacramento.
This coming December, Weimar also plans to sing Christmas carols in front of the building. Dr. Joshua hopes that this turns into a regular ministry for the Weimar College.
“We are building relationships with our state leaders, and an opportunity to share of the ministries from Weimar Institute,” concluded Dr. Joshua.