"Never in my life has my very faith been called into question like this."
That's what young evangelical writer Jonathan Merritt told me this week. His statement followed a media firestorm, ignited when both he and Kirsten Powers weighed in on proposed laws in Kansas and Arizona that would have allowed business owners to deny service to gay couples, based on conservative religious beliefs about homosexuality. Merritt and Powers each suggested that justifying legal discrimination against gay and lesbian couples might not be the best form of Christian outreach and raised consistency issues of whether discrimination would also be applied to other less than "biblical" marriages, or if just gays and lesbians were being singled out.
Source: Huffington Post | Jim Wallis| February 28, 2014
Source: US Catholic | Meinrad Scherer-Emunds| February 28, 2014
I’m not sure whether this set-up as the anti-Francis was deliberate, but to me the contrast was striking indeed. Over at Sojourners, the Rev. Greg Coates also noticed “The Anti(Gospel) of Francis Underwood”: “I was left in awe at the show’s brutal honesty of what a life purely committed to power potentially looks like.” In the end, Coats says, the show poses a crucial question to us viewers: “Will you follow the way of violent power or will you follow the way of self-sacrificial love? Will you trample over others or will you empty yourself, taking the very nature of a servant? In short, will you choose the way of Francis Underwood or the way of Jesus Christ?”
Given Pope Francis’ theme of mercy and the anti-Francis’ theme of “ruthless pragmatism,” I don’t think it would be too much of a stretch to rephrase that last sentence: “Will you choose the way of Francis Underwood or the way or Pope Francis?”
Source: Dallas.com| February 27, 2014
Heritage Auctions will present Catherine Cuellar as the guest lecturer for Culture, Community, & Commerce: A View Inside the Dallas Arts District. Cuellar serves as executive director of the Dallas Arts District, the largest contiguous urban cultural neighborhood in the United States and world headquarters of the Global Cultural Districts Network. For two decades she has worked as an award-winning multimedia journalist for national public radio stations and programs, Sojourners magazine and The Dallas Morning News, among others.
Source: Christian Post | Napp Nazworth| February 27, 2014
The letter is signed by 11 Catholic leaders and eight evangelical leaders, including, Stephan Bauman, president and CEO of World Relief, Eusebio Elizondo, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Migration, Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, Jim Wallis, president and founder of Sojourners, and Thomas Wenski,
Source: Catholic News Service| February 27, 2014
Rev. Wallis said the unified voice shows that the Christian community is united in believing "immigration reform should not be a victim of our dysfunctional politics. In an era defined by partisanship, immigration reform should be the great exception, the great exemption, to politics as usual."
Source: NBC News | Suzanne Gamboa| February 26, 2014
“Even if we have different political sensibilities, we are united around this cause,” said Jim Wallis, president of Sojourners and a leader of the Evangelical Immigration Table.
Source: California-Pacific United Methodist Church| February 26, 2014
With twin “Fast For Families” buses as their backdrop and news media cameras in front of them, the crowd was represented by a lineup of speakers which included Lisa Sharon Harper (Sojourners), Dae Joong “DJ” Yoon (NAKASEC), Congresswoman Judy Chu, and Eliseo Medina who spoke of comprehensive immigration reform as a pressing issue of the present.
Source: The Salt Lake Tribune | Peggy Flatcher Stack| February 26, 2014
The Rev. John C. Wester, bishop of the Salt Lake City Diocese, signed on to the ecumenical appeal with other notable faith leaders, including Leith Anderson, president of the National Association of Evangelicals; Jim Wallis, president and founder of the Sojourners social-justice group; and leading Catholic churchmen from Brooklyn, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Atlanta and Washington, D.C.
Source: California-Pacific United Methodist Church| February 26, 2014
With twin “Fast For Families” buses as their backdrop and news media cameras in front of them, the crowd was represented by a lineup of speakers which included Lisa Sharon Harper (Sojourners), Dae Joong “DJ” Yoon (NAKASEC), Congresswoman Judy Chu, and Eliseo Medina who spoke of comprehensive immigration reform as a pressing issue of the present.
