First Freedom: The Fight for Religious Freedom - Hardcover

Mr. Balmer has published more than a dozen books, including God in the White House: How Faith Shaped the Presidency from John F. Kennedy to George W. Bush and The Making of Evangelicalism: From Revivalism to Politics and Beyond. His second book, Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: A Journey into the Evangelical Subculture in America, now in its fourth edition, was made into an award-winning, three-part documentary for PBS. Mr. Balmer wrote and hosted that series. He has lectured around the country in such venues as the Commonwealth Club of California and the Chautauqua Institution and, under the auspices of the State Department, in Austria and Lebanon.

Mr. Balmer, an Episcopal priest, lives in Vermont and New Mexico with his wife, Catharine Randall, who is also a priest and a professor.

Lee Groberg has produced and directed a number of documentary films over the past twenty-five years, including American Gunmaker, Treasure House, Trail of Hope, American Prophet, Sacred Stone, America s Choir, Sweetwater Rescue, Fires of Faith, and First Freedom, all produced for public television. Narrators for his films have included Gregory Peck, Hal Holbrook, Fess Parker, Walter Cronkite, Geoffrey Palmer, Brian Stokes Mitchell, and Ed Ames.

First Freedom is one of the more rewarding film projects he has worked on. This companion book reflects many of the images from the film and includes comments from the academic scholars featured in the film. Regarding his work on the film, Lee remarked, It has been my pleasure to work on a story that has spiritual implications in all of our lives. These founding fathers did not share a single faith, but I feel that they were directed by a divine force. Lee lives in Bountiful, Utah with his wife, Jeanine.

Mark Mabry
Is best known for Reflections of Christ the first-ever pictorial essay depicting events in the life of Jesus Christ. He holds a bachelor's degree in Russian studies and a master's degree in liberal studies with an emphasis in creative nonfiction from Arizona State University. Mark studied photography at The Brooks INstitute of Photography in Santa Barbara and currently works as creative director at The Blaze. He lives in Keller Texas with his wife, Tara, and their four children.