Red Letter Christians

National Christian Prayer Call on the Death Penalty
2024-10-10 18:30 - 19:30 (America/New_York)
Join Christians across the nation as we come into a space of power, peace, and prayer to honor this year’s World Day Against the Death Penalty. You’ll hear from death row exoneree Sabrina Butler-Smith and have time to join in prayer over some specific aspects of the death penalty: murder victims’ family members, the federal & state death penalty, people on death row, policy & lawmakers, and the hearts & minds of all in our country. You’ll leave challenged, encouraged, and equipped with resources to take your next steps in moving from awareness to action around the death penalty. No matter your view on capital punishment, come to learn more and consider how Christians can respond to the realities of maintaining the death penalty as a response to harm.
National Christian Prayer Call on the Death Penalty (ejusa.org)

SPECIAL EVENT: Faith Forum on Peace in the Middle East
2024-10-07 12:00 - 14:00 (America/New_York)
Join us for a free and live virtual Conscientious Objectors’ Faith Forum on October 7 at 12 PM ET in honor of the lives lost on October 7 and since October 7.

We will be joined by people who refused to engage in the violence, inviting us to ask the question, “What does courage look like for me?” We welcome special guests from Israel and Palestine, conscientious objectors who refused to fight for Hamas and for the Israeli military, along with US veterans who became peacemakers.

Sofia Orr: Israeli conscientious objector who refused to serve in the IDF
Ahmed Helou: Former Hamas youth member who has lost over 80 family members to the war on Gaza
Joy Metzler: U.S. conscientious objector and Airforce Academy graduate, 2 LT
Diana Oestreich: Peacemaker and former U.S. war veteran

What better way to honor the lives lost on October 7th, and since October 7th, than by celebrating the courageous people who have refused to participate in the violence. You will hear from modern day heroes for peace as they share their stories of why they choose not to participate in the escalating violence of war. And they will invite us to ask the question, “What does courage look like — for me?”
There is a rich history when it comes to conscientious objectors — people who refuse to fight in war because it violates their faith or conscience. And in particular, Christians who follow Jesus “the Prince of Peace,” have been war resisters for centuries, going back to the earliest days of Christianity. Let’s take a moment to remember all the lives lost to war and rededicate ourselves to peace. Violence only begets more violence. We will not build a better world by killing each other’s children.
This virtual event is sponsored by Red Letter Christians — and it is FREE and open to everyone.
Register to join here: RLC Faith Forum with Conscientious Objectors Registration – Zoom
To access additional resources for Conscientious Objectors, click here.

To access additional resources for Conscientious Objectors, click here.

October Monthly Morning Prayer
2024-10-01 09:00 - 10:00 (America/New_York)
Join us for October’s Monthly Morning Prayer with our dear guest Danielle Strickland. Danielle wears so many hats – she is a Spiritual Leader, a Justice Advocate, a Communicator and Peacemaker.
Danielle lets Love lead her to inspire, challenge, provoke and disrupt the present, and to live in the future now. Having lived in different cultures and contexts around the world she celebrates diversity and deeply longs for wrong things to be made right. Danielle practices following Jesus daily. This pursuit has led to exciting entrepreneurial exploits (like co-founding multiple charities and non-profits) and a whole host of failures (that we don’t as often talk about). All of this has convinced her of the deep need we all have for hope, faith, and love. Her deepest longing is to demonstrate what living that boundless life looks like.
Danielle has written six books (the latest is The Other Side of Hope), has a podcast called The Right Side Up (which recently celebrated half-a-million downloads), and speaks to people at events all over the world. Danielle leads Boundless Communications Inc. which launches creative exploits like Women Speakers Collective (liberating voices of women around the globe), IMBY (a tiny home movement IN MY BACKYARD), Brave Global (preventing human trafficking), Infinitum (a way of living deeply), and Hagar’s Voice (support and advocacy for survivors of abuse). She lives in Vancouver, Canada with her three sons and husband Steve. Danielle loves getting outside, doing new things, physical adventures, and she can’t seem to turn down a free lunch.
Shane Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove will be hosting as always. We’d so love for you to join us as we pray and reflect on what it means to lead a Christ and love-centered life with intentionality.
We will be live on all of our socials; register to join us on Zoom!
Morning prayer takes place at the beginning of each month based on the book, Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals. You can follow along with the readings from Common Prayer at commonprayer.net for free!

Execution Alert: Garcia Glen White
2024-10-01 00:00 - 23:59 (America/New_York)
Join us as we protest the execution of Garcia Glen White in Texas on October 1.
To act/learn more, visit: Stop the Execution of Garcia White in Texas – Action Network
Let us pray over the life of Garcia Glen White. Lord, have mercy.

RLC Book Club with Scot McKnight
2024-09-30 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
Join us for September’s Book Club with Scot McKnight to read and learn from his book, “Revelation for the Rest of Us: A Prophetic Call to Follow Jesus as a Dissident Disciple.” McKnight will be in conversation with Shane Claiborne on 30 September at 7 PM ET!
About the Book:
In “Revelation for the Rest of Us,” author Scot McKnight with Cody Matchett explores the timeless message of Revelation and how it speaks to us today with a courageous challenge to be faithful witnesses to Jesus, while standing against the ever-present reality of worldly authorities. McKnight also addresses the popular misconceptions about the book, explaining what John means in his use of the images of dragons, lambs, and beasts, and how the symbolism of Revelation speaks powerfully to the present day – though not in the way most people think. He also offers a discipleship manual for discerning the immoralities of political powers and how the church can be both an agent of resistance and transformation.
About the Author:
Scot McKnight is professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary in Lisle, Illinois. He is the author of more than 80 books, including the award-winning The Jesus Creed as well as The King Jesus Gospel, A Fellowship of Differents, One.Life, The Blue Parakeet and Kingdom Conspiracy. He maintains an active blog at christianitytoday.com/scot-mcknight. He and his wife, Kristen, live in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, where they enjoy long walks, gardening, and cooking.
We will be live on all of our socials. Register to join us on Zoom!
Find us streaming live on Red Letter Christian’s Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube channels.

