For the last decade, Sojourners has marked Women’s History Month by spotlighting women who embody excellence in leadership at the intersection of faith-rooted justice work. This year, our list includes women from many walks of life who fight for LGBTQ+ dignity, Black liberation and flourishing, Indigenous sovereignty, gun-violence recovery, immigrant rights, nonviolent resistance, and much more.
Their leadership is inspiring. The faith and justice movement would not exist without them. That’s why it’s important to us that we take time to acknowledge their dedication. Though their work may differ—whether as leaders, theologians, activists, teachers, scholars, garden-tenders, mothers, artists, or clergy—they have all made the choice to resist in the face of the many forces that may seek to destroy them and their movements. And Sojourners celebrates that each of these women stands in a long line of women who fought on their behalf. For them, we are deeply grateful.
We asked each of these women to share about the significance of their work today and to offer a blessing or prayer for 2026. We hope that their strength, wisdom, and courage empower you to join in the work of creating a more just and liberated world.
Rev. Nekima Levy Armstrong
Rev. Nekima Levy Armstrong is a Minneapolis-based civil rights attorney, ordained minister, and community organizer whose work bridges faith and justice. She is the founder of the Racial Justice Network, a former law professor, and past president of the Minneapolis NAACP. She is also a cofounder of the National Target Boycott and helped organize the nonviolent Cities Church Protest in St. Paul, Minn., in January of this year.
Why is the work you do so important right now? The work I do is sacred because it is rooted in the biblical call to love our neighbors, seek justice, and defend the dignity of every human being. In Minnesota, we have experienced the largest deployment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in U.S. history, while too many of our immigrant neighbors remain without meaningful protection from the courts or the legislature. In moments like these, faith demands more than prayer alone—it calls us to speak for the voiceless and to stand alongside those who are marginalized, abused, and treated as disposable by systems of power.
Will you offer us a prayer or blessing for 2026? “My prayer for 2026 is that God will raise up bold and compassionate faith leaders who refuse to be silent in the face of injustice, cruelty, unnecessary wars, and abuses of power. May we have the courage to be both shepherds and prophets—protecting the vulnerable while speaking truth to those who wield authority without righteousness. And may God guide us to become instruments of peace, justice, and restoration for all of God’s children.”
Rev. Ciera Bates-Chamberlain
Rev. Ciera Bates-Chamberlain is the founding executive director of Live Free Illinois and a faith leader working at the intersection of public safety, justice, and community healing. Born and raised on Chicago’s South Side, she organizes clergy and communities across Illinois to advance policies that address gun violence, decarceration, and equity for marginalized communities. Bates-Chamberlain is an Obama Foundation Fellow whose work has been featured in outlets including the Chicago Tribune and The New York Times.
Why is the work you do so important right now? In a time when civil and human rights are under threat, the work of organizing and prophetic witness is more critical than ever. Faith leaders and communities must stand together to challenge injustice and resist systems that perpetuate harm and inequality. This moment calls for courage, moral clarity, and collective action to confront the injustices of our time and build a society rooted in dignity and justice. We must be the counter to white Christian nationalism.
Will you offer us a prayer or blessing for 2026? “God, grant us ears to hear your voice, wisdom to know when to act, and compassion strong enough to fight for justice. Let not our tongues or prophetic voices be silenced by fear. Give us the courage to cry aloud and spare not, so that all of God’s people may live free.”
Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde
Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde has led the Episcopal Diocese of Washington since 2011. A passionate believer in the gospel of Jesus, she is proud to serve a diocese committed to spiritual maturity, mercy, and justice. Her 2023 book, How We Learn to be Brave, has been adapted for younger readers into her book We Can Be Brave (2025) and a picture book, I Can Learn to Be Brave, to be released in July 2026. In a sermon delivered in front of Donald Trump in 2025, she appealed to the newly inaugurated president to “have mercy” on immigrants and LGBTQ+ groups.
