Rev. Barry Lynn

Former Executive Director, Americans United


The Rev. Barry W. Lynn served as executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State from 1992 – 2018.  An attorney, minister, and long-time activist in the civil liberties field, Lynn came to Americans United with an impressive background in church-state issues.

Before accepting the post at Americans United, Lynn held a variety of positions related to religious liberty. From 1984 to 1991 he was legislative counsel for the Washington lobbying office of the American Civil Liberties Union, where he frequently worked on church-state issues. From 1974 to 1980 Lynn served in a variety of positions with the national offices of the United Church of Christ, including a two-year stint as legislative counsel for the Church’s Office of Church in Society in Washington, D.C.

A member of the Washington, D.C. and Supreme Court bar, Lynn earned his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1978. In addition, he is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ who received his theology degree from Boston University School of Theology in 1973. Lynn earned his bachelor’s degree at Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in 1970. Lynn is the author of Piety and Politics: The Right-Wing Assault on Religious Freedom and co-author of The Right to Religious Liberty.  
 

BREAKING NEWS

Americans United & the National Women’s Law Center file suit to challenge Missouri’s abortion bans.

Abortion bans violate the separation of church and state. Americans United and the National Women’s Law Center—the leading experts in religious freedom and gender justice—have joined forces with thirteen clergy from six faith traditions to challenge Missouri’s abortion bans as unconstitutionally imposing one narrow religious doctrine on everyone.


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