Execution Alert: Emmanuel Littlejohn and Alan Miller
2024-09-26 00:00 - 23:59 (America/New_York)
There are two executions happening on September 26, 2024:
1. September 26: Emmanuel Littlejohn in Oklahoma: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/stop-the-execution-of-emmanuel-littlejohn-in-oklahoma and bit.ly/EmmanueLittlejohn
2. September 26: Alan Miller in Alabama: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/stop-the-execution-of-alan-miller-in-alabama/
Let us pray over the lives of Littlejohn and Miller, friends. Lord, have mercy.

Execution Alerts: Marcellus Williams and Travis Mullis
2024-09-24 00:00 - 23:59 (America/New_York)
There are two executions happening today on September 24, 2024:
1. Join us to protest the execution of Marcellus Williams in the state of Missouri. Visit https://actionnetwork.org/…/marcellus-williams-in…/ to learn more.
2. Join us also to protest the execution of Travis Mullis in the state of Texas and visit https://actionnetwork.org/…/stop-the-execution-of…/ to learn more.
Let us pray over the lives of Williams and Mullis, friends. Lord, have mercy.

JESUS for President: Free Virtual Event
2024-09-21 17:00 - 18:30 (America/New_York)
Saturday, September 21st: RLC co-founder Shane Claiborne will be offering a special online presentation of JESUS FOR PRESIDENT!
As a special offering, from now until Election Day (Nov. 5), you can also get a signed copy of JESUS FOR PRESIDENT for $20 at www.RAWtoolsPhilly.org – and for every 5 copies you buy we will toss in a free copy too! Spread the word and join us for FREE! Register at bit.ly/3XUt40h

www.RAWtoolsPhilly.org

September Monthly Morning Prayer
2024-09-01 10:00 - 11:00 (America/New_York)
Join us for September’s Monthly Morning Prayer for a time of reflection, prayer and REVIVAL! We’re going to have Shane Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove host Dave Gibbons, Newsong Church, and the California RLC Revival Leadership where they’ll fill you in on what went down at the California RLC Revival 2024!
As you all know, there’s a powerful movement taking shape to reshape Christianity’s culture in this country during this divisive election season and you’re so invited to be a part of it! On the weekend of August 30-31 in Newsong Church, Santa Ana, California, Red Letter Christians will host the first Red Letter Revival of 2024 which will be a dynamic gathering bringing together hundreds of faith and community leaders, students, and people of faith to celebrate – and cultivate – a new vision of Christianity – one with love at its core. Learn more and join us here: https://redletterchristians.org/cali2024!
We will be live on all of our socials; register to join us on Zoom!
Morning prayer takes place at the beginning of each month based on the book, Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals. You can follow along with the readings from Common Prayer at commonprayer.net for free!

Red Letter Revival (Southern California) - A Festival of Jesus’ Love in Action
2024-08-31 18:00 - 21:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Newsong Church, 1010 W. 17th Street, Santa Ana, CA, 92706, United States
Ignite your faith and join hundreds of believers and community organizations for an evening that will inspire action.
Together, we’re overturning the tables of our broken society and centering love as we grapple with the challenges of war, racism, poverty, inequality, unjust immigration policies, and violence.
Experience powerful speakers, soul-stirring music, and thought-provoking art that showcase a growing movement of Christians committed to embodying Jesus’ radical love.
This free, open-to-all event isn’t just a celebration – it’s a movement shaping the very heart of Christian engagement in our world.
Doors open at 5:30pm and the celebration begins promptly at 6pm.

Join us!
Learn more about Red Letter Revivals

Join us!

Resilient Voices: Unveiling Injustice, Inspiring Action
2024-08-30 18:00 - 21:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Newsong Church, 1010 W. 17th Street, Santa Ana, CA, 92706, United States
An evening of storytelling to transform and inspire
Join us on Friday evening for a powerful event where voices of resilience and change take center stage. “Resilient Voices: Unveiling Injustice, Inspiring Action” invites individuals who have faced injustice to recount their experiences, reflect on the impact of injustice in their lives, and inspire others with their journeys toward creating positive change.
When you join us, you’ll grapple with injustice and have to ask yourself: “What can I do in my life, with my community and with my strengths, to ensure that my society uplifts and protects the divine dignity of each of my neighbors?”
Register now to be part of this transformative storytelling experience.

RLC Book Club with Kaitlyn Schiess
2024-08-27 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
We are excited to have our dear friend Kaitlyn Schiess as the featured book club author for the month of August where we will be spotlighting her book, “The Ballot and the Bible.”
The book asks: How do Bible passages written thousands of years ago apply to politics today? What can we learn from America’s history of using the Bible in politics? How can we converse with people whose views differ from our own?
In “The Ballot and the Bible” Kaitlyn Schiess explores these questions and more. She unpacks examples of how Americans have connected the Bible to politics in the past, highlighting times it was applied well and times it was egregiously misused.
Schiess combines American political history and biblical interpretation to help readers faithfully read Scripture, talk with others about it, and apply it to contemporary political issues–and to their lives. Rather than prescribing what readers should think about specific hot-button issues, Schiess outlines core biblical themes around power, allegiance, national identity, and more.
Readers will be encouraged to pursue a biblical basis for their political engagement with compassion and confidence.
Kaitlyn Schiess of course needs no introduction. She is an author, speaker, and perpetual theology student. She is the author of The Ballot and the Bible (Brazos, 2023) and The Liturgy of Politics (IVP, 2020), and her writing has appeared in Christianity Today, The New York Times, Christ and Pop Culture, RELEVANT, and Sojourner. She is a co-host and Senior Editor of the Holy Post podcast, and the host of Curiously, Kaitlyn. She has a ThM in systematic theology from Dallas Theological Seminary and is currently a doctoral student in theology at Duke Divinity School.
We will be live on all of our socials. Register to join us on Zoom!
Find us streaming live on Red Letter Christian’s Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube channels.

