The Red Letter Christians are a network of effective, progressive, Christian communicators urging an open, honest and public dialogue on issues of faith and politics. We believe and seek to put in to action the red letter words in the Holy Bible spoken by Jesus. The goal of the group is to advance the message that our faith cannot be reduced to only two hot button social issues - abortion and homosexuality. Fighting poverty, caring for the environment, advancing peace, promoting strong families, and supporting a consistent ethic of life are all critical moral and biblical values.
What We Are Doing
Across the nation, the thirst for biblical truth and justice is creating a movement of progressive ideas and voices. The Red Letter Christians, with their distinguishable faith backgrounds and biblical knowledge, are speaking out and leading this movement. Through their writing, visits to college campuses, sermons in churches, and media coverage, their Christian perspectives of compassion and justice are being heard by an ever-growing audience.
Why We Are Speaking Out
For decades, leaders of the Religious Right have attempted to convince Christians and the American public that people of faith and strong moral values have only one option when it comes to voting. This narrow view continues to overshadow the majority of Christians in America whose faith motivates them to care deeply about a range of ethics and values. Our nation is hungry for an open dialogue on moral values and its role in the public square. God is not a Republican or a Democrat, and candidates should be measured by examining an array of social and economic issues.
Red letter Christians challenge religious right to a broader, deeper dialogue on faith in America
9-19-2006
The Red Letter Christians, a newly formed group of progressive religious leaders, launched its Voting Our Values campaign with Sojourners at the National Press Club yesterday. The Red Letter Christians, who are a mix of evangelical, mainline Protestant, and Catholic leaders, speak in a diverse chorus of voices on the importance of a broader and deeper national conversation on faith and politics. »read more
Religious left to reclaim its faith
by Julia Duin Washington Times 9-19-2006
A new group representing values voters on the religious left castigated the religious right yesterday, announcing plans to counter conservatives with a series of candidate fairs, voters guides and Web logs. »read more
Group asks: What did Jesus say?
By Frank James Chicago Tribune 9-19-2006
I went to a press conference yesterday and a church service broke out. The press conference at the National Press Club was held by the new Red Letter Christians network, Christian communicators who say they want to change how Christians influence the national public policy debate. The Religious Right, with its focus on a narrow set of issues like abortion and gay rights, has dominated the public arena for too long, says the RLC. »read more
Liberal Evangelicals Begin Campaign
by Phillip Elliott Associated Press 9-18-2006
Liberal evangelicals, weary of a Republican-centric image, launched a campaign Monday to promote Christian values beyond the issues of abortion and same-sex marriage. Red Letter Christians, a project of Sojurners/Call to Renewal, announced plans to establish a grass-roots network of 7,000 moderate and progressive clergy members. »read more
Red Letter Christian Bios
• Randall Balmer
• Professor of Religion at Columbia University, Barnard College
• New York, NY
Randall Balmer has been teaching at Columbia since earning a Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1985. A specialist in American religious history, he has been a visiting professor at Rutgers, Yale, Princeton, Drew, and Northwestern universities and at Union Theological Seminary, where he is an adjunct professor of church history. His commentaries on religion in America have appeared in newspapers across the country and he has hosted three documentaries for PBS, one of which earned him an Emmy nomination.
Area of Expertise:
• Church history
• American religious culture
• Evangelical theological history and culture
• David Batstone
• Senior Editor of Worthwhile magazine
• San Francisco, CA
In addition to serving as and editor for Worthwhile and editor-at-large for Sojourners David Batstone has been a contributor to The New York Times, Wired, The Chicago Tribune, Spin, and The San Francisco Chronicle. Gifted as an entrepreneur, Batstone has played an executive role in a niche investment bank operating internationally in the entertainment and technology industries. During the 1980s, he founded and directed a nongovernmental agency dedicated to economic development and human rights in Latin America.
