On October 27, 2026, 21Wilberforce presented the 2026 Frank Wolf International Religious Freedom Award to Rev. Dr. A. Roy Medley at a program and reception in Falls Church, Virginia. The evening opened with a panel of distinguished religious freedom champions, followed by the award ceremony and a reception.
The Frank Wolf International Religious Freedom Award recognizes outstanding champions who stand up to oppression in the pursuit of freedom of religion or belief. It honors those who embody the spirit of Congressman Frank Wolf, who has worked for decades to promote international religious freedom. Known as the “Champion of human rights” and the “Conscience of Congress,” Wolf served Virginia’s 10th District for 17 terms, from 1981 until January 2015. He co-authored the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 and later served as Distinguished Senior Fellow at 21Wilberforce.
Rev. Dr. Medley is Executive Director of the Burma Advocacy Group, a coalition of more than 20 U.S.-based church and advocacy organizations representing the Burmese diaspora, and General Secretary Emeritus of American Baptist Churches USA. Through the Burma Advocacy Group and his service with the Baptist World Alliance, he has advanced initiatives that address persecution and displacement in Burma. Over the years, 21Wilberforce has witnessed his steadfast commitment to religious freedom and human dignity.
Throughout his ministry, Medley has stood with people facing racism, religious discrimination, persecution and displacement. That work has ranged from confronting segregation in the American South, to standing alongside American Muslims facing Islamophobia, to advocating for persecuted Christians and displaced communities in Burma. His life offers a powerful example of the faith, moral clarity and interfaith cooperation that inspire 21Wilberforce’s mission.
Previous recipients of the award include Churches for Middle East Peace (2025), Pastor Bob Roberts, Jr. (2023), Dr. Bob Fu (2022), Ambassador Sam Brownback (2020), Archbishop Ben and Dr. Gloria Kwashi (2019), and the City of Midland, Texas (2018).
Rev. Dr. A. Roy Medley receives the 2026 Frank Wolf International Religious Freedom Award from 21Wilberforce President Wissam al-Saliby. (Photo: Chloe Clayborne)
In accepting the award, Rev. Dr. Medley thanked the many people who shaped his life and ministry. He then called on Baptists, and people of every faith and no faith, to defend religious liberty for all. His remarks follow in full.
Remarks by Rev. Dr. A. Roy Medley
I am profoundly humbled by this award. As I sat in my barber’s chair getting tidied up for this occasion, he said to me, “May I make a suggestion, begin with ‘thank you.'”
To the board and staff of 21Wilberforce, I wish to express my deepest gratitude for the honor you have bestowed upon me by naming me as this year’s recipient of the Frank Wolf International Religious Freedom award. No one comes to a moment such as this through one’s efforts alone. I wish to acknowledge the countless others who have shaped my values, aided my efforts, opened doors of opportunity for me. I do not consider myself an exceptional man, but one who has been blessed by God through exceptional circumstances and exceptional people. I accept this award in the name of all who have shaped me and my ministry as a disciple of Jesus, and especially today, I accept this award in the name of the Burma Advocacy Group and my brothers and sisters from Burma.
I give thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ, whose abundant redemptive grace continues to astound me, surprise me, and press me toward “the better way” of love. From my youth, the depth of his sacrifice, the perfection of his teachings, and the joy of his life-giving resurrection have inspired and stretched me in faith and service.
My parents, Howard and Clois Medley, having never finished 6th grade, raised us in the church and faith in Christ and worked sacrificially so that my brother Earl, my sister, Kay, and I might have greater opportunities than they. I give thanks to God for my family who are here: my wife of 51 years, Pat, who is the bedrock of our family. Our son, Ethan his wife Urbi and our grandchildren Isaiah and Olivia. Our younger, son Jordan whose wife Natalia and daughter Margo could not be here. You have brought me incredible joy all these years. Robin, Pat’s sister who came to live with us as Covid struck, and Yiming Feng a college student from Shanghai who became Ethan’s nanny and then more than that, our daughter. May God continue to make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you.
To my American Baptist family, I give thanks. You accepted me as an adopted son and called me to the highest position of service within the American Baptist Churches. How ironic that a Southerner should be chosen as the General Secretary of the Northern Baptist Convention! You opened doors nationally and internationally for me to express the heart and commitment of our denomination to religious liberty, peace, and justice for all. Thank you.
I also wish to acknowledge the late Neville Callum who as General Secretary of the Baptist World Alliance dared to open the door to interfaith dialogue, and to Elijah Brown, his successor, who next month will sign a covenant with the Egyptian Ministry of Religious Endowments for BWA to enter the first global dialogue between Baptists and Muslims. I would be remiss if I did not mention the Rev. Dr. Robert Sellers my Cooperative Baptist Colleague who jointly planned with me the North American Baptist-Muslim dialogues, past president of the Parliament of the World’s Religions, and co-author with me of the upcoming book, Walking Together: Why Interreligious Relationships Matter.
