George M. Williams is a retired historian of religions, having spent a lifetime studying religions that liberate. He has written and made videos about the Hindu Renaissance, religion in modern Japan, and religion in Hawaii. This interest has been furthered in the International Association for Religious Freedom and has led to two honorary doctorates: in May 1994 Starr King School for the Ministry awarded Prof. Williams with the Litterarum Humanarum Doctor and in October, 1996, Williams was presented the award of Doctor Honoris Causa from the United Protestant Theological School of Cluj [Kolozsvar], Romania. A specialist on Svâmî Vivekânanda and the Hindu Renaissance, Williams helped found the section on Hinduism in the American Academy of Religion. He also served on the Electronic Publishing Committee of the academy and was its projects director for a number of years. In both 1997 and 1998 Williams held the Shree Muherjee Chair at National Institute of Advanced Studies, National Science Campus, Bangalore. While there he worked on projects involving preservation, digital archiving, translation and preparation for a comprehensive database of the Bhagavad Gita and other sacred texts. In 1998 he held workshops for archivists and librarians from all over India on use of the internet for research and publication, CD ROM publication, and digital archiving. In 2001 Williams completed a two year project: the digitizing and archiving of the works of Raja Rammohan Roy, the great reformer of Hinduism and the founder of the Brahmo Samaj. His goal is to finish a number of books and videos that will advance the notions of liberating spirituality. He currently lives in Hawaii and is hanai-ed (adopted as a Hawaiian) and a kupuna (elder) of Kanenuiakea, the thousand year old indigenous Hawaiian faith that is a member of IARF.

He has been working for the Free Religious Congregation in Offenbach am Main, near Frankfurt, Germany since 2014. He studied Linguistics, Psychology, Cultural Studies and History and focused on religious content in these disciplines. In 2016 he was elected minister of his congregation in Offenbach and strengthened his connections with the IARF by visiting the World Congress 2014 in Birmingham. In 2018 he became the chair of the IARF group for Europe and the Middle East and the vice chair of the German Chapter of IARF. His congregation is rooted in a tradition of working with and for the IARF because the Rev. Diether Gehrmann, who was reverend in Offenbach from 1958 till 1967, and after that was a Unitarian minister in the USA, was the first full time General Secretary of the IARF and served the Association from 1972-1990.

Lukasz (Luke) Liniewicz serves as the Executive Secretary at the International Association for Religious Freedom (IARF). Born in Poland and now based in the Netherlands, he is an active member of IARF's Dutch Chapter and the Europe and Middle East region. Lukasz holds a Master of Laws specialized in European Union Law, with a particular focus on the foundational ideas, values, and virtues of the EU legal order. His background combines law with philosophy, language, and translation, driven by a passion for interdisciplinary studies, spirituality, and religious studies. A self-described European of conviction, Lukasz integrates a liberal concept of personal freedom with a leftist passion for social justice and maintains a keen interest in human rights theory at the intersection of law and philosophy. He is involved in all aspects of IARF's work.

Lukasz (Luke) Liniewicz serves as the Executive Secretary at the International Association for Religious Freedom (IARF). Born in Poland and now based in the Netherlands, he is an active member of IARF's Dutch Chapter and the Europe and Middle East region. Lukasz holds a Master of Laws specialized in European Union Law, with a particular focus on the foundational ideas, values, and virtues of the EU legal order. His background combines law with philosophy, language, and translation, driven by a passion for interdisciplinary studies, spirituality, and religious studies. A self-described European of conviction, Lukasz integrates a liberal concept of personal freedom with a leftist passion for social justice and maintains a keen interest in human rights theory at the intersection of law and philosophy. He is involved in all aspects of IARF's work.

As part of the Organ Blast series of events celebrating the 180th anniversary of the Frei-religiöse Gemeinde Offenbach am Main, we welcome one of the world's best jazz organists. Born in Munich, Barbara Dennerlein is one of the few German artists with an international reputation. Her reputation is based on her own brilliant compositions and perfect, virtuoso playing technique with which she creates extraordinary sound collages. She has a unique ability to place her favorite instrument, the Hammond B3 organ - but also the classical church organ - in the context of contemporary, current jazz music. Musically, there are no rigid boundaries for Barbara Dennerlein, but always flowing transitions. She manages to combine influences from swing and bebop, blues, soul, Latin and funk with both traditional and modern jazz. "For me, jazz," confesses Barbara Dennerlein, "is synonymous with freedom. Freedom from prejudice and discrimination, freedom from constraint and convention".