Red Letter Christians

RLC Book Club with Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove
2025-01-30 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Virtual
Protestant minister, social activist, and Yale Divinity School professor Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, and celebrated spiritual writer and speaker Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove will join Shane Claiborne to discuss their book White Poverty: How Exposing Myths About Race and Class Can Reconstruct American Democracy.
A generational work with far-ranging social and political implications, “White Poverty,” promises to be one of the most influential books in recent years.
One of the most pernicious and persistent myths in the United States is the association of Black skin with poverty. Though there are forty million more poor white people than Black people, most Americans, both Republicans and Democrats, continue to think of poverty―along with issues like welfare, unemployment, and food stamps―as solely a Black problem. Why is this so? What are the historical causes? And what are the political consequences that result?
These are among the questions that the authors address in “White Poverty,” a groundbreaking work that exposes a legacy of historical myths that continue to define both white and Black people, creating in the process what might seem like an insuperable divide. Analyzing what has changed since the 1930s, when the face of American poverty was white, the authors address white poverty as a hugely neglected subject that just might provide the key to mitigating racism and bringing together tens of millions of working class and impoverished Americans.
Thus challenging the very definition of who is poor in America, the authors expose the lies that prevent us from seeing the pain of poor white families who have been offered little more than their “whiteness” and angry social media posts to sustain them in an economy where the costs of housing, healthcare, and education have skyrocketed while wages have stagnated for all but the very rich. Asserting in Biblically inspired language that there should never be shame in being poor, “White Poverty” lifts the hope for a new “moral fusion movement” that seeks to unite people “who have been pitted against one another by politicians (and billionaires) who depend on the poorest of us not being here.”
Ultimately, “White Poverty,” a ringing work that braids poignant autobiographical recollections with astute historical analysis, contends that tens of millions of America’s poorest earners, the majority of whom don’t vote, have much in common, thus providing us with one of the most empathetic and visionary approaches to American poverty in decades.
Register to join us on Zoom or join us live on our socials: Meeting Registration – Zoom
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.

Tony Campolo's Celebration of Life: January 25, 2025
2025-01-25 14:00 - 16:30 | Church of the Saviour in Wayne, PA, 651 N. WAYNE AVE, Wayne, PA, 19087, United States
You’re invited to join us in celebrating Rev. Dr. Tony Campolo’s life and legacy on January 25, 2025 at 2:00 pm at Church of the Saviour in Wayne, PA. Doors open at 1 pm. If you plan to attend the service, please RSVP at this link. Your response will help to ensure we have seating for all who wish to attend Tony’s Celebration of Life. A livestream link will be posted the day of the service for those who would like to attend online.
Tony’s family kindly requests that you do not send flowers. For more information, visit eastern.edu/campolocenter.

For Such a Time As This: Interfaith Service - A Prophetic Response to America’s Defining Moment
2025-01-20 19:00 - 23:00 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtWRHfZckWU
The inauguration of President Donald J. Trump’s second term coincides with the commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy on January 20, 2025. This symbolic overlap presents a critical moment for people of deep faith and moral conviction to rise together and respond to the deep injustices plaguing our nation.
Join Red Letter Christians and our partners for “Justice Rising: A Moral Call to Action in America’s Defining Moment.” This gathering will take place in Memphis, TN and unite faith leaders, community advocates, and people of goodwill, committed to amplifying justice, equity, and love in the face of divisive and regressive forces. Inspired by Dr. King’s legacy and prophetic vision, this event is a declaration of hope and a moral response to an immoral vision for America. You can join us in person or via livestream at 7PM ET. The livestream link will be posted on January 20, 2025.
A coalition of interfaith partners are hosting a national Interfaith Service and Moral Mass Meeting to address this critical moment. It is an invitation for people of faith and moral conviction to rise together and respond to deep injustices that exist within the nation.
King’s legacy demonstrates the need for people in the current moment to speak up, to speak out, and to be advocates. All are invited to gather For Such a Time As This: A Prophetic Response to America’s Defining Momenton Jan. 20 at 6 p.m. CT / 7 p.m. ET, which can be attended in person and virtually. The live event — which will also be live streamed — will be held at the Healing Cathedral Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Memphis, Tennessee (4523 Elvis Presley Blvd., Memphis, TN 38116), the city that King visited several times and where he spent his last days supporting the Memphis Sanitation Workers’ Strike before his assassination in April 1968. People interested in attending in person or virtually are encouraged to register for the event. Speakers from the interfaith service and mass moral meeting, in addition to Thompson, include:

Bishop Yvette Flunder, presiding bishop of The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries
The Rev. Karen Georgia Thompson, United Church of Christ General Minister and President
Bishop William J. Barber, II, president and senior lecturer of Repairers of the Breach and co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call For Moral Revival
Rev. Terri Hord-Owens, general minister and president of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Rev. Sofia Betancourt, president of the Unitarian Universalist Association
Shane Claiborne, co-founder and leader of Red Letter Christians
Rev. Moya Harris, director of Racial Justice for Sojourners

Registration to attend the event is available here: REGISTER – Interfaith Service & Moral Mass Meeting The livestream link will be posted on January 20, 2025.