My Burmese family: I never imagined how our paths would become so intertwined. How blessed I am by your faith and your friendship. Your suffering as a people, and especially your extraordinary suffering as Christians, has seldom been acknowledged. Your perseverance in hope in the midst of 60 years of oppression testify to the power of your faith in Christ which has sustained you. I thank you for the trust you place in me. You have become my larger family.
Finally, to my interfaith colleagues who are dear to me as co-laborers for religious liberty. Let me acknowledge especially Dr. Sayyid Syeed, the founder of the Islamic Society of America, Dr. Mohamed Elsanousi, a former commissioner on the United States Commission for International Religious Freedom, Imam Majid, likewise a former commissioner, and Rabbi David Saperstein and Rashad Hussein former US Ambassadors at Large for International Religious Liberty. Thank you for your efforts on behalf of the Christians of Burma.
Please indulge me now in some brief remarks. Securing the blessings of religious liberty for all is a daunting task in this moment in world history. Around the globe the weaponization of religion against the “other” by States and non-state actors alike is leading to oppression and murder. Whether it is the six decade-long oppression of Christians and Muslims by Burmese military regimes seeking to impose Buddhism, or the attacks on Christians by Islamic radicals in Nigeria, or West Bank settlers violently displacing Christian and Muslim Palestinians, or Hindu nationalists fomenting attacks upon Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and other minority faiths while also restricting their legal rights, or American Christian Nationalists fearmongering about Muslims and other faiths and legislating mandatory Christian practices for all- there is a growing constriction of religious freedom and a lessening commitment to pluralist societies where all may thrive and contribute to the common welfare.
It is particularly troubling to see so many Baptists enrolled under the banner of Christian Nationalism. The historical amnesia of Baptists in the United States is in need of remediation. Our gift of religious liberty for all, whose foundation is the wall of separation between the coercive power of the state and one’s religious choices, is our greatest contribution to human rights. Too many of us have forgotten that the American experiment, influenced by Baptists, rejected religion enforced by the state. Faith/belief is a sacred compact between each person and God and cannot be coerced.
We are grateful for the efforts of 21 Wilberforce and the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty in protecting this precious freedom. May we as Baptists awaken from our spiritual and historical amnesia and be the first to defend the human right of religious liberty for all.
Martin Luther King, standing before thousands gathered at the Lincoln Memorial in the great Civil Rights march on Washington, did not seek to storm Congress with physical force to impose his vision upon the country, but rather appealed to the moral and faith sensibilities of our nation when he declared, “I have a dream.” He urged those long-oppressed to hew from the mountain of despair a rock of hope: A rock of hope resisting the seismic pressures of Jim Crow, a rock of hope worthy to be the foundation of a new social compact of liberty for all, a rock of hope worthy to be called Ebenezer, our stone of help, for God has led us and come to our aid.
Our commitment to the struggle for religious liberty cannot be for Christians alone; it must be for all. In this task let us gladly share pick and shovel with partners of every faith and no faith to hew from this mountain of despair of religious intolerance, a rock of hope — a rock of hope for freedom under God and toward God that alone is sturdy enough to undergird a world of justice and peace, a rock of hope for freedom under God and toward God that alone is robust enough to withstand the threats and assaults against freedom of conscience by states and religious demagogues, a rock of hope for freedom under God and toward God that alone is unshakable as the foundation for religiously plural communities in which all are cherished and all may thrive.
“In 1990, as Voyager I, the precursor of the Hubbell Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope, made its trek through the universe, it took the most notable photograph of its time of planet earth in the vastness of space. That image, requested by famed astronomer Carl Sagan, evoked in him the profound significance of earth’s singularity. ‘The Pale Blue Dot’ which he composed as he meditated upon the Voyager photo offered a reflection that would lead to a revolution of perspective for my generation:
Carl Sagan would write, ‘It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.’
A revolution of perspective continues to be offered not only by the awe-inspiring images of Voyager’s successors but also through acquaintance with those who love God and who love neighbor as themselves but profess a different faith. Until we who differ in our faith traditions lay down our arms of offense against one another and embrace the common causes requisite for the flourishing of humanity and creation, life on this pale blue dot will not bask in the peace, love and joy we desire and our Creator intends for us.”1
From the mountain of despair, dear friends, let us together hew a rock of hope for the generations yet to come.
The peace of Christ be with you all.
1 Taken from the upcoming release Walking Together: Why Interreligious Relationships Matter by Robert P. Sellers and A. Roy Medley. Copyright ©2027 by Judson Press. Used by permission of Judson Press.
(Photo: Chloe Clayborne)
About the Award
Learn more about the Frank Wolf International Religious Freedom Award and its past recipients at 21wilberforce.org/frank-wolf-award.