Religious Liberty in the States Advisory Council
Stanley Carlson-Thies, Ph.D.
Center for Public Justice
Dr. Stanley Carlson-Thies is the founder of the Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance, which promotes the religious freedoms that enable faith-based organizations to make their distinctive contributions to the common good. IRFA is a division of the Center for Public Justice, an independent, nonpartisan Christian organization devoted to leadership development, policy research, and civic education. He transitioned to senior fellow status in May 2025. Dr. Carlson-Thies initiated in 2002 the Coalition to Preserve Religious Freedom, a monthly multi-faith gathering of religious freedom advocates and leaders of faith-based organizations that monitors and advocates to Congress and the executive branch for laws and regulations that respect institutional religious freedom. He served on faith-based and community initiatives in both the George W. Bush and Obama administrations. He holds a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Toronto. His dissertation is on the changing interaction of religion and political structures in the Netherlands from the 1850s to the 1920s, with special attention to the role of Abraham Kuyper.
Relevant Publications
- Making Possible Partnerships for Faithful Service: The Vision, Advances, and Unfinished Reforms of the Faith-Based Initiative (Center for Public Justice, 2026).
- “The Common Good Is Plural: What Then Should We Require of Government? (A Brief Reflection),” Journal of Christian Legal Thought 14, no. 1 (2024): 1-6. https://www.christianlegalsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/CLS_2024_June10th_small.pdf.
- “The Common Good Requires Robust Institutional Religious Freedom,” University of St. Thomas Law Journal 15, no. 3 (2019): 529-545. https://ir.stthomas.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1445&context=ustlj.
- Stephen V. Monsma and Stanley W. Carlson-Thies, Free to Serve: Preserving the Religious Freedom of Faith-Based Organizations (Ada, MI: Brazos Press, 2015), https://www.amazon.com/Free-Serve-Protecting-Faith-Based-Organizations/dp/1587433737.