National Week of Prayer & Action on Gun Violence
2024-08-23 00:00 - 2024-08-30 23:59 (America/New_York)

Hiroshima-Nagasaki Commemoration Peace Witness at Pentagon (Aug. 6th) and White House (Aug. 9th) - Sponsored by the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker
2024-08-06 07:00 - 08:00 (America/New_York)
“Let all the souls here rest in peace, for we shall not repeat the evil”. (Epitaph at bottom of the Hiroshima Peace Park Memorial Cenotaph and Peace Flame to remember all the victims of the atomic bombings)
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Hiroshima-Nagasaki Commemoration Peace Witness at Pentagon (Aug. 6th) and White House (Aug. 9th)
When: Tuesday, August 6, 2024 (Anniversary of the U.S. Nuclear Bombing of Hiroshima) @ Pentagon 7-8 AM

Where: Pentagon Designated Protest Zone on the Southeast Side of Building (Take South exit from Pentagon Metro station–Walk a short distance on sidewalk toward South Parking Lot–vigil site is on left behind fencing)
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When: Friday, August 9 (Anniversary of the U.S. Nuclear Bombing of Nagasaki): Noon-1 PM

Where: Outside the White House on Pennsylvania Ave.(North side)

Sponsored by the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker

Nagasaki, September 1945
Dear Friends,
To commemorate the 79th anniversary of the sinful and criminal U.S. nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker, in concert with other peacemakers from the DMV, invites you to attend a prayer vigil/witness on Monday, August 6th outside the Pentagon, and on August 9th, outside the White House.
We will remember and pray for the victims of these unspeakable nuclear atrocities and all those who witnessed the destructive power of nuclear weapons use, testing and mining–hibakusha, pacific islanders, Native Americans, downwinders, and all other victims of nuclearism–and call for nuclear abolition.
Pope Francis has declared that the possession of nuclear weapons is immoral, and 70 countries have now ratified the new UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) which entered into force on January 22, 2021, thereby making nuclear weapons illegal under International law. The nine nuclear-armed nations — the U.S., Russia, United Kingdom, France, China, Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea — have not signed the treaty, nor has any nation from the NATO alliance.
On January 24, 2024, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists reset the Doomsday Clock to 90 seconds before midnight, the closest to global catastrophe it has ever been. This is due to the existential threats of nuclear war and the climate crisis, bio- and cyber threats, nuclear proliferation, state-sponsored disinformation and Artificial Intelligence. The Ukraine war has further exacerbated the nuclear peril between the two foremost nuclear powers as both Russian and U.S. nuclear arsenals are now on high alert.
On June 17, 2024, ICAN released a report about global nuclear weapons spending in 2023 totaling over $91 billion. The United States’ share of total spending, $51.5 billion, is more than all the other nuclear-armed countries put together and accounts for 80% of the increase in nuclear weapons spending in 2023. The next biggest spender was China which spent $11.8 billion with Russia spending the third largest amount at $8.3 billion.
https://www.icanw.org/global_nuclear_weapons_spending_surges_to_91_4_billion

The U.S. nuclear arsenal upgrade now underway is estimated to cost $1.7 trillion over the next several decades, while poverty increases, the climate crisis worsens, and basic human needs go unmet.
The Navy has contracted with General Dynamics to build the Columbia class nuclear subs to replace the existing Trident fleet. Twelve Columbia class subs will cost over $120 billion and the first of these subs will be named the USS District of Columbia. This is sinful and criminal! As these exorbitant resources are spent on weapons of mass murder, 90 people died without the dignity of home last year in D.C.
In case you didn’t hear about this, the USS Florida Trident nuclear submarine, now refitted with Tomahawk cruise missiles, was deployed on November 5, 2023 to the Middle East, in support of Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza. On July 5, 1982, the Trident Nein carried out a plowshares action directed at the USS Florida at General Dynamics/EB in Groton, CT—a witness I was blessed to be part of. We join our voice with all those urgently calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, an end to all U.S. military aid and weapons to Israel and U.S. complicity in the genocide, forced starvation and ethnic cleansing in Gaza, an end to the occupation of Palestine, and for a just peace for Palestine and Israel.
As we call on the nation to repent for the nuclear sin, abolish all nuclear weapons, ratify the TPNW, and redirect exorbitant military and nuclear expenditures to meet urgent human needs, we do so in solidarity with actions taking place around the U.S. and worldwide. In the U.S. see: https://www.nuclearbantreaty.org/
The Hibakusha plead to the world: “Humanity and nuclear weapons cannot co-exist.”
Martin Luther King, Jr. exhorts us: “The choice today is…either nonviolence or nonexistence.”
Pope Francis declares: “Nor can we fail to be genuinely concerned by the catastrophic humanitarian and environmental effects of any employment of nuclear devices. If we also take into account the risk of an accidental detonation as a result of error of any kind, the threat of their use, as well as their very possession, is to be firmly condemned…The total elimination of nuclear weapons is…a moral and humanitarian imperative of our time.”