Why is the work you do so important right now? My most important work as bishop is to amplify and strengthen a Christian witness rooted in the unconditional love of God revealed to us in Jesus. Much of that work is local, with the Episcopal congregations in the Diocese of Washington. In the last two years, I have felt called to travel more, in support of Christians who are striving to follow Jesus’ way of love amidst a political climate of mean-spiritedness. At a time when the loudest Christian voices belittle empathy and advocate a dangerous alliance with the forces of authoritarianism, I feel it is essential to offer an alternative witness, honoring the dignity of every human being and engaging in public discourse with courage, for the common good.
Will you offer us a prayer or blessing for 2026? “Be of good courage; hold fast to all that is good. Be quick to love; make haste to be kind. Dare to believe that the Holy Spirit, working in you, will accomplish far more than you could ask for or imagine.”
Rev. Cassandra Gould
Rev. Cassandra Gould is a native of Demopolis, Ala., and is affectionately known as, “the Pastor in the Public Square.” She is the director of political and cultural engagement at Faith in Action National Network and is also the founder of In the Public Square. Before joining the national staff at Faith in Action in 2021, she was the executive director of Missouri Faith Voices, which was heavily involved in faith-based community organizing during the Ferguson uprising of 2014. Gould serves as an associate pastor at Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church and teaches at Eden and Memphis Theological Seminaries.
Why is the work you do so important right now? As a Black woman who is a descendant of those who survived enslavement, doing the work of justice is in my DNA. As a faith leader in the radical Black church tradition it is also a part of my ecclesiastical and social responsibility. We are living and doing ministry in an era of multiple theological and religious contradictions including a punitive empowered brigade that wields power and harm and espouses white nationalism under the guise of Christianity. Equipping people of faith to contest for power and countering those fraudulent narratives, while simultaneously building sustainable pathways to liberation, is the work of Christ and the work my soul requires.
Will you offer us a prayer or blessing for 2026?
“Dear GOD of liberation, justice, communal power and possibility,
In this time of trouble, may we lead, live, and liberate like our foremothers. May we embody the
documented courage of Sojourner, Jarena Lee, Julia Foote, Prathia Hall, and many others.
May we fight for more than our own liberation but embody the womanist communal values of
Harriett, Ella, Ida, and Fannie, who pursued justice for many.
May we allow ourselves to dream like my Grandma Johanna, born in enslavement but who
changed the game for generations to come, and the many unknown women like her who built what they had not known.
Asé and Amen”
Rev. Gerlyn Henry
Gerlyn Henry is the incumbent of the Church of Holy Wisdom in the Anglican Diocese of Toronto. She creates content on social media, bridging the intersection of parish life and political life. She has over 400,000 followers across Instagram and TikTok.
Why is the work you do so important right now? At its heart, my work as a parish priest and a public theologian on social media insists that the church and God can still be places where community, truth, and collective liberation meet. While that is normal for some, for others that stands profoundly in contrast with what they know to be “faith.” By centering justice, solidarity, and the experience of people who are at the margins of power, my niche intersection of digital and parish ministry offers a voice of welcome to millions of people every month online and hundreds in person. Those numbers astound me and point to a people yearning to live out and belong to a faith that actually has something meaningful to say in this world.
Will you offer us a prayer or blessing for 2026? “Gracious and living God, break open what has hardened in us and awaken what has grown callous, that we may see one another again as neighbors and kin. When false gospels of power and exclusion rise, root us in your truth and make us a people who hunger for justice, embody beloved community, and widen your table without fear. Draw us into the holy work of liberation, that we might walk alongside those who seek freedom and refuse every crown or occupation that denies their dignity. Give us courage to hear your voice in dissent, receive the prophets in our midst, and be unsettled where we have grown too comfortable. Send us by your Spirit to live as witnesses to your love: unafraid, unbound, and faithful. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.”
