History

The Connecticut chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State was started in early 1999.

Past Events

• 6/8/2004 - We announced plans to mark the decision on the Pledge case with a celebration or a protest. Please contact us if you're interested in participating.
• 4/26/2004 at 6:30 PM - Jane Haddam wias be one of the panel members in a forum on Faith-Based Initiatives. Organized by the League of Women Voters, New Britain Area, the event will be held at the First Church of Christ, Congregational, Corbin Avenue and Hart Street, New Britain, Connecticut. RSVP by April 23 to Ada Seaman at 860-224-1858.
• 12/3/2003 - Chapter president Jane Haddam gave a talk on Judge Roy Moore and the Ten Commandments at the University of Connecticut campus in Torrington on Wednesday, December 3rd, 2003 at 7:00 PM.
• 7/2/2002 - We added a separate email discussion list. (You'll need to subscribe to the list before you can post to it.)

2002

Sunday November 10: Michael Newdow featured speaker in Westport.

Dr. Michael Newdow, the man who brought the successful suit challenging the constitutionality of the words "Under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, was the featured speaker at a Community Forum on 'God In the Pledge' organized by the local Congregation for Humanistic Judaism. The forum took place on Sunday November 10 at 3 PM at the Unitarian Church in Westport, Connecticut.

Sunday, April 28: AUSCS Executive Director Barry Lynn keynote speaker in North Haven

Barry W. Lynn, an attorney and an ordained UCC minister, spoke about the issue of religious expression and the public schools. Lynn is the Executive Director of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, a co-sponsor in the case challenging the Cleveland voucher program, before the Supreme Court. Rev. Lynn considers the Cleveland school voucher case the most important church-state case in the last half century.

Lynn spoke at a "consultation" on religion and the public schools organized by:

The UCC Public Education Advocacy Group
Everett Watson, Chair
Rev. Fidelia Lane
Dr. Robbins Barstow
Rev. George Easton
Rev. Lynn Onderko
Rev. Vernon & Mary Phelps
Drs. Linda & Bob Weidenhamer
Helen Woodford
Joyce Allen

Cecile Gilson
Connecticut Conference UCC
125 Sherman St.
Hartford, CT 06105
860-233-5564

Tuesday, April 16: "Vouchers and the Supreme Court"

The AUSCS Connecticut Chapter met at the Unitarian Meeting House, Hartford, CT. The subject was voucher cases passing before the Supreme Court during this session.

Tuesday, March 19th: Prof Isaac Kramnick speaks at legislative breakfast

Prof. Isaac Kramnick from Cornell University spoke about church state separation at a breakfast meeting with legislators at the State Capitol on March 19th. His book, The Godless Constitution, is a short, very compelling read on the early history of church state separation in the U.S.

The event was sponsored by:

The Connecticut Anti-Defamation League
Connecticut Interfaith Coalition for Religious Freedom
American Baptist Churches of Connecticut
Connecticut Conference United Church of Christ

Honorary Chairpeople:

Melody Curry, House of Representatives 10th District
Judith Freedman, Senator 26th District
Kevin Sullivan, Senator 5th District

2001

• Our "How to be an activist" meetings reached Hamden, at the Unitarian Society of New Haven on October 5th, 2001.
• We started our "How to be an activist" meetings on Friday, September 21st, 2001 at Unitarian Universalist Society: East (UUS:E), in Manchester.

2000

• Chapter President Jane Haddam spoke at WCSU on March 16th, 2000 at 6:00 PM. Her talk was entitled "a short history of the idea of separation of church and state from medieval Europe to the world's first secular nation."