Please join us and share this invitation with friends.
For more information contact: Art Laffin (artlaffin@hotmail.com)

In hope for a disarmed world,
Art

Rev. Munther Isaac U.S. Speaking Tour!
2024-08-01 08:00 - 2024-08-17 17:00 (America/New_York)
Coming to a city near you!
Our dear brother Rev. Munther Isaac is in the US on a national speaking tour with Friends of Sabeel North America. Come to a city near you or join the livestream. Rev. Munther is one of the most important voices in the church and in the world right now. Here’s the info: FOSNA presents: Rev. Munther Isaac — Friends of Sabeel North America

August Monthly Morning Prayer with Rev. John Dear
2024-08-01 08:00 - 09:00 (America/New_York)
Join us for August’s Monthly Morning Prayer with Rev. John Dear in conversation, reflection and prayer with Shane Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove! August 1 at 8 am ET.
Rev. John Dear is an internationally recognized voice and leader for peace and nonviolence. A priest, activist, author, and Nobel peace prize nominee, he served for years as the director of the Fellowship of Reconciliation. After 9/11, 2001, he was a Red Cross coordinator of chaplains at the Family Assistance Center in New York, and counseled thousands of relatives and rescue workers. John has traveled the war zones of the world, been arrested some 85 times for peace, led Nobel Peace prize winners to Iraq, given thousands of lectures on peace across the U.S., and served as a pastor of several churches in New Mexico. He arranged on many occasions for Mother Teresa to speak to various governors to stop an impending execution, and helped draft Pope Francis’ Jan. 1, 2017 World Day of Peace message on nonviolence. He is a co-founder of Campaign Nonviolence and the Nonviolent Cities.
His many books include: The Beatitudes of Peace; They Will Inherit the Earth; The Nonviolent Life; Radical Prayers; Walking the Way; A Persistent Peace; Transfiguration; Living Peace; The Questions of Jesus; and most recently, The Gospel of Peace: The Psalms of Peace and Nonviolence in a time of War and Climate Change.
Three years ago, Fr. John Dear founded the online project, “The Beatitudes Center for the Nonviolent Jesus” to offer regular zooms on Jesus, the Sermon on the Mount, and Gospel nonviolence from an array of well-known speakers, as well as free podcasts, free YouTube videos, blogs, and action ideas.
Speakers have included authors and teachers such as Cornel West, Jim Lawson, Rajmohan Gandhi, Marie Dennis, Matthew Fox, Helen Prejean, Robert Ellsberg, Shane Claiborne, Kathy Kelly, Jim Finley, Maria Stephan, Roshi Joan Halifax, Bill McKibben, Medea Benjamin, Archbishop John Wester, Frida Berrigan, Catherine Meeks, and many others. It has become the national hub for speakers on Christian peacemaking, social justice, and creative non-violence.
We will be live on all of our socials; register to join us on Zoom!
Morning prayer takes place at the beginning of each month based on the book, Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals. You can follow along with the readings from Common Prayer at commonprayer.net for free!

RLC Book Club with Karen Gonzalez
2024-07-25 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
Join us for July’s Book Club with Karen González in conversation with Juan Martínez Ovalle.
Karen González is a speaker, writer, storyteller, and immigrant advocate, who herself immigrated from Guatemala as a child. Karen is a former public-school teacher and attended Fuller Theological Seminary, where she studied theology and missiology. For the last 15 years, she has been a non-profit professional. She wrote a book about her own immigration story and some of the immigrants found in the Bible: The God Who Sees: Immigrants, The Bible, and the Journey to Belong (Herald Press, May 2019). Karen’s second book is Beyond Welcome: Centering Immigrants in our Christian Response to Immigration (Brazos Press, October 2022). She also has bylines in Sojourners, Christianity Today, The Christian Century, and others. She lives in Mexico City, Mexico. You can find her on Instagram, Threads and Twitter at @_karenjgonzalez.
We will be live on all of our socials; register to join us on Zoom!
Find us streaming live on Red Letter Christian’s Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube channels.

July Monthly Morning Prayer with Daniel Yang
2024-07-01 09:00 - 10:00 (America/New_York)
Join us for Monthly Morning Prayer bright and early on July 1 with our friend Daniel Yang!
Daniel Yang is the National Director of Churches of Welcome at World Relief. Previously he served as the director of the Church Multiplication Institute at the Wheaton College Billy Graham Center, a think tank for evangelism and church planting. He has pastored and helped plant churches in Detroit, Dallas-Fort Worth, Toronto, and Chicago. He earned an MDiv from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, a BS in computer science from the University of Michigan and is currently a PhD student in intercultural studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.
We look forward to spending time with Daniel in reflection and prayer in conversation with Shane Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove.
As always, we’ll be live on all our socials; register to join us on Zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYkf-yhqz4rGNyz-xstlAMXUUuT4TfZ8Syb
Morning prayer takes place at the beginning of each month based on the book, Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals. You can follow along with the readings from Common Prayer at commonprayer.net for free!
All are welcome; we’ll be live on all our socials! Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

Poor’s People Campaign March on June 29 in Washington DC
2024-06-29 10:00 (America/New_York) | 3rd & Pennsylvania NW, Washington, DC, 3rd and Pennsylvania NW, Washington, DC, United States
Join a historic assembly of impacted poor and low-wage workers, representatives from over thirty state coordinating committees, leaders from major religious organizations and denominations, labor unions, and other advocates as we kick off four months of outreach to 15 million poor and low-wage infrequent voters.

Annual Fast and Vigil to Abolish the Death Penalty on June 29-July 2
2024-06-29 08:30 - 2024-07-02 20:00 (America/New_York)
A four-day vigil will take place at the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, DC, maintaining a presence and sharing our message that no matter how you slice it, the death penalty is bad public policy. Many participants fast during this time but fasting is not required. The vigil runs daily from June 29 through July 2, approximately 8:30 am until 8:00 pm. Join us as we encounter tens of thousands of visitors to the Court.