Areas of Expertise:
• Modern-day abolitionist work against slavery
• Technology and ethics
• Economic development
• Human rights
• Role of faith in politics
Recent Interviews and Publications:
• "Does the Christian Coalition Have a Prayer in 2008 Campaign?"The Associated Press via International Herald Tribune, 3/07/07
• The Wall Street Journal 1/31/05
• LightWorks - KRON San Francisco A half hour television interview with David Batstone
• KQED Forum/NPR (Radio interview with former SEC Chairman Arthur Leavitt)
• CBS Marketwatch [right-click and save to your computer. requires RealPlayer] 4/15/03
• Diana Butler Bass
• Senior Research Fellow and Director of the Project on Congregations of Intentional Practice
• Alexandria, Virginia
Diana Butler Bass holds a Ph.D. in American religious history from Duke University and is the author of four critically acclaimed books. From 2002-06, she directed the Project on Congregations of Intentional Practice, a Lilly Endowment-funded study of mainline Protestant vitality – a project featured on Belief.net and in The Los Angeles Times. She is adjunct faculty in church and society at the Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Va. In the 1990s, she was a columnist for the New York Times Syndicate and currently writes columns for Religion News Service. Her most recent book is Christianity for the Rest of Us (HarperSanFrancisco).
Area of Expertise: • Religion and politics
• Church history
• Congregational studies
• American religion
• Mainline and liberal Protestantism
Recent Interviews and Publications:
• "As Downtown is Reborn, So Are Its Churches,"OrlandoSentinel, 3/18/07
• The Practicing Congregation: Imagining a New Old Church (Alban)
• Broken We Kneel: Reflections on Faith and Citizenship (Jossey-Bass)
• Strength for the Journey: A Pilgrimage of Faith in Community (Jossey-Bass)
• Standing Against the Whirlwind: Evangelical Episcopalians in 19th Century America (Oxford University Press) won the Frank S. & Elizabeth D. Brewer Prize of American Society of Church History
• U.S. News & World Report: Interview with Diana Butler Bass • Religion and Ethics Newsweekly: Interview with Diana Butler Bass
• Michael Battle
• Vice President, Associate Dean of Academic Studies, and Associate Professor of Theology at Virginia Theological Seminary
• Alexandria, Virginia
Michael Battle is a seminary professor, priest, administrator, writer, speaker, and retreat leader. His ministry focuses on Christian nonviolence, human spirituality, and African Church studies. Battle lived in residence with Archbishop Desmond Tutu in South Africa for two years, 1993-94, and was ordained a priest in South Africa by Tutu in 1993. He has written several books out of his studies and friendship with Tutu.
Area of Expertise:
• Spirituality and asceticism
• Studies in nonviolence, Black church studies, and African theology
• Theology and film
• Theologies of liberation
Dr. Tony Campolo is a popular speaker, the author of 34 books, and a media commentator on religious, social, and political matters on television programs such as Nightline, Crossfire, The Charlie Rose Show, and CNN News. He co-hosted his own television series, Hashing It Out, on the Odyssey Network, and presently hosts From Across The Pond, a weekly program on the Premier Radio Network in England. He is currently recognized as an associate pastor of Mount Carmel Baptist Church in West Philadelphia.
Area of Expertise:
• Adult and child literacy
• Missions
• Urban youth ministry
• Evangelism and social justice
Recent Interviews and Publications: • "War Causing Split Among Evangelicals," The Washington Post, 3/24/07
• Letters to a Young Evangelical (Basic Books—to be released November 2006)
• Speaking My Mind (W Publishing)
• Which Jesus? (W Publishing)
• The Church Enslaved, co-written with Michael Battle (Augsburg)
• Let Me Tell You a Story: Life Lessons From Unexpected Places and Unlikely People (W Publishing)
• The Survival Guide for Christians on Campus, co-authored by Will Willimon (Howard)
• Noel Castellanos
• Director, Christian Community Development Association Institute
• Chicago, IL
Noel Castellanos has served in full-time ministry in the Latino community since 1982 and has participated in youth ministry, church planting and community development in San Francisco, San Jose, and Chicago, where he was founding pastor of La Villita Community Church. He is a highly sought-after speaker, motivator, and mentor. He serves on the boards of the Christian Community Development Association—one of the largest national associations of faith-based organizations—and the John Perkins Foundation. Currently, Castellanos is the director of the CCDA Institute in Chicago.
Area of Expertise:
• Youth ministry
• Church planting
• Community development
• Shane Claiborne
• Founder of The Simple Way
• Philadelphia, PA
Shane Claiborne is a founding partner of The Simple Way Community, a radical faith community that lives among and serves the homeless in Kensington, North Philadelphia. He also serves on the board of directors for the Christian Community Development Association, and is the author of The Irresistible Revolution (Zondervan).
