On Thursday, Synod President Matthew C. Harrison was one of several witnesses to provide testimony during the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform's hearing, "Lines Crossed: Separation of Church and State. Has the Obama Administration Trampled on Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Conscience?" In case you missed the hearing, you can watch a video and read a full transcript of President Harrison’s testimony on the LCMS website here. You also can read the written testimony, submitted before the hearing, which will become a part of the Congressional Record. The LCMS views the recent birth control mandate from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as one that infringes on our religious rights. Harrison told the committee members: "While we are opposed in principle, not to all forms of birth control, but only abortion-causing drugs, we stand with our friends in the Catholic Church and all others, Christians and non-Christians, under the free exercise and conscience provisions of the U.S. Constitution. Religious people determine what violates their consciences, not the federal government." We implore you to keep the country and our elected leaders in your prayers. "To paraphrase Martin Luther, the heart and conscience has room only for God, not for God and the federal government," Harrison said. "The bed is too narrow, the blanket is too short. We must obey God rather than men, and we will."