RLC Professional Development Series: "Direct Action Planning 101: How to Plan a Protest or Vigil" with Shane Claiborne and Ariel Gold
2024-06-27 16:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York)
As we continue our Professional Development Series to equip the movement for effective direct action, we’re so pleased to have Ariel Gold and Shane Claiborne offer a training on: “Direct Action Planning 101: How to Plan a Protest or Vigil.”
If you are passionate about advocating for social justice and change, and want to learn how to organize effective protests and vigils, join us to equip yourself with skills and knowledge to make a difference in your community!
This training is open to everyone – whether you’re an experienced activist or new to the movement, you’re invited to learn how to build a better world together!
Our facilitators need no introductions! RLC friend Ariel Gold is the Executive Director of the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR), the oldest interfaith peace and justice organization in the U.S. with 50 branches across the world; Shane Claiborne is a speaker, activist, and best-selling author. He is the co-founder of Red Letter Christians and founder of The Simple Way, PA.

We’ll be live on all our socials; register to join us on Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMkduGgqzojG9Xg-Psiti1p6d0e4P5wmFfI

*This webinar is a part of RLC’s Professional Development Series that is open to the public and offered on a “pay what you can” basis. Please complete the donation form below and registration information will be emailed to you.

We never want finances to be a barrier to access our programming, but we are deeply grateful to all those who can fuel this work financially! If you can’t make a gift, keep scrolling for an additional option.

RLC Book Club with Chuck Mingo and Troy Jackson
2024-06-24 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
Join us for June’s RLC Book Club with Chuck Mingo and Troy Jackson to learn about their book, “Living Undivided: Loving Courageously for Racial Healing and Justice.”
About the Book:
As the church and as a country, we’ve often neglected and avoided addressing the impact and ongoing reality of racism. We’ve been more focused on order than justice, more concerned with social media posturing than solidarity, more committed to judgment than repentance. But God’s people are called to more. We need to lead the way to true racial healing, solidarity, and justice.
Through enlightening history and eye-opening personal stories, Living Undivided will equip and empower you with the biblical, transformative tools you need to move from just hoping and wishing for racial justice to actionable change that makes a difference in your life and the lives of churches, neighborhoods, and cities.
About the Authors – CHUCK MINGO:
Chuck is the Founder and CEO of UNDIVIDED, a nonprofit organization built to unite and ignite people for racial justice through programming that takes participants through life-changing moments of racial healing.
Through his passion for justice and racial reconciliation, Chuck has transformed a congregational training into a national movement with hub cities emerging throughout the country. Chuck’s leadership through UNDIVIDED has inspired and mobilized thousands from diverse backgrounds around the nation.
In addition to leading UNDIVIDED, Chuck teaches and consults for churches and organizations around the country on a variety of topics related to race relations and racial justice.
For nearly two decades, Chuck has served as a teaching pastor at one of the largest churches in America, Crossroads Church. Prior to being a pastor, Chuck spent nine years in the corporate world at Procter & Gamble. He earned his Bachelors in Business Administration at Duquesne University. Chuck is married with three children and calls Cincinnati, Ohio home.
About the Authors – TROY JACKSON:
Troy Jackson is a co-founder of UNDIVIDED and the Chief Strategies Officer. Former senior pastor of University Christian Church in Cincinnati, he loves moving people into action to advance racial justice and has spent the last decade doing faith-based community organizing.
He has an M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. in United States History from the University of Kentucky. After raising three children,Troy and his wife Amanda moved to their dream home–a cabin in the woods outside Cincinnati, Ohio.
Chuck and Troy will be in conversation with Shane Claiborne. We’ll be recording live on all our socials as always; Register here to join us on Zoom:
Find us streaming live on Red Letter Christian’s Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube channels and register to join us on Zoom: Register Here Now on Zoom

June Monthly Morning Prayer
2024-06-01 09:00 - 10:00 (America/New_York)
Join us for June’s Monthly Morning Prayer with Mike Martin and our friends at RAWtools! We’ll be praying and reflecting upon the urgent need for peace, and to turn weapons of all kinds into tools of nonviolence and love.
Shane Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove will be facilitating as always – come join us bright and early!
We will be live on all our socials; register to join us on Zoom: Register Now!
Morning prayer takes place at the beginning of each month based on the book, Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals. You can follow along with the readings from Common Prayer at commonprayer.net for free!
All are welcome; we’ll be live on all our socials! Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

RLC Book Club with Hillary L. McBride in conversation with Divya Rosaline David
2024-05-31 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month this May, we’re delighted to have Dr. Hillary L. McBride join us in conversation with Divya Rosaline David to discuss her latest book, Practices for Embodied Living: Experiencing the Wisdom of Your Body.
Practices for Embodied Living offers an experiential guide-centered on prompts, activities, and opportunities for reflection-to support readers who want to practice embodiment. This approachable, visually stimulating book helps individuals and groups resist cultural myths about ideal bodies, get in touch with the goodness of their bodies, and more fully inhabit themselves.
Topics include disembodiment, stress and trauma, sexuality, body image, pain and illness, oppression, and more. Each topic includes various exercises to help readers restore the mind-body connection.
Author Hillary McBride, PhD, is a Registered Psychologist, researcher, podcaster, and author, but underneath all of that, she is a human, who loves asking questions about what it means to be human, how we heal and grow, and what it means to be a body. She publishes written works for community and academic audiences about embodiment, trauma, eating disorders, mental health and spirituality; her bestselling book The Wisdom of Your Body was released in 2021, Practices for Embodied Living was released in early 2024, and her next book, Holy Hurt: understanding and healing from spiritual trauma, will be released in spring 2025.
Her award-winning CBC podcast “Other People’s Problems” was mentioned in The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times as essential listening, and she is on faculty with the Psychedelic Somatic Institute, and the co-developer of Katalyst Mental Health Ketamine Assisted Therapy program. What makes her feel alive is her daughter’s laugh, her love for her partner and close friends, asking unanswerable questions, and spending time in or near the ocean.
As always, we’ll be live on all our socials!
Zoom registration link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIvc-CuqTojHtAuq3UXKdV2Z1GChdU0VZVa
We’ll be live on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube; register to join us on Zoom.
Find us streaming live on Red Letter Christian’s Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube channels and register to join us on Zoom:
Register Here Now on Zoom or join us live on Facebook or YouTube.