AREA HOTELS Please see the links below for nearby hotel options. Guests are on their own for securing accommodations. Please note that rates and availability will vary.
Memphis Hotels – Visitors’ Bureau
Downtown Memphis Hotel Map

January Monthly Morning Prayer with Abe Bonowitz (Death Penalty Action) and Noel Nickel (North Carolina Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty)
2025-01-01 09:00 - 10:00 | Virtual
Join us for Red Letter Christians’ Monthly Morning Prayer on January 1, 2025, at 9 AM ET, with Shane Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove. This special New Year’s gathering celebrates significant victories in the movement against capital punishment, with 2024 ending with more commutations (52) than executions (25).
Special guests include Death Penalty Action’s Abe Bonowitz and Noel Nickel, Executive Director of North Carolinians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, who will reflect on recent victories and the challenges ahead in 2025. With several states planning to resume executions and ongoing cases in multiple jurisdictions, this gathering offers a moment for both celebration and renewed commitment to justice.
Following the liturgy from “Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals” (available at commonprayer.net), this inclusive gathering welcomes people of all backgrounds, reflecting Death Penalty Action’s secular mission while embracing spiritual reflection for social change.
This recording captures the live event that was broadcast across Red Letter Christians’ social platforms and Zoom, demonstrating the power of community in the ongoing work for justice reform
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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 Rev. Kevin Riggs
2024-12-20 19:00 - 20:00 | Virtual
We’re delighted to have Rev. Kevin Riggs as our December Book Club guest. He’ll be in conversation with Shane Claiborne to discuss his book written with Rev. Kevin Burns (KB), Today! The Best Day of My Life.

Rev. Dr. Kevin Riggs (Pastor Kevin) has been the Senior Pastor of Franklin Community Church for more than thirty years (www.franklincommunitychurch.org). He is also the founder and Executive Director of Franklin Community Development (www.franklincommunitydevelopment.com) and Williamson County Homeless Alliance (www.wilcohomeless.com) All three organizations are located in Franklin, TN.
Pastor Kevin believes one of the primary tasks of a pastor is to be the “conscience of the community.” He is extremely active in the community and is respected as an advocate for the poor and marginalized. Pastor Kevin is also involved in prison ministry, especially Tennessee’s death row, where his church has ordained one of the men on death row and helped him start a church on death row called The Church of Life. In addition to pastoring, Rev. Dr. Riggs taught Sociology for fourteen years at Nashville State Community College. He has written four books, Failing Like Jesus, Evangelism for the 21st Century, Church Health, and Today! The Best Day of My Life. Furthermore, Pastor Kevin has an active ministry in Honduras where he trains pastors and visits prisons. He is married to his high school sweetheart, Misty. Pastor Kevin is also an avid scuba diver. He and his wife live in Franklin, TN. Instagram: Instagram (@pastor4justice)

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.

Christ is Still in the Rubble: A Liturgy of Sumud featuring a Sermon by Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac
2024-12-20 10:00 - 11:00 | Virtual
This Advent, while global Christians prepare to commemorate the arrival of the Prince of Peace, our Palestinian kin in Gaza suffer unthinkable violence – again. Their cries for deliverance, echoing those of two millennia ago, seem to be falling unheard in the United States for the second year in a row.

To see their pain and hear their cries, US Christians must move beyond information to transformation…from webinar to worship.
On 20 December 2024, a number of organizations – Christ at the Checkpoint, Christmas Lutheran Church, Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP), Global Immersion, Red Letter Christians, Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center, Samud Initiative of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) – are joining forces in solidarity to simulcast a live worship gathering guided by Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac and the team at Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem.
Last year, Rev. Munther Isaac’s Christ in the Rubble Sermon became a phenomenon in Christian communities and the world thanks to the service’s prophetic message calling for justice in Palestine. This year, Christ is Still in the Rubble, and Rev. Dr. Isaac will again deliver an Advent message to the world – live from Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem. Join us via livestream at 10 AM ET / 5 PM Jerusalem on Friday, 20 December 2024 to hear his words. The worship service will be in Arabic with English captions and Rev. Dr. Isaac’s sermon will be delivered in English.

Registration is encouraged to stay up to date on the event with reminders, information about the livestream, and other offerings from our co-sponsoring organizations.

Register Now
Join us live on the Red Letter Christians Facebook page and website.

Execution Alert: Kevin Ray Underwood
2024-12-19 00:00 - 23:59 | dc
Join us to protest the execution of Kevin Ray Underwood on December 19, 2024.
Join us to protest the execution of Kevin Ray Underwood in Oklahoma on December 19, 2024. To learn more about how you can help, visit:
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/stop-the-execution-of-kevin-underwood-in-oklahoma
Let us pray over the life of Kevin Ray Underwood. Lord, have mercy.

