The online editorial staff comprises Betsy Shirley, Jenna Barnett, Josiah R. Daniels, Mitchell Atencio, Heather Brady, Kierra Bennning, and Zachary Lee.

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God's Summer Playlist

by the Web Editors 07-21-2023

Photo by Namroud Gorguis via Unsplash.

Shortly after former president Barack Obama released his annual summer playlist, this missive showed up at the Sojourners office emblazoned on stone tablets. We're publishing it here in full.

Our Articles Just Won Awards

by the Web Editors 05-13-2022

PA Images via Reuters Connect

We are grateful to work with so many gifted writers, reporters, and illustrators, and we want to take this opportunity to toot our collective horn. Take a moment to read some of our award-winning stories from 2021.

Letters: What We Didn't Learn About Black History

by the Web Editors 03-02-2022

Visitors admiring art at the William Benton Museum of Art on the campus of the University of Connecticut. Photo: Raymond Deleon / Alamy.

In a recent opinion short, Sojourners multimedia producer Jayne Marie Smith explored the spiritual implications of the missing education and miseducation about Black Americans in the U.S. education system. Smith asked viewers to add what they learned — or didn’t learn — about the history of Black people in the U.S. 

2021’s Faith and Justice Stories in Photos

by the Web Editors 12-29-2021

People react after the verdict in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, found guilty of the death of George Floyd, at George Floyd Square in Minneapolis, Minn. on April 20, 2021. REUTERS/Adrees Latif

A collection of photos that defined 2021.

Pence Quotes Scripture in Letter Refusing to Invoke 25th Amendment

by the Web Editors 01-12-2021

Vice President Mike Pence finishes a swearing-in ceremony for senators at the Capitol. Jan. 3, 2021. J. Scott Applewhite/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

Vice President Mike Pence said in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday he is opposed to invoking the 25th Amendment to remove President Donald Trump from office. In the letter, Pence quotes from Ecclesiastes.

Read Senator-elect Raphael Warnock's Election Night Remarks

by the Web Editors 01-06-2021

Raphael Warnock speaks on his campaign's Youtube account after the runoff election against Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler in Atlanta. Jan. 6, 2021. Warnock for Georgia/Social Media via REUTERS.

Editor’s Note: Rev. Dr. Raphael Warnock defeated Republican incumbent Sen. Kelly Loeffler in one of two Georgia runoff elections Tuesday. Below is the transcript of Warnock’s speech delivered early Wednesday morning.

The Biggest Faith and Justice Stories of 2020

by the Web Editors 12-22-2020

Ballerinas Kennedy George, 14, and Ava Holloway, 14, pose in front of a monument of Confederate general Robert E. Lee after Virginia Governor Ralph Northam ordered its removal in Richmond, Va., June 5, 2020. REUTERS/Julia Rendleman/File Photo

Most years are a give and take, but 2020 lost its balance. It mainly took lives and gave news. Every justice story had a faith angle and every faith story had a justice angle. When the editors of Sojourners look back on this historical year, these four faith and justice stories will loom the largest.

U.S. Judge in Texas Denies Republican Bid to Throw Out 127,000 Votes

by the Web Editors 11-02-2020

Pearl Wright and her granddaughter, Kayin Coward, 11, chant "count every vote" outside the federal courthouse in Houston, Nov. 2, 2020. REUTERS/Julio Cesar-Chavez

"It shouldn't be hard to vote in America in 2020, even with a pandemic."

‘Really Insufficient’: No Officers Indicted in Killing of Breonna Taylor

by the Web Editors 09-23-2020
Faith leaders react to grand jury decision.

People in Louisville, Ky., react after a decision in the criminal case against police officers involved in the death of Breonna Taylor. REUTERS/Bryan Woolston

“The Grand Jury determined that there is no evidence to support a criminal violation of state law caused Ms. Taylor’s death,” said Attorney General Daniel Cameron.

‘Spiritual’ People Are More Likely to Vote, Study Finds

by the Web Editors 09-22-2020

Photo: Kari Sullivan / Unsplash

Pamela Ebstyne King believes that “[t]hrough spirituality, people potentially have access to prosocial ideals and beliefs, a community to support them, and a source of transcendence that motivates behaviors aligned with their spiritual ideals.”

U.S. Surpasses 200,000 COVID-19 Deaths

by the Web Editors 09-22-2020

A nurse wipes away tears as she stands outside NYU Langone Medical Center on 1st Avenue in Manhattan as New York police came to cheer and thank healthcare workers in New York City, April 16, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Segar TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY/File Photo

The United States hit another grim milestone Tuesday as the death toll from the spread of the coronavirus exceeded 200,000, by far the highest number of any nation. The United States, on a weekly average, is now losing about 800 lives each day to the virus, according to a Reuters tally. 

1 in 10 U.S. Young Adults Believe Jewish People Caused the Holocaust

by the Web Editors 09-16-2020

Shoes stolen by Germans from Jewish children arriving at the Auschwitz concentration camp. Photo: William Warby / Unsplash

However, overall respondents conveyed a desire for compulsory education of this horrific time in history, with 64 percent of American millennials and Gen Zers expressing that Holocaust education should be compulsory in school.

Weekly Wrap 9.4.20: The 10 Best Stories You Missed This Week

by the Web Editors 09-04-2020

The roots of Midwest protests, remembering Chadwick Boseman, Bob Ross's hometown, and more.

Weekly Wrap 8.28.20: The 10 Best Stories You Missed This Week

by the Web Editors 08-28-2020

Ongoing lament and protest again police brutality, the problem with chairs, and why 2020 is the most consequential election for Black Americans since 1868.

Weekly Wrap 8.21.20: The 10 Best Stories You Missed This Week

by the Web Editors 08-21-2020

More postal service frustration, how evictions threaten the vote, Little Free Libraries in COVID, and more.

Weekly Wrap 8.14.20: The 10 Best Stories You Missed This Week

by the Web Editors 08-14-2020

The U.S. postal service, brick-powered homes, Noah’s Ark, Indigenous self-determination, and more

Weekly Wrap 8.7.20: The 10 Best Stories You Missed This Week

by the Web Editors 08-07-2020

Religious freedom, the Black freedom struggle, Mike Pence’s anti-abortion message, and more.

Weekly Wrap 7.31.20 The 10 Best Stories You Missed This Week

by the Web Editors 07-31-2020

America’s addiction to whiteness, John Lewis, Trump’s election rhetoric, and more.

Weekly Wrap 7.24.20: The 10 Best Stories You Missed This Week

by the Web Editors 07-24-2020

An ‘eviction apocalypse’ is looming, a Portland reporter offers an inside look at covering the protests, and the drummer of Nirvana has thoughts on the plans to reopen schools.

Faith Leaders and Activists Honor John Lewis’ Life of ‘Good Trouble’

by the Web Editors 07-18-2020

Congressman John Lewis addresses supporters of Democrat Jon Ossoff as they wait for the poll numbers to come in for Georgia's 6th Congressional District special election in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., June 20, 2017. REUTERS/Chris Aluka Berry

Civil rights leader and long-time member of the U.S. House of Representatives John Lewis died on Friday at age 80 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.