Source: Musings of a Discerning Woman | Susan Rose Francois| February 26, 2014
I'm taking a course this semester on Spirituality and Leadership. The course has just started but we've already heard a wonderful variety of voices. This week, our readings include an article by Lisa Sharon Harper, the director of mobilizing for Sojourners. I heard her speak a few years ago at an Interfaith Immigration breakfast in Seattle and was deeply inspired by her commitment to a lived faith that does justice. I just finished reading her chapter, "Singing the Creator's Song in a Strange Land," in the book Learning to Lead: Lessons in Leadership for People of Faith. I am challenged and inspired by this quote, which I in turn share with you in the latest installment of Theology Quotes on the blog.
Source: Patheos | Tony Jones| February 25, 2014
My friend Jonathan Merritt and Kirsten Powers co-penned a piece on the Daily Beast titled, “Conservative Christians Selectively Apply Biblical Teachings in the Same-Sex Marriage Debate.” Their essay, written in opposition to the Arizona legislation allowing companies to refuse service to same-sex couples on religious grounds, is fair and even-handed. In fact, if anything, it’s too safe.
Source: Anderson University| February 25, 2014
Peace and Conflict Transformation (PACT) at Anderson University welcomes Lisa Sharon Harper to campus on Thursday, Feb. 27. Harper is an author, activist, educator, and senior director of mobilizing for Sojourners.
Source: ENews Park Forest| February 24, 2014
“I can think of no better way to stand in solidarity with Jesus during this Lenten season than to stand with immigrant families, said Sojourner’s Senior Director of Mobilizing Lisa Sharon Harper. “Now is the time for common sense immigration reform. Now is the time for Congress to do right by 11 million of the most vulnerable people in our land. This is why we fast.”
Source: The Los Angeles Daily News | Christina Villacorte| February 24, 2014
“I can think of no better way to stand in solidarity with Jesus during Lent than to stand in solidarity with immigrant families,” said Lisa Sharon Harper, senior mobilizing director for the Christian organization Sojourners.
Source: Christian Post | Anugrah Kumar| February 23, 2014
Speakers at the conference included Dr. Bernice King, a Baptist minister and CEO of The King Center; Rich Stearns, president of the non-profit humanitarian group World Vision U.S.; Jim Wallis, president and founder of Sojourners; Rev. Gabriel Salguero, president of National Latino Evangelical Coalition; and Lynne Hybels, founder of Willow Creek Community Church.
Source: The American Conservative | Rod Dreher| February 22, 2014
“Not all liberal churches are MTD,” says a reader, who sent me this article from the leftie Christian site Sojourners, in which writer Stephen Mattson lists “7 Things Churches No Longer Do, But Should.” Excerpt:
Source: Christian Post | Morgan Lee| February 21, 2014
Jim Wallis, who is president of the left-leaning Christian social justice advocacy group Sojourners, said that the African American community should not be the only voice criticizing the Dunn's trial and Florida's Stand Your Ground law.
Source: Daily Kos | Greg Dworkin| February 20, 2014
And today, evangelical writer Jim Wallis makes that moral case by painting a vivid picture of the dilemma the country currently faces.
Source: Christianity Today | John Wilson| February 20, 2014
This very helpful book grew out of a nine-month conversation among six politically diverse Christians at Respectful Conversation.net. The convener, Heie, summarizes it here, taking up in turn a series of contentious issues ranging from immigration, gun control, and abortion to a variety of foreign policy questions, noting where there is common ground and where there are sharp differences. The six participants—Amy E. Black, Paul Brink, David P. Gushee, Lisa Sharon Harper, Stephen V. Monsma, and Eric Teetsel—model the overarching commitment to "respectful conversation" even as they disagree.
Source: US Catholic | Scott Alessi| February 20, 2014
And as Jim Wallis of Soujourners writes, “Not only do Stand Your Ground laws institutionally legitimize racism by mostly white men carried out against mostly black men, instead of reconciliation and peace, gun violence and racial fears are allowed to win the day.