Speaking Topics:
• Peacemaking and reconciliation
• Evangelism and evangelicalism
• Intentional Christian community
• Theological pranks and prophetic stunts (creative protest)
• Ecclesiology, global missions, and vocation
• Chap Clark
• Professor of Youth, Family, and Culture at Fuller Theological Seminary
• Gig Harbor, Washington
Chap Clark is an associate professor at Fuller Theological Seminary, where he has taught for the past 10 years. An author of 18 books, including Hurt: Inside the World of Today’s Teenagers and the forthcoming Deep Social Justice, he is a leading specialist in how society affects adolescent development and family relationships. Clark is president of ParenTeen™ Ministries and senior editor of Youthworker Journal. He has a background working with Hollywood and other media institutions, and a particular interest in the cultural impact of Americans’ loyalty to sports as a national diversion.
Area of Expertise:
• Adolescent development, culture, and ministry
• Marriage and family
• Cultural influence, especially Hollywood, music and sports
• Rev. Robert Michael Franklin Jr. • Professor of Social Ethics at Emory University and President of the Regional Council of Churches of Atlanta
• Atlanta, GA
Robert Michael Franklin Jr. is the presidential distinguished professor of social ethics at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University and former president of the Interdenominational Theological Center. He is currently president of the Regional Council of Churches of Atlanta, a scholar-preacher, educator, and former foundation executive, and provides commentary for “All Things Considered,” a National Public Radio program. Rev. Franklin is also the author of Another Day’s Journey: Black Churches Confronting the American Crisis and is in the process of completing a book, Crisis in the Village, which addresses the declining situation of families, churches, schools, and nonprofit organizations in African-American communities. He is an ordained minister, husband, and father to three children.
Area of Expertise:
• Declining situation of families, churches, schools, and nonprofit organizations in African-American communities
• History of the African-American church
• Social justice, religion, and politics
Recent Interviews and Publications: • "New Birth Rolls Out Welcome Mat for Latinos,"The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 2/18/07
• Crisis in the Village: Restoring Hope in African American Communities (Fortress—due for release January 2007)
• From Culture Wars to Common Ground: Religion and the American Family Debate (2000, with Don S. Browning, et. al.)
• Another Day’s Journey: Black Churches Confronting the American Crisis (1997)
• Liberating Visions: Human Fulfillment and Social Justice in African American Thought (1990)
• NPR “All Things Considered”: Interview with Rev. Robert Michael Franklin Jr.
• Dr. Frederick D. Haynes, III
• Pastor at Friendship-West Baptist Church
• Dallas, TX
For 26 years, Dr. Haynes, has made it his mission to empower changed people to change the world. His message is clear: If Christians are to positively impact the world they must be willing to minister beyond the walls of the church. As senior pastor of Friendship-West Baptist Church since 1983, Dr. Haynes leads one of the largest church congregations in Dallas. In the last decade alone, the 28-year-old church has grown from approximately 500 members to over 8,000 members. A popular guest preacher, his progressive, Bible-based message has reached millions of people in locations around the world, including Africa, Australia, the Caribbean, and throughout North America.
Area of Expertise:
• Faith-based community development
• History of the African-American church
• Social justice
• Obery Hendricks
• Professor of Biblical Interpretation at New York Theological Seminary
• New York, New York
Obery Hendricks is past president of Payne Theological Seminary, the oldest African-American theological seminary in the United States. He is a principal commentator in The Oxford Annotated Bible, one of the most widely used academic study Bibles in the English-speaking world, and a contributing editor to The Encyclopedia of Politics and Religion. A much sought-after speaker, lecturer, and media commentator, Hendricks is also a featured writer for Faithfuldemocrats.com and Godspolitics.com. He sits on the Faith Advisory Council for the Democratic National Committee and is an ordained elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
Area of Expertise: · Jesus and politics
· Role of religion in public policy
· The Gospels and liberation
· Economic justice and the kingdom of God
• Rev. Tony Jones
• National Coordinator of Emergent-US
• Edina, MN
Rev. Tony Jones is the national coordinator of Emergent-US, “a growing, generative friendship among emerging Christian leaders.” He is also the author of five books, including The Sacred Way: Spiritual Practices for Everyday Life. Tony is a sought-after speaker on the topics of Christianity and postmodernity and youth ministry, and is a doctoral candidate in practical theology at Princeton Theoloical Seminary. In his spare time, he serves as a volunteer police chaplain and blogs at theoblogy.blogspot.com.