Emergency Forum with Israeli Conscientious Objector Yuval Dag
2024-05-23 13:00 (America/New_York)
You are invited to join us for an urgent and important conversation with Yuval Dag hosted by Ariel Gold of Fellowship of Reconciliation and Diana Oestreich of Red Letter Christians.
On March 20, 2023, Yuval Dag refused his military conscription and was sent by an Israeli military court to prison. After growing up with a nationalist identity, Yuval began to question his privilege and how it was maintained through the oppression of Palestinians. “Resistance begins, first of all, with self-reflection and understanding. With the understanding that by wearing a uniform and symbols of a certain body, you choose to represent that body. With the understanding that enlisting in the army is a political choice, and its meaning is to support the military and political agenda, and to take part in it. The understanding that even a small cog contributes to the system’s function.” Yuval decided that he could not in good conscience accept his military conscription. He spent two months in prison for his refusal to serve and today works with the Israeli Refusers Solidarity Network to support other Israeli Jewish Refuseniks.
Register to join us on Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0tdemtqD4jEtVLKTQwu7XpmUG-MxDz0e8I#/registration

RLC Professional Development Series: "How to Publish a Book and Change the World" with Lisa Sharon Harper
2024-05-15 16:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York)
Join us for our next webinar in the Red Letter Christians Professional Development Series as we continue to equip the movement for direct action. This time around, we’ll have our very own Lisa Sharon Harper facilitate “How to Publish a Book and Change the World.”
When it comes to the Christian faith, the loudest voices haven’t always been the most beautiful or the most faithful voices. We believe it’s time to change the narrative, and one of the ways we change it is by changing the narrators. So we have created this series of workshops in order to help compassionate, faith-rooted Christians raise their voices in a public way. We are committed to amplifying the voices of people of faith who are writing, and speaking, and creating music and art at the intersection of Jesus and justice, grounded in love and liberation.
Think of all the books that have shaped who you are and how you look at the world! How did the writer move the idea from their mind to your bookshelf? What was their writing process? How did they get their foot in the door with a publisher? Why did the publisher say, “Yes!” to publishing their book? Did they have an agent? What difference does an agent make?
Have you thought about writing a book? Maybe you have these questions or others about the writing and publishing process.
Join Lisa Sharon Harper for our next Professional Development Workshop, “How to Write a Book and Change the World!”
Author and activist, Lisa is the president and founder of Freedom Road, LLC and board member of Red Letter Christians. Lisa will drop gems you won’t want to miss. Shane will facilitate an invaluable time of questions and participant dialogue with Lisa following the workshop.
This webinar is being offered on a “give-what-you-can” basis, but registration is required.
Zoom Registration: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUvceGrpjMvH9bHFYgs_KcOj5RGMmDVG8Bm
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Replay:
“How to Publish a Book and Change the World” with Lisa Sharon Harper (Professional Development Se… (youtube.com)

Gaza Ceasefire Pilgrimage, Philadelphia
2024-03-24 13:00 - 2024-03-29 13:00 (America/New_York)
When: Saturday, March 24 (Palm Sunday) through Friday, March 29 (Good Friday)
Where: From the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, PA to Lockheed Martin headquarters in King of Prussia, PA
Convened by: Red Letter Christians, Freedom Road, Fellowship of Reconciliation, the Society for Faith and Justice, Rainbow PUSH Coalition, and more.
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As Mary wept over Christ’s body, this Lenten season we are all mothers in Gaza weeping over the dead — over 30,000 killed since October 7, 2023 — senselessly from us by bombs and bullets and indifference. Like the people of Gaza today, Jesus was born as a refugee, in the middle of a genocide in an occupied land. This Palm Sunday to Good Friday, we will demonstrate with our bodies and prayers the urgent cry for a ceasefire. As Christ said: “Blessed are the peacemakers for they are the children of God.” Not in our name, not in the name of our Savior Christ, the Prince of Peace!
Between March 24 (Palm Sunday) and March 29 (Good Friday), when Christians around the world remember the crucifixion of Jesus, followers of Jesus and friends will walk 20 miles (almost the length from Gaza City to Rafah), approximately four miles per day; observing the ‘Stations of the Cross’ on each day. Walking from The Liberty Bell to Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest weapons contractor, participants will reflect on Jesus’ Passion and Death and our nation’s complicity in decades of bombings in Gaza, including the current carnage. The Philadelphia pilgrimage is part of the global ‘Gaza Ceasefire Pilgrimage’ movement.
At Lockheed Martin, Philadelphia-based and national theologians and activists, including Shane Claiborne, Lisa Sharon Harper, Ariel Gold, Linda Sarsour, Rev. Mark Thompson, and others will, filled with the spirit of God and an unflinching commitment to nonviolence, engage in prayerful direct action calling on God to stop the flow of machines of death from the U.S. to the world. This spiritual act of resistance aims to send a message urging the Biden administration to call for a ceasefire and stop or condition weapons exports to Israel being used to kill and maim civilians and violate human rights.
We call for:
An immediate and permanent ceasefire
Unfettered and robust entry of humanitarian aid
The immediate release of all hostages
An end to Israel’s systems of occupation and apartheid
The elimination/restriction of U.S. military assistance to Israel such that it does not fund violations of human rights, including collective punishment and the targeting of civilians

