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Humble Jurist is where faith and law meet. We advance the values and mission of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society by highlighting those who are defending religious freedom, serving their communities, and striving to uphold the rule of law. Should you or someone you know be featured on Humble Jurist? Fill out this survey: gonzaga.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_b4pOcSqafE4itMi
Lucas Stevens
Welcome to Humble Jurist the J. Reuben Clark Law Society podcast, I'm Lucas Stevens. First, some updates from around the Society. In February, the JRCLS hosted its 2026, Annual Conference in Washington, DC. It brought together attorneys from around the world and the program included a United States Supreme Court Justice, U.S. government officials, religious freedom experts, and faith leaders. Coming up, the second annual Global Student Summit will be held virtually on April 3rd, and we'll hear from Tanner Bean about religion in the public square. All are welcome. Also, May is the 2026 month of service. You can view planning tips and a checklist for chapters in the episode description.
For this episode, I'm joined by Wendy Neely. Wendy recently graduated from Syracuse University College of Law. She was a research fellow at Brigham Young University's International Center for Law and Religious Studies and a J. Reuben Clark Law Society Religious Liberty Rellow. She created Cache Valley interfaith, an annual event series that connects different faith communities in the spirit of unity. She's a mother of five children living in Cache Valley Utah. I started our conversation by asking Wendy to introduce herself, and then she shared about how and why she created Cache Valley Interfaith. She goes on to explain the event's impact in her community and on her personally and shared some valuable advice that can be applied to all interfaith work. Now, let’s hear from Wendy.
Wendy Neeley
Well, yes, but first, just thank you so much for having me on this is so fun to be here with you today. I grew up in California. I moved to Cache Valley when I was 14. I've been here ever since, and once my youngest started first grade, I felt like I needed a little more to do, so I decided to go to law school. That seemed like the natural right thing to do, and now I've just graduated, and I'm trying to contribute to the world.
Lucas Stevens
Well, congratulations on graduating and taking the bar. Where did you go to law school? And could you speak more to why law school?
Wendy Neeley
Yeah, I went to Syracuse University. That just was the best option for me, still needing to be home, provided a lot of flexibility through their online program. I always wanted to do law school. It just never was the right time, but this, this allowed me that opportunity, and just having a law degree would empower me to make a greater impact.
Lucas Stevens
Well, I think you're already having a huge impact, and we'll get more into that later in the podcast, but I wanted to ask also, what was it like raising kids while in law school?
Wendy Neeley
Oh, man, it was difficult at times, but it was really, really kind of fun. Sometimes I would, I would tell my kids all about the law at the dinner table, and some of them were super interested, especially for torts. They loved torts, and they they would call each other out on him. They'd be like, Hey, mom, so and so just assaulted me like, well, you battered me, you know. But then they'd even say, No, I didn't touch you. And so it wasn't a battery like they could call him out. And there were times when I was short on time for my reading, and I had to make my kids read to me while I was in the carpool, even even my youngest. Sometimes he hadn't gotten his 20 minutes of reading every day yet, you know, and so he had to read contracts to me, and he sounded out the words. So it was definitely a family affair, but it was amazing to see how my family pulled together and supported me. It was really neat.
Lucas Stevens
That's amazing, and it sounds like a good study. Hack, so what first piqued your interest in religious liberty, and how did you get involved in the J Reuben Clark Law Society?
Wendy Neeley
Religious Liberty has just always been an interest for me. I grew up outside of Utah, so I was a minority religion, and just always appreciated the support that I got from others around me that didn't share my beliefs, and that's kind of shaped the way that I've viewed religious liberty, and I've wanted to be involved, so I started a chapter of the j o mclerk Law Society at my law school. In our last
Lucas Stevens
episode, we discussed how to start a student chapter. But what was it like for you to start a chapter at Syracuse.
Wendy Neeley
It was a great experience. Turns out that most of the members of the chapter at Syracuse were not members of the Church of Jesus Christ, of Latter Day Saints, so we had a very diverse chapter. But it was really neat to be able to learn from those of different faiths and to see how they appreciated religious liberty and these same values as well.
Lucas Stevens
Now, Wendy, could you please describe your experience as a JR CLS religious liberty fellow?