Ciarra Jones
Ciarra Jones is a writer, speaker, and public theologian known online as The Gardening Theologian. Blending theology, storytelling, and the wisdom of the natural world, she helps people untangle inherited beliefs and cultivate faith that’s rooted, liberated, and alive. Through her speaking and writing, Jones invites communities to explore how tending soil can mirror tending spirit—shedding systems of control, embracing new growth, and nurturing collective healing. A graduate of Harvard Divinity School, she weaves theological insight with practical wisdom to help people reimagine faith for our changing world. Jones has over 140,000 followers across Instagram and TikTok and is signed to Levine Greenberg Rostan Literary Agency.
Why is the work you do so important right now? Right now, many people are being told they must choose between their faith and their dignity and belonging—but I believe those things were never meant to be in conflict. My work helps individuals and institutions imagine spiritual and social worlds where people can flourish without shrinking themselves. Whether in churches, workplaces, or classrooms, I help communities learn how to tend one another with care instead of control. In a moment shaped by fear and division, practices of collective flourishing are not optional—they are sacred work.
Will you offer us a prayer or blessing for 2026? “May we learn from the wisdom of gardens in the year ahead: to trust slow growth, to remember transformation takes time (both personal and societal) to release what no longer nourishes life, and to make room for what is trying to emerge. May we remember that healthy soil comes from both the beautiful and hard experiences of our lives. Even grief can be composted and give life to new powerful visions of the future. May we become people who tend one another gently and courageously, believing that liberation—like spring—returns again and again.”
Libby Kercher
Libby Kercher is an illustrator and designer from the Philadelphia area whose artistic practice engages with themes of theology, religious history, and queer identity. Drawing from lived experience as a gender nonconforming, queer Catholic, Kercher investigates the complex relationship between faith, community, and identity within and beyond the Church. Kercher is an active member of DignityUSA, an organization advocating for LGBTQ+ justice and inclusion in the Catholic Church and society. She also participated in the inaugural LGBTQ+ Jubilee Pilgrimage to the Vatican in September 2025.
Why is the work you do so important right now? In this moment, Christianity’s imagery is too often weaponized and twisted into propaganda and perpetuates harm. I believe it’s vital to reclaim the visual language of faith from being weaponized for exclusion and violence. This takes away a weapon in the arsenal of Christian nationalism. Through my art, I want people—especially LGBTQ+ individuals wounded by the church—to feel seen, loved, and accompanied by God. Because they are. Art has the power to make the divine visible, and I hope mine reveals a Trinity that is steadfast, loving, and present for us at the margins.
Will you offer us a prayer or blessing for 2026? “O God, be with us. With us in our pain and joy, when we are cast out and when we are gathered in. Prince of Peace and Justice, listen to your people as we listen to you. Reveal to us courage and compassion through ourselves and through others, that the unseen may be revealed and the unheard may find a voice. Amen.”
A’Dorian Murray-Thomas
Born and raised in Newark, N.J., A’Dorian Murray-Thomas serves as vice president of the Essex County Board of Commissioners, where she leads efforts to expand economic opportunity, deepen youth engagement, and strengthen community resources. Committed to faith-rooted public service, Murray-Thomas made history as the youngest woman elected to both the Newark Board of Education and the Essex County Board of Commissioners. She is the founder & CEO of SHE Wins Inc., a mentoring organization for girls impacted by gun violence. Under the leadership of Rev. Timothy Adkins-Jones of Bethany Baptist Church, Murray-Thomas was ordained as a minister in September 2025, and she currently serves in her church’s youth and young adult ministries. She holds a master of divinity from Union Theological Seminary and is currently pursuing further study at Princeton Theological Seminary.
Why is the work you do so important right now? We are living in a moment that demands both spiritual conviction and public courage. I was raised by Christ-centered women who taught me that our life gains meaning by how we show up for others. I strive to make good on that responsibility, working daily to help free myself and those around me from systems that profit off our pain, division, and despair by working collectively on initiatives contributing to community flourishing. At the intersection of faith and public service, I am called not only to imagine a more just world, but to help build it—day by day, step by step.