Core Convictions of the Gaza Ceasefire Pilgrimage, Philadelphia (in alignment with The International Gaza Ceasefire Pilgrimage):

We oppose all forms of hatred, racism, and discrimination, including antisemitism, anti-Arab racism, Islamophobia, and homo and trans-phobia. We affirm the truth that all people, regardless of race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender identity, or nationality are created in the image of God. “Our battle is not against flesh and blood” but against the Powers of domination, oppression, and violence.
We believe in and adhere to nonviolence in strategy, principle, and philosophy. As communicated by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who got his inspiration from Jesus Christ and his techniques from Mohandas K. Gandhi:
Principle one: Nonviolence is a way of life for courageous people. It is active nonviolent resistance to evil. It is aggressive spiritually, mentally and emotionally.
Principle two: Nonviolence seeks to win friendship and understanding. The result of nonviolence is redemption and reconciliation. The purpose of nonviolence is the creation of the Beloved Community.
Principle three: Nonviolence seeks to defeat injustice, not people. Nonviolence recognizes that evildoers are also victims and are not evil people. The nonviolent resister seeks to defeat evil, not people.
Principle four: Nonviolence holds that suffering can educate and transform. Nonviolence accepts suffering without retaliation. Unearned suffering is redemptive and has tremendous educational and transforming possibilities.
Principle five: Nonviolence chooses love instead of hate. Nonviolence resists violence of the spirit as well as the body. Nonviolent love is spontaneous, unmotivated, unselfish, and creative.
Principle six: Nonviolence believes that the universe is on the side of justice. The nonviolent resister has deep faith that justice will eventually win. Nonviolence believes that God is a God of justice.”
As we express our solidarity with the Palestinian struggle against settler-colonialism, we are cognizant of and in solidarity with First Nation peoples of the Philadelphia area, the Lenni-Lenape People of Lenapehoking and the Poutaxat (Delaware Bay). We seek the blessing and collaboration of the First Nations Peoples of the land on which we walk and recommit ourselves to the work of healing-justice for all indigenous people.
We engage in the Gaza Ceasefire Pilgrimage as an act of repentance and lamentation for our collective sins of omission by not taking action for Palestinian liberation and our collective sins of commission by allowing ourselves, our houses of worship, and our government to support and contribute to 75 years of oppression of Palestinians and a genocide occurring in real-time in front of our eyes.
We welcome our Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, agnostic, atheist, and other allies. We affirm the interconnectedness of our different faiths as we seek together to eliminate the war, violence, and hatred that are abominations in the eyes of our collective God.
REGISTER TO JOIN US

Route:
Day 1: Sunday, March 24, 2 PM, walk from the Liberty Bell to the Philadelphia Zoo – 2.7 miles
Day 2: Monday, March 25, 10 AM, walk from the Philadelphia Zoo to the Historic African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas – 3.3 miles
Day 3: Tuesday, March 26, 10 AM, walk from the Historic African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas to Bryn Mawr – 4.3 miles
Day 4: Wednesday, March 27, 10 AM, walk from Bryn Mawr to Eastern University – 4.2 miles
Day 5: Thursday, March 28, walk from Eastern University to the King of Prussia Mall – 3.9 miles
Day 6: Good Friday, March 29, 10 AM, walk from the King of Prussia Mall to Lockheed Martin – .6 miles. 12 PM, Good Friday service
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Why Lockheed Martin:
Lockheed Martin supplies the Israeli government with a wide variety of weapons, including fighter jets, attack helicopters, and missiles. Many of these weapons are given by the U.S. to Israel through the almost $4 billion Israel receives annually in Foreign Military Financing.
Since the 1970s, Lockheed Martin’s F-16 has been the Israeli Air Force’s “most important fighter jet,” taking part in all of Israel’s major military assaults on Gaza. The newer Lockheed Martin F-35 is the most advanced warplane used by the Israeli Air Force.
Between 2004 and 2009, Lockheed Martin supplied Israel with at least 102 F-16 fighter jets. Between 2016 and 2021 they supplied Israel with at least 50 F-35 fighter jets.
Lockheed Martin also provides Israel with its M-270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS), a mobile system that fires a torrent of surface-to-surface rockets. The Israeli military used the MLRS to fire cluster munitions during the 2006 Lebanon War in attacks that Human Rights Watch deemed to be of “an indiscriminate and disproportionate character, in violation of international humanitarian law.”
During the 2008–2009 assault, Israeli F-16s were used to target civilians, civilian homes, and refugee camps. The attacks killed numerous Palestinians, including 22 members of a single family, 12 of whom were children under the age of 10.
During Israel’s 2014 attack on Gaza, Lockheed Martin Hellfire missiles were used to kill at least 51 people, including 24 children.
During the 2021 offensive, F-16s—described as the “mainstay of the bombardment”—were documented, for example, bombing Gaza City’s Rimal neighborhood, as well as residential buildings and the offices of news organizations, including Al Jazeera and the Associated Press.
Israel’s current war on Gaza, which heavily relies on Lockheed Martin weaponry, has killed almost 30,000 people, about a third of which have been children.
In December 2023, as Israel was two months into carrying out genocide in Gaza, the U.S. rushed Israel F-35 weapons capabilities and spare parts to the country. In January 2024, the U.S. and Israel reached a deal to supply Israel with large number of F-35 and F15 fighter jets as well as Apache helicopters.
On February 12, 2024, The Dutch Court of Appeal in the Hague ordered the Netherlands government to stop exporting F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel due to there being “a clear risk that serious violations of humanitarian law of war are committed in the Gaza Strip with Israel’s F-35 fighter planes.”
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From the organizers of the pilgrimage:
“One of the central convictions of Christianity is that there is a God who is near to the suffering, to the poor, to all those who are victims of violence. When asked where God is amid the violence in Gaza, Palestinian theologian Munther Isaac responded: “God is under the rubble.” On Good Friday, Christians around the world remember in a special way that Christ is God’s act of solidarity, as he endured the most horrific violence on the cross, and subverted it with love, forgiveness, and an empty tomb. It is Christ who said, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they are the children of God. It is Christ who rebuked his own disciples when they wanted to call down “fire from heaven” on the people of Samaria. And it is Christ, who scolded Peter when he resorted to violence, saying to Peter, “Those who live by the sword, die by the sword… put the sword away.” As many fellow Christians bless the bombs falling on Gaza, bombs made at Lockheed Martin… we say NO, not in our name, and not in the name of our Savior. As many Christians try to defend the violence of Israel being done in planes made by Lockheed Martin, we are calling for a ceasefire, and an end to the violence in the name of Christ, the Prince of Peace.”

