The Center for Public Justice (CPJ) hosted the 28th Annual Kuyper Lecture on Thursday, October 2, at 5:00 pm ET in the University of Notre Dame Washington Office in Washington, D.C. This year’s lecture was delivered by Gert-Jan Segers, who served in the Dutch Parliament from 2012 to 2023, on the topic ‘The Afternoon of Democracy: How Faith Can Save Government of, by, and for the People.’ The event opened with a reception at 5:00 p.m., followed by the lecture at 6:15 p.m.

With a worldwide decline in democracy and the rise of autocratic rule, we are witnessing what President Lincoln famously called the “afternoon of government of, by, and for the people.” All Western democracies face enormous challenges, both from within their societies, such as polarization and unstable governments, and from anti-democratic forces abroad.

In this Kuyper Lecture, Segers argued that while the defense of democracy requires a commitment to a set of political rules and regular free elections, it also calls for a rediscovery that: 1) democracy is rooted in deep beliefs and faith, and 2) democracy is meant for high purposes such as justice and truth. This lecture outlined a path for faith in democracy and offer hope for a new morning in our free societies.

The Kuyper Lecture was followed by a panel discussion featuring Chris Seiple, Ph.D., President Emeritus at the Institute for Global Engagement, and Stephanie Summers, CEO at the Center for Public Justice. The respondents took up the theological, philosophical, and policy considerations raised by the lecturer, with an eye towards equipping young people and academics to carry forward the ideas practically.

Watch the Recording:

You can download the written copy of the remarks by the lecturer and respondents here.

Speaker:

Gert-Jan Segers is a Dutch politician and writer (b.1969) whose career has been shaped by his deep Christian faith and commitment to religious freedom. He was a member of the Dutch Parliament from 2012-2023.

As leader of the Christian Union in the Dutch parliament from 2015 to 2023, he played a pivotal role in shaping national debates on justice, human dignity, and the role of faith in public life. He was a two-time member of the coalition government of the Netherlands.

Today, he continues to speak and write internationally on democracy, pluralism, and the vital place of religion in society.

Respondents:

Chris Seiple, Ph.D., began operating at the intersection of religion & realpolitik in 2003, when he became president of the Institute for Global Engagement, and founded The Review of Faith & International Affairs. He has practiced relational diplomacy throughout Eurasia, Africa & the Middle East. He played a significant role in the removal of Vietnam from the U.S. State Department’s religious freedom violations list (2007), and later Uzbekistan (2019), about which he developed a theory of change. He has served as senior advisor to the U.S. Secretary of State, chairing the religion and foreign affairs  working group (2011-2013), and as senior advisor to USAID, regarding the U.S. government’s first-ever summit on Strategic Religious Engagement (2020). He is co-editor of The Routledge Handbooks on Religion & Security, and Religious Literacy, Pluralism & Global Engagement, and a co-creator of The Dialogue of Declarations. He is a senior fellow at Love Your Neighbor Community and the University of Haifa. He previously advised the Templeton Religion Trust in the creation of the Covenantal Pluralism Initiative.

Stephanie Summers is the CEO of the Center for Public Justice. Ms. Summers is a co-author with Washington Post columnist Michael J. Gerson and Katie Thompson of Unleashing Opportunity: Why Escaping Poverty Requires a Shared Vision of Justice (Falls City Press). A frequent speaker and moderator, recent topics include Christian activism in Reformed Public Theology (Baker Academic) and leadership in The Routledge Handbook of Religious Literacy, Pluralism, and Global Engagement (Routledge). Ms. Summers is a recipient of the inaugural Duke Divinity Reflective Leadership Award. She received her M.S. in Nonprofit Management from Eastern University. Prior to her appointment at the Center for Public Justice, she spent 12 years with the CCO, where her roles included Vice President for the Eastern Region and Vice President for Organizational Development. Ms. Summers began her career in nonprofit administration as executive director of The Open Door, a church-based youth center in Pittsburgh, PA.