Contact: Pastor Greg Johnson, President, Standing Together, 801-474-1363, info@standingtogether.org; Larry Jacobs, Managing Director, World Congress of Families, 815-997-7106, media@worldcongress.org 

SALT LAKE CITY, Sept. 29, 2015 /Christian Newswire/ -- Dr. Jim Garlow of Skyline Church will speak about "Religious Freedom in America Today: Understanding the Times!" at a World Congress of Families (www.worldcongress.org) regional event on September 30th in Salt Lake City.  The free event will be held at Life Church (www.lifechurchutah.com) on Wednesday September 30th, 2015 from 7 to 8:30pm.  The event is sponsored by World Congress of Families 9 (www.wcf9.org), The Sutherland Institute (www.sutherlandinstitute.org), and Standing Together (www.standingtogether.org). 

Pastor Greg Johnson, Founder and President of Standing Together commented, "We are delighted to invite the community to 'An Evening with Dr. Jim Garlow,' Senior Pastor of Skyline Church in San Diego.  Jim is one of America's premier evangelical Christian leaders and true warrior defending Religious Liberty in America and around the world."

Pastor Greg added, "Dr. Garlow was a leading voice in advocating for Prop. 8 in California and is a gracious defender of sanctity of life, traditional marriage, and religious freedom in America. This is a not to be missed opportunity and huge privilege for us here in Utah to hear from one of America's leading pastors on a topic of unique importance in our time!"

Jim Garlow
Dr. Jim Garlow is the Senior Pastor at Skyline Church (www.skylinechurch.org) in San Diego, California and is heard daily on over 800 radio outlets in his one-minute commentary, "The Garlow Perspective."  Jim Garlow came to national attention in 2008 for his leadership role in organizing religious groups to support California Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage.  He has done over 900 radio, TV and print interviews, national and local, covering a wide-range of historical, theological, and political topics.  In 2013, Jim Garlow became the radio spokesperson for Alliance Defending Freedom (www.adf.org) as part of The Garlow Perspective broadcast commentary.  He graduated from Drew University (Ph.D. in historical theology), Princeton Theological Seminary (Master of Theology), Asbury Theological Seminary (Master of Divinity), Southern Nazarene University (B.A. & M.A.), Oklahoma Wesleyan University (A.A.).  His co-authored book Cracking Da Vinci's Code became No.17 on the New York Times Bestsellers List.  A related book, The Da Vinci CodeBreaker, a dictionary with over 500 key Da Vinci Code related terms, went on to become a bestseller.  The Secret Revealed, an expose on the New Age The Secret, was released in July 2007.  He co-authored Heaven and the Afterlife in 2009, which was followed by the 2010 release of Encountering Heaven and the Afterlife and in 2011, the release of Miracles Are For Real. Other books include How God Saved Civilization (re-released as God And His People,)  A Christian's Response to Islam, The Covenant, Partners in Ministry, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership Tested by Time and God Still Heals.  Jim's books have been translated into nearly a dozen languages.  Jim was married to his late wife Carol Garlow for 42 years prior to her passing.  In 2014, he married Rosemary Schindler.  They have eight children and nine grandchildren.

Standing Together
The Standing Together ministry was founded by Rev. Gregory Johnson and his wife Jill in Utah in March of 2001. Standing Together seeks to advance biblical unity among evangelical churches and pastors in Utah and spiritual transformation throughout our community and state. Prior to founding Standing Together, Greg served as a pastor in three local Utah churches from 1992 to 2001, in Ogden (Washington Heights Baptist Church), Ogden Valley (Ogden Valley Baptist Church), and in Orem (Orem EV Free).  Pastor Greg also serves on the Local Organizing Committee for World Congress of Families IX (www.wcf9.org).

World Congress of Families IX
The World Congress of Families is the premier global gathering of parents, youth, lawmakers, scholars, religious leaders, and advocates united to support human rights and the natural family as the fundamental and only sustainable unit of society.  Since its founding in 1995, there have been over 50 WCF regional conferences on five continents and seven official World Congresses of Families Festivals – Prague (1997), Geneva (1999), Mexico City (2004), Warsaw (2007), Amsterdam (2009), Madrid (2012) and Sydney (2013).  All people of goodwill are invited to join in this important opportunity to support the natural family. World Congress of Families IX will be held from October 27-30 in Salt Lake City, Utah.   To register for WCF IX, reserve your hotel, or more information, please visit www.wcf9.org.