wfn.org | [APD] US Lawyer appointed as new UN liaison for Adventist World Church

[Christian B. Schäffler <APD@stanet.ch>]

[APD] US Lawyer appointed as new UN liaison for Adventist World Church

Religious liberty expert hopes to secure church a 'seat at the table'

Washington D.C./USA, 26.08.2009/ANN/APD   A veteran Seventh-day  Adventist
religious freedom

advocate and lawyer will return to employment at Adventist World church
headquarters to

serve as the protestant denomination's liaison to the United Nations,  the
church's Executive

>Committee announced last week.

James D. Standish, Esq., served as Director of Legislative Affairs at  the
Seventh-day Adventist

Church World Headquarters for seven years. He spent the past year as
executive director of the

United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), an
independent non-partisan

federal agency advising the White House and U.S. Congress.

Working with the Commission gave him a broader understanding of the  "inner
workings" of

government and what can be accomplished through cooperation and a candid
exchange of

>ideas, Standish said.

"It's a real privilege to come back to work for the Adventist Church,"  he
said. "I think that the

church has so much to offer, from its understanding of religious freedom  to
its emphasis

on education and health care and its thorough understanding of the  gospel.
Being part of that

effort again from the inside is something that I really look forward  to."

Standish, 45, is expected to begin his new post August 28, church  officials
said. He will work

out of the church's department of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty
(PARL), with frequent

trips to New York City to attend meetings at UN headquarters as the  church's
representative.

"We welcome the opportunity to have James back after his time at the
USCIRF," said John Graz,

PARL director. "James brings great experience, broad knowledge of  religious
liberty issues and

credibility among religious freedom experts and government officials."

Standish is widely published, has discussed religious freedom concerns  on
nationally broadcast

television and radio and has testified on religious freedom matters  before
the U.S. House of

>Representatives.

Executive Committee members approved Standish's appointment despite an
ongoing hiring

freeze at world church headquarters, explaining that filling "essential
positions" is vital to the

church's mission. Standish accepts a position that has been vacant for  more
than a year.

Ensuring that the church is an "integral part" of discussions on human
rights and freedoms of religion

at the UN is his primary objective, Standish said.

"We're aiming for a level of credibility and trust where we as a church  have
a seat at the table and

the conversation doesn't go on until we're part of it," he said.

Making the effort to collaborate with "key players" at the UN and  promote
the church's views

"systematically" will help make such a position "doable," Standish said.
Working for the Commission

for the past year, he added, reinforced the level of influence
non-governmental organizations

can have on decision-making. "I come back with a greater respect for the
sort of impact that

entities like the Adventist Church can have," he said.

Standish earned his law degree, cum laude, from Georgetown University,  his
MBA from the

University of Virginia, and his BBA from Newbold College, England. He is  a
member of the Virginia

State Bar and the District of Columbia Bar and has been admitted to  practice
before the U.S. Supreme

Court and the Fourth Circuit. [Editors: Elizabeth Lechleitner and  Christian
B. Schäffler for ANN/APD]

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