RLC Book Club with Liz Cooledge Jenkins in conversation with Susan Wood
2024-03-25 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
Join us for April’s Book Club with RLC friend and featured guest Liz Cooledge Jenkins in conversation with Susan Wood to discuss her latest book, “Nice Churchy Patriarchy: Reclaiming Women’s Humanity from Evangelicalism.”
The book explores how even in the warmest and most welcoming evangelical churches, patriarchy looms as an ever-present force, suppressing women’s possibilities and debilitating whole communities. Well-intentioned churchgoers and church leaders have bought into deeply-entrenched male-dominated mindsets, power structures, and theologies that are not working—not for women, and really not for anyone.
Part memoir and part faith-based feminist manifesto, “Nice Churchy Patriarchy” takes an unflinching look at the ways misogyny’s subtler forms impact every aspect of women’s experiences in church. From leading a church college ministry, to attending seminary, to eventually developing the confidence to preach, Liz Cooledge Jenkins weaves together her own journey with reflections on biblical interpretation, church history, and intersectional feminism.
After confronting misogyny’s faces head-on, Liz goes on to explore how we can build better faith communities together. For all who long to see women’s gifts greeted in churches with gratitude rather than a suspicious side eye, “Nice Churchy Patriarchy” points the way.
Jenkins is a writer, preacher, former college campus minister, and author. She writes at the intersections of faith, feminism, and social justice, and her work can be found at places like Sojourners and The Christian Century—as well as her new Substack, Growing Into Kinship, and on Instagram @lizcoolj and @postevangelicalprayers.

Liz lives in the Seattle area with her husband and their black cat Athena, where she enjoys hiking, swimming, attempting to grow vegetables, and drinking a lot of tea.
Zoom registration link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcsf-uuqzwjGtJ9oghg-v1gB2CeKf1OUn61

We’ll be live on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube; register to join us on Zoom.
Find us streaming live on Red Letter Christian’s Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube channels and register to join us on Zoom:
Register Here Now on Zoom or join us live on Facebook or YouTube.

March Monthly Morning Prayer with RLC UK
2024-03-01 09:00 - 10:00 (America/New_York)
Join us for March’s Monthly Morning Prayer with Sally Mann, David Mann and Faith Van Horne from Red Letter Christians, UK in conversation with Shane Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove.
We will be reflecting upon the latest release by RLC UK: “Jesus & Justice: Stories of Radical Christian Living.” This book was released on Feb 14 and is available from www.redletterchristians.org.uk.
The compilation brings together 25 authors from across the UK, writing about their lived experience of seeking Jesus and justice in their communities. They speak honestly, from the heart, in accessible stories. This is not a heavy theological book trying to have the last word. It’s a moving collection of ‘first word’ stories to encourage you.
The authors’ stories are grouped around verses from the beautiful vision of Shalom in Isaiah 65:17-23. It explores eco-justice, poverty and placemaking, housing, migration, economics, education and criminal justice. Added within it are five dialogues from leading British theologians and experienced activists. These appear in summary at the end of every section. You can view longer 20 min recordings of these dialogues for FREE on http://redletterchristians.org.uk.
Whichever theme you start with, you can listen to conversations and use them to spark discussions in your church or community. This book will inspire you with what is possible when a Jesus-centred faith is at the heart of activism.
As for our RLC UK guests and dear friends, they, of course, need no introduction.
Sally Mann is Co-Director of Red Letter Christians UK and has a PhD in Philosophy and Theology and is senior lecturer in Sociology at the University of Greenwich. She is Senior Minister at Bonny Downs Baptist Church, where she is the fourth of five generations of her family to stay put and serve in that East-End community. Sally has written a book, Looking for Lydia: Encounters that Shape the Church, reflecting on 25 years of ministry in London through the stories of encounters in Acts.
Dave Mann is Co-director of Red Letter Christians and has been in church leadership for 30 years. He is director of Seedbeds UK, joint minister of Bonny Downs Baptist Church, East Ham and chair of Bonny Downs Community Association. Dave is involved in the governance of three school academy trusts and chairs a community development charity, Community Albums which is committed to building better communities through music and media. He coached and captained West Ham United’s over-50s walking football and is chair of Newham Cricket Club. He is also London and South East regional coordinator for Urban Expression.
Faith Van Horne is co-director of Red Letter Christians UK alongside Dave Mann and Sally Mann. From Pennsylvania and Ohio in the United States, she is a Doctoral Researcher in Theology and Religion at University of Birmingham, UK. She studies doctrine from a trauma-informed perspective, seeking to articulate a more embodied, creation-redeeming vision of Christian faith.
Morning prayer takes place at the beginning of each month based on the book, Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals. You can follow along with the readings from Common Prayer at commonprayer.net for free!
We’ll be live on all our socials; register to join us on Zoom:
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All are welcome; we’ll be live on all our socials! Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.