Wendy Neeley
It was great. I loved interacting with all the other fellows and learning from the experts who were brought in to teach us about what religious liberty looks like today. And then they also inspire. Us to go out and do a project that would help promote religious liberty.
Lucas Stevens
So what is Cache Valley interfaith? And was that your project? Yes, so
Wendy Neeley
that was the project that I decided to do as part of the fellowship I wanted, yeah, I wanted to create a community event that just kind of helped to support the different faiths in Cache Valley. A lot of the other fellows, maybe wrote papers or did more academic work. But for me, I just really wanted something that would bring the community together. Even though Cache Valley consists predominantly of members of the Church of Jesus Christ, of Latter Day Saints, we have about 40 other different faith communities, and we were able to have a lot of them represented in this event. So we had Buddhist, Islamic, Jewish, Unitarian Universalists and several Christian denominations as well. That diversity, although it is comparatively small, maybe to other areas of the world, it's little, sometimes overlooked here in our community. So this event, we have open houses. We ask the different faith groups to just open their doors for the public to come and just get a taste of what this faith has to offer, and they just explain their beliefs. And then there's also a question answer that the public can ask any question in just kind of a safe space
Lucas Stevens
That sounds amazing! Could you share a bit more about how and why you created it?
Wendy Neeley
Yes, yeah. So just wanting to kind of have this opportunity for the community to again, recognize the different faith communities that we have.
Lucas Stevens
So Wendy, what went into planning and executing it?
Wendy Neeley
Yeah, this was a big project, and I certainly couldn't have done it alone. I contacted some local organizations that I knew were kind of in this space already, and asked for their support. I contacted a local group, the cash community connections, that was already kind of in this interfaith space, and approached them about supporting this project, this idea. They were a little bit hesitant at first, but they took a chance on me, and their support was phenomenal. I also had the support of the Bear River Communications Council and recently the Religious Freedom Alliance Council also supported this project. There. There were hundreds of hours put into this from volunteers and also some funding from these organizations. It was certainly a team effort, and I'm just so grateful for all of those who helped with this. Also want to give a huge shout out to Jason and Pauline Tubbs, who have stepped up and will be coordinating this event going forward. It was certainly a collaborative effort, and just been amazing to see everyone that helped with this and to see it come together.
Lucas Stevens
Well, that's definitely like a massive undertaking, and really incredible that you were able to bring together all those stakeholders. So how did it go? How were those who attended affected by it?
Wendy Neeley
It was an amazing event. I loved being able to see how the relationships in the community were strengthened. One of my favorite parts was even just at the very beginning in this initial meeting, there were these faith leaders that had been part of this council for years that had been planning different community events, but had never really talked to each other about their different faiths and their congregations and and beliefs. And I was able to watch these connections happen in real time between these faith leaders as they shared their different beliefs, even they didn't necessarily even know how to formally address each other. A lot of the pastors were recognized more informally to their congregation, but anyway, just making those connections between those local religious leaders was a huge step forward in strengthening the relationships between community members and faith communities. It's also really neat to see members of the community show up at these open houses and just look around at the beautiful places of worship and and learn from the history of the buildings or how the setup would promote the faith practice and to see the public day and ask question after question to just learn and understand about these different faiths that were new to them. It was really neat to watch. I think even sometimes people are afraid to learn about other faiths, or they're afraid to take their children out to learn about other faiths, for whatever reason, maybe it might confuse the children or have them start asking questions that they're not ready to answer, but this has been so beautiful for me to take my children and help them to see what other people believe and then also strengthen their own faith. And I've also heard comments too of people in the community saying, Oh, I wish my children, or my kids or my teenagers, had been able to go to event like this before. They went on their missions, or before they went to college or different so they just had were able to have a better understanding of of their own faith in comparison to other faiths, and just a better respect and understanding for other faiths. So it's really just a great opportunity for everyone to learn young and old about different face and and to reflect on your own faith.
Lucas Stevens
When does it usually happen? Like, if somebody wants to attend or participate?
Wendy Neeley
Yeah, we would love to have anyone that would like to come. And there have been a few people that are interested in maybe replicating this. So it would be great if you know, if anyone wants to take the idea and run with it in their community, we generally have done it the weekend before Thanksgiving, and then we actually also the Sunday following. Have an interfaith worship service of of just musical numbers. So it's kind of neat. We'll go, we'll tour the different buildings, and then we'll come to sing together in worship and praise. So that's generally when we've done it. We have now created a website at cachevalleyinterfaith.com and slowly building a little Instagram following @cvinterfaith as well. So yeah, I hope it inspires more people to attend or do their own or just learn about other faiths.