Area of Expertise: • Christianity and postmodernity
• Youth ministry and Christians under the age of 40
• Progressive Christianity and the Emerging Church movement
• Church-state issues
Recent Interviews and Publications :
• “The Postdenominational Church,” Youthworker, January/February, 2000
• “Post-Evangelicalism,” Books & Culture, May/June 2002
• “On Sabbatical,” Youthworker, November/December, 2002 • Soul Shaper: Exploring Spirituality and Contemplative Practices in Youth Ministry (Youth Specialties/Zondervan, 2003)
• Think about Lectio (NavPress, 2003) • Think about Prayer (NavPress, 2003) • The Sacred Way (Youth Specialties/Zondervan, February, 2005)
• Alexia Kelley
• CEO of Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good
• Washington, D.C.
Alexia Kelley was a principal founder of Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good. She has served in diverse capacities with nongovernmental organizations committed to poverty reduction, social justice, and the environment. Kelley worked for nearly a decade in media, outreach, and development at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ national anti-poverty program, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development. She is also the co-editor of a recent book on Catholic social teaching, Living the Catholic Social Tradition: Cases and Commentary (Sheed and Ward). She earned a B.A. in Religion with honors from Haverford College and a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School.
Areas of Expertise: • Catholic social teaching
• Catholic participation in public life
• Poverty and social justice issues
• Brian McLaren • Author, Speaker, Pastor • Baltimore, MD
Brian McLaren is the founding pastor of Cedar Ridge Community Church, a nondenominational church in the Baltimore-Washington region. He is a popular speaker and guest lecturer and has written a number of books, most notably the A New Kind of Christian trilogy, Generous Orthodoxy, and most recently, The Secret Message of Jesus. He is currently on the international steering team and board of directors of Emergent, “a growing, generative friendship among mission Christian leaders,” and serves as a board member of Sojourners.
Area of Expertise: • Inter-religious dialogue
• Global mission
• Church growth and church planting
• Art and music
• Ecology and social justice
• Fr. Richard Rohr
• Director, Center for Action and Contemplation
• Albuquerque, New Mexico
Fr. Richard Rohr is a Franciscan priest of the New Mexico Province and currently serves as the founding director of the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He is a much sought-after conference and retreat leader as well as the author of several books, including his most recent offering, Adam’s Return: The Five Promises of Male Initiation. He is also a regular contributing editor/writer for Sojourners magazine.
Area of Expertise: • Scripture as liberation
• The integration of action and contemplation
• Community building
• Male spirituality
• Eco-spirituality
Recent Interviews and Publications: • "Driving Force of a Young Man,"The Irish Times 4/9/07 • The Wild Man’s Journey, with Joseph Martos ( St. Anthony Messenger Press) • Quest for the Grail(Crossroad) • Everything Belongs (Crossroad) • Hope Against Darkness ( St. Anthony Messenger Press) • The Enneagram, A Christian Perspective (Crossroad) , and Job and the Mystery of Suffering (Crossroad) • Adam’sRadical Grace: CAC publication • Adam’s Return: The Five Promises of Male Initiation(Crossroad)
• Rev. Dr. Cheryl J. Sanders
• Senior Pastor, Third Street Church of God/ Professor of Christian Ethics at the Howard University School of Divinity
• Washington, D.C.
Rev. Dr. Cheryl J. Sanders is Senior Pastor of the Third Street Church of God in Washington, D.C. since 1997, and Professor of Christian Ethics at the Howard University School of Divinity since 1984. She is the author of over 50 articles and several books. She is a graduate of the Sidwell Friends School, Swarthmore College (B.A. in Mathematics) and Harvard Divinity School (M.Div., cum laude and Th.D. in the field of Applied Theology). In 2002 she was awarded the honorary Doctor of Divinity degree by Asbury College in Wilmore, Kentucky.
Area of Expertise: • R ace and culture • The holiness-Pentecostal experience in African-American religion and culture • T radition of community work among black churches
• Dr. Ron Sider
• President and Founder of Evangelicals for Social Action
• Philadelphia, PA
Ronald J. Sider is professor of theology, holistic ministry, and public policy as well as director of the Sider Center on Ministry and Public Policy at Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is also president of Evangelicals for Social Action. His Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger was recognized by Christianity Today as being among the one hundred most influential religious books of the twentieth century. He serves on the advisory boards of many organizations, including The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life as well as the Faith and Service Technical Education Network of the National Crime Prevention Council.
