Rev. Barry W. Lynn
Executive Director, Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Since 1992, Rev. Lynn has headed Americans United for Separation of Church and State, an organization dedicated to the preservation of the Constitution’s religious liberty provisions. In addition to his work as a long-time activist and lawyer in the civil liberties field, Lynn is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ.
An accomplished speaker and lecturer, Lynn has appeared frequently on television and radio broadcasts to offer analysis of First Amendment issues. He has appeared on several news programs, including PBS's NewsHour, NBC Today Show, Fox's O'Reilly Factor, Nightline, 60 Minutes, Good Morning America, Larry King Live, and the national nightly news on NBC, ABC and CBS.
On the radio, Lynn served for two years as regular co-host of Pat Buchanan and Company and more recently did a weekly syndicated radio program Review of the News with Col. Oliver North. He is a regular guest on nationally broadcast radio programs on NPR, CBS, CNN, ABC, and AP.
Lynn began his professional career working at the national office 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. From 1984 to 1991, he was legislative counsel for the Washington office of the American Civil Liberties Union.
In 1995, Lynn co-authored "The Right to Religious Liberty: The Basic ACLU Guide to Religious Rights." He writes frequently on religious liberty issues and has had essays published in "USA Today," The "Wall Street Journal" and others. Lynn also has op-eds published frequently by the Knight-Ridder and Scripps-Howard newspaper chains.
A member of the Washington, D.C. bar, Lynn earned his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1978. In addition, he received his theology degree from Boston University School of Theology in 1973.
