[2] The journal's current editorial board members include:[3][4] Managing editor Co-Editors Special content editor The journal was founded by the Council on Religion and Law (CORAL) in 1982 and Hamline University School of Law provided the first editorial home for the journal.

Young are credited with spearheading and strongly supporting the creation of JLR.

[5][6][7] JLR's inaugural general editors were Michael Scherschligt and Wilson Yates, and the editorial board included prominent scholars who would shape the emerging field of law and religion such as Douglas Sturm, Harold J. Berman, Edward Gaffney, Robin Lovin, and Thomas Porter.

[6] In 2013, the journal moved to the Center for the Study of Law and Religion, based in Emory University's School of Law, where it continues to be edited and published in collaboration with the Cambridge University Press.

[9] In 2021, to better fulfill its mission of publishing "cutting-edge interdisciplinary, interreligious, and international research on critical issues of law and religion,"[10] the journal added eleven new co-editors (see Editorial Board) with diverse disciplinary backgrounds and research interests from institutions in the United States, Europe, Africa, and Asia.