Area of Expertise:
• Religious history
• Social justice
• Economics
• Poverty and hunger
• Adam Taylor
• Director of Campaigns and Organizing, Sojourners
• Washington, D.C.
Adam Taylor is the director of campaigns and organizing at Sojourners. He formerly served as the executive director of Global Justice, an organization that educates, trains, and mobilizes students around global human rights and economic justice. Taylor served on the board of the Jubilee USA Network and the Global Interdependence Initiative. He currently serves as an associate minister at Shiloh Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., where Dr. Wallace Charles Smith serves as pastor.
Area of Expertise: • Global human rights
• Economic justice
• Faith-based advocacy
• Role of faith in politics
• Barbara Brown Taylor
• Episcopal Priest and Professor of Religion at Columbia Theological Seminary
• Atlanta, GA
Barbara Brown Taylor is an Episcopal priest who teaches religion at Piedmont College in rural northeast Georgia. Before becoming a full-time teacher in 1997, she spent 15 years in parish ministry. In 2001, she joined the faculty of Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia, as adjunct professor of Christian spirituality. An editor-at-large for The Christian Century and sometime commentator on Georgia Public Radio, she is the author of 10 books, including When God Is Silent (Cowley 1998) and Speaking of Sin: The Lost Language of Salvation (Cowley 2000).
Area of Expertise:
• Relationships among world religions
• Early Christianity
• Practical disciplines of embodied faith in the world
• Progressive Christianity
Recent Interviews and Publications:
• "Providers of Love,"Northeastern MississippiDaily Journal 4/13/07
• Speaking of Sin: The Lost Language of Salvation (Cowley Publications 2000)
• The Luminous Web: Essays on Science and Religion (Cowley Publications 2000)
• Leaving Church (HarperSan Francisco 2006)
In his work as a social justice advocate, Rev. Romal J. Tune has worked with pastors across the country to train church members for the ministry of civic participation. His diverse training topics include urban ministry and reclaiming youth from gangs, voter registration, issue education, building infrastructure and capacity for long-term justice ministries, and building effective coalitions locally and nationally. He has been called on to speak for political institutions, national grassroots organizations, and religious conferences, including the Congressional Black Caucus, The Faith and Politics Institute, the Gamaliel Foundation, the 13th Episcopal District of the A.M.E. Church, Sojourners, the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, the Democratic National Committee, and The Interfaith Alliance. Tune served in the United States Army 1989-92, including during the Persian Gulf War. He is a graduate of Howard University and Duke University School of Divinity. He is married to Rev. Leslie Tune and they have two children, Aman Victoria and Jordan Romal.
Area of Expertise: • Organizing for justice in the religious community
• Urban ministry and gang violence
• Social justice and the black church
• The intersection of religion and labor in social justice
Recent Interviews and Publications:
• "Event Encourages Teens to Talk, Parents to Listen,"Courier Times/phillyBurbs 4/1/07
• Religion and Ethics NewsWeekly
• Religion News Service
• Fox News
• Associated Press
• Rev. Jim Wallis
• Editor, Sojourners magazine; CEO of Sojourners, and author of God’s Politics. • Washington, D.C.
Jim Wallis, CEO of Sojourners, is a speaker, author, activist, and international commentator on ethics and public life. Wallis speaks at more than 200 events a year and his columns have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post,Los AngelesTimes, and other major newspapers. His book, God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It(HarperSanFrancisco, 2005), debuted at number four on the New York Times’ best-sellers list. He offers regular commentary and analysis for radio and television and teaches a course at Harvard University on “Faith, Politics, and Society.”
Area of Expertise: • Faith and politics
• Social justice
• Poverty
• Moral values
• David Batstone
• Diana Butler Bass
• Randall Balmer
• Michael Battle
• Dr. Tony Campolo
• Noel Castellanos
• Chap Clark
• Rev. Robert Michael Franklin Jr.
• Dr. Frederick D. Haynes, III
• Obery Hendricks
• Rev. Tony Jones
• Alexia Kelley 
• Brian McLaren
• Fr. Richard Rohr
• Rev. Dr. Cheryl J. Sanders
• Dr. Ron Sider
• Adam Taylor
• Barbara Brown Taylor
• Rev. Romal J. Tune 
• Rev. Jim Wallis