Lucas Stevens
It makes me think of my wife because she's helping with an interfaith Easter concert here in Spokane. There will be 10 different choirs from various congregations in the area. And I think that there's something really special about interfaith projects. I wanted to just ask you, as somebody with experience in this, what are advantages and challenges associated with interfaith initiatives.
Wendy Neeley
Yeah. Oh, that sounds like a wonderful event. I'm glad that that's happening, and she's involved with that. One of the challenges that that I've run into is just recognizing there's a lot I don't know, and even even little terminology things can be something that will make a faith community hesitant to participate. So some prefer the word "multifaith" over "interfaith." "Church," the word "church" versus "faith community." They all have some slight designation that others might perceive differently, and so just trying to even recognize what might be a little more inclusive in in language or terminology, or in how you advertise for the event, all these different things were things that we had to learn, and we're still working. So we might be we might be changing the name next year. We might be changing the places and things like that, but that, that is what this whole event is about, is recognizing the other faiths, the other beliefs, and helping them feel included.
Lucas Stevens
Those are good things to learn and good things to keep in mind. Any other lessons or pieces of advice you have for people working on these kind of projects?
Wendy Neeley
I don't have a lot of advice except just, just try, just reach out if you approach someone with a sincere desire to learn more about their belief, and they sense that that's what you're asking about, and you're not coming across as wanting to convert them or prove them wrong, but if you are just sincerely trying to learn more about the other person and their beliefs, they will tell you, and they will appreciate it, and it will be such an incredible connection to make with them. So if you have an interest to show that interest and show your sincerity, that's, I guess, one of the advantages, too, of an event like this, or even just these small interpersonal connections, is is that it minimizes the polarization that we're seeing today. There's so so many strongly held beliefs that people have, which are great you can have those beliefs, but I think that the temptation, or the tendency, then, is to believe that anyone that doesn't believe what you believe that they're wrong or they're bad, or you'll label them somehow as the other, but an event such as this that allows you to go into a different space and gain a different perspective and recognize that those other beliefs and perspectives are held by people, and that those beliefs and those people deserve respect. It's a lot harder to push aside views that maybe you don't hold as deeply, but it makes it easier for you to save space for the perspectives and beliefs of others and to have more respect for everyone around you.
Lucas Stevens
Beautifully said. Wendy, last question, the society's mission and vision statements emphasize our commitment to service. Could you explain how you've been impacted by your service associated with this project?
Wendy Neeley
Well, this. Project, it's been amazing to see it happen like I've been able to watch the connections, and that's been amazing, but it has also personally inspired a deeper faith in me. I have been inspired by seeing the different ways different faith communities observe their faith and practice their faith. Just for a few quick examples, we were able to tour the the Catholic Church, and they showed us the confession booths, and they just mentioned that confession is one of their sacraments. And I just loved that, because sacrament, to me, is a word that I'm very familiar with, but it means something very different, but to be able to connect it to a confession just deepened my understanding a little more of the word sacrament in a way that provided a little more meaning for me. And then, you know, it was fun too. I've also now attended a few other worship services, and it's really fun to sing along to some of the hymns that are familiar in other church buildings and other secret spaces. And sometimes it's more fun to sing there they they tend to play the organ a little louder with a little more enthusiasm. And I kind of, I kind of hope that would happen some time in in my church as well. You don't have to worry so much about your singing voice if the organ's so loud, but just other, just other little things to you know, and I found out this is fairly common in a lot of churches, that they will have a drain in their kitchen that instead of going to the regular sewage system, goes straight to underground, to some rocks underneath the church. So that and that drain is used only for the leftover wine from their service. And so they're the blood of Jesus Christ doesn't go, you know, down the drain like in any other normal liquid, but they have a secret place for that. And just inspired by the ways that these people live their faith that is different than I do sometimes, but just beautiful.
Lucas Stevens
Thank you again, Wendy for sharing your insights into interfaith work and for your service that's building bridges of goodwill among people of faith in your community. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and leave a positive review. Also, please join us next month, and thanks for listening.