Will you offer us a prayer or blessing for 2026? “Spirit of the living God, we feel you moving in this place. In the names of Harriet, Ella, Dolores, Shirley, Fannie, Sojourner, Jarena, and the many women who have carried us this far, we call on you: Break every weapon formed against us and against the work of justice. In a world that often chooses war over fair wages, chaos over community, and fear over faith, we turn to you for divine guidance as we confront the fierce urgency of now. Heal what is broken within and around us; strengthen us to walk boldly in our work and witness, faithful to our divine and ancestral call to the work of liberation. In Jesus’ mighty name we pray. May it be so. Asé and Amen.”
Bishop Paneeraq Siegstad Munk
Bishop Paneeraq Hansine Judithe Karen Siegstad Munk has been the head of the Greenlandic People’s Church (the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Greenland) since 2020, which is home to over 90% of Greenland’s majority-Inuit population. She was born and raised in the traditional Inuit culture of Greenland, and she fights for the sovereignty of Inuit people in their churches through reconciliation between Christianity and traditional Inuit culture, language, and spirituality. She earned her bachelor’s in theology from the University of Greenland in Nuuk and a master’s in theology from the University of Copenhagen, is married with two children, and is a knight of the order of the Dannebrog. Bishop Munk was a vocal opponent against the Trump administration’s renewed threats to annex Greenland in January 2026.
Why is the work you do so important right now? Theological guidance and the work to uphold and strengthen Greenlandic values are something I think are important. As a spiritual leader, I feel I have the responsibility to participate in debates, to intermediate, and work against polarizations. I also think that we as Christians have the responsibility to tell people that we in Greenland have long traditions of respecting the views of indigenous people. In the spirit of our shared culture with the Danish church, there is room for Christianity to accommodate both.
Will you offer us a prayer or blessing for 2026? “I pray that we as brothers and sisters in Christ make room for each other’s differences. Respecting each other’s cultures and our work for nonviolent interaction on the basis of existing international laws must continue to develop. Among others, the support and backing of the United Nations is very important. Because it’s one of the places where we can meet and settle differences. We must not repeat mistakes of earlier wars and use force to suppress other people’s fundamental rights to live.”
Maria J. Stephan
Maria J. Stephan co-leads the Horizons Project and is a member of the Freedom Trainers. She has studied and worked with movements around the world and is the author and editor of five books, including the co-written, award-winning Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict. She advises the Catholic Institute for Nonviolence and serves on the board of Faith in Action, and her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, Foreign Affairs, Just Security, Foreign Policy, and Waging Nonviolence. Stephan was recently a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, where she spoke about the role of faith communities in the fight against ICE and authoritarianism.
Why is the work you do so important right now? My work with the Horizons Project is focused on supporting a broad democratic front with faith groups, unions, businesses, veterans, youth groups, artists, and civic associations from across sectors and political ideologies as the strongest antidote to rising authoritarianism. With the Freedom Trainers, we are training a critical mass of Americans in the skills and strategies of nonviolent action and noncooperation to disrupt injustices and build beloved community. We believe that coming together in all our beautiful diversity to block harms, bridge divides, and build alternatives rooted in joy, human dignity, and the common good is possible and necessary.
Will you offer us a prayer or blessing for 2026? “Lord, grant us the strength, courage, and clarity of purpose to confront with the power of love and methods of nonviolent action those who abuse their power and harm our communities. Give us the energy to pray with our feet and offer hope to the weary. May our resistance be restorative and may we have the imagination and determination to build a more just and peaceful society and world.”
To see who we’ve included in past years, check out the links below.
● 12 Christian Women Shaping the Church in 2025
● 9 Christian Woman Shaping the Church in 2024
● 8 Christian Women Shaping the Church in 2023
● 10 Christian Women Shaping the Church in 2022
● 11 Christian Women Shaping the Church in 2021
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