Execution Alert: Joseph Corcoran
2024-12-18 00:00 - 23:59 | dc
Join us to protest the execution of Joseph Corcoran on December 18, 2024.
Join us to protest the execution of Joseph Corcoran in Indiana on December 18, 2024. To learn more about how you can help, visit: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/stop-the-execution-of-corcoran-in-indiana/
Let us pray over the life of Joseph Corcoran. Lord, have mercy.

Execution Alert: Christopher Leroy Collings
2024-12-03 00:00 - 23:59 | dc
Join us to protest the execution of Christopher Leroy Collings on December 3, 2024.
To learn more about how you can help, visit: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/stop-the-execution-of-christopher-collings-in-missouri
Let us pray over the life of Christopher Leroy Collings. Lord, have mercy.

December Monthly Morning Prayer: An Advent Special with Friends from Bethlehem Bible College
2024-12-01 09:00 - 10:00 | Virtual
As we enter into the season of Advent, join us at Red Letter Christians for a Special Monthly Morning Prayer on December 1 at 9 AM ET, with our dear friends from Bethlehem Bible College. We are honored to be joined by Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac, Tony Deik, Shireen Hilal and others, for a time of prayer and solemn reflection with Shane Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove.

Links mentioned in today’s gathering:

Palestinian Christian Alliance for Peace – Take a Stand for the Holy Land!
Across the Divide Podcast
Christ at The Checkpoint Youtube Channel
Christians for a Free Palestine
Shepherd Society
RLC Advent Devotions

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 Khristi Lauren Adams
2024-11-25 19:00 - 20:00 | Virtual
We’re delighted to have Khristi Lauren Adams as our November Book Club guest; she’ll be in conversation with Susan Wood to discuss her book, “Womanish Theology: Discovering God through the Lens of Black Girlhood.”
About the Book:
Khristi Lauren Adams’s faith was first shaped by her experiences as a Black girl-learning about Scripture from her grandmother, Mama Hattie; “playing church” with her seven cousins over summer vacation; and grieving the murder of her sixteen-year-old friend when she was just fifteen.
In Womanish Theology, Adams reflects on those experiences, inviting readers to learn from a new perspective and guiding them to a deeper understanding of their own spirituality.
This groundbreaking book introduces a new branch of theological thought Adams calls womanish, as a play on womanist (the theology of Black womanhood). “Womanish,” remembers Adams, is a term Black mothers used for young girls as they grew more interested in doing grown-up things. Adams draws on her own life story as well as the life stories of other Black girls to explore theological concepts such as Scripture, theodicy, salvation, prayer, neighborly love, and the image of God.
Through this journey, readers will learn that theology is for everyone and that the whole community of God can learn from the spiritual insights of Black girls.
About the Author:
Khristi Lauren Adams is a speaker, author, youth advocate and ordained Baptist minister. Khristi is the author of Parable of the Brown Girl which is published by Fortress Press. The book highlights the cultural and spiritual truths that emerge from the lives of young black girls. Parable of the Brown Girl has received awards for Best Young Adult Book from The African American Literary Awards and the New York Black Librarians Caucus.
Her second book, Unbossed: How Black Girls Are Leading the Way was released in the Spring of 2022 with Broadleaf Books. A middle grade version of the book titled Black Girls Unbossed: Young World Changers Leading the Way was also released with Beaming Books. Unbossed was a 2023 runner up for the Los Angeles Book Festival and Black Girls Unbossed is a 2023 finalist for a Foreword INDIES Book of the Year award in the Juvenile Nonfiction category.
Khristi is the Executive Director of Community and Belonging for the St. Paul’s School’s, a family of independent schools in Baltimore County, MD. She previously worked as Dean of Spiritual Life & Equity and instructor of Religious Studies at the Hill School. She is the former Founder & Director of “The Becoming Conference”, an annual conference and leadership cohort designed to empower, educate & inspire girls between the ages of 13-18.
Khristi is a graduate of Temple University with a degree in Advertising and a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary where she obtained a Master of Divinity degree. She is a 2017 graduate of “Lead New Jersey”, a select group of thought-leaders from the public, social, and private sectors of NJ and the surrounding communities. She also currently serves as a mentor for The Garden Initiative for Black Women’s Religious Activism, a nine-month peer-to-peer and intergenerational mentorship program for black women leaders across religious traditions in the United States.
Khristi is also a 2024 Alumni Service Awardee for Princeton Seminary which highlights the outstanding efforts of alumni who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to advancing the seminary’s mission and values.
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: Carey Dale Grayson
2024-11-21 00:00 - 23:00 | dc
Join us to protest the execution of Carey Dale Grayson in Alabama on November 21, 2024. To learn more about how you can help, visit: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/stop-the-execution-of-carey-grayson-in-alabama/
To act/learn more, visit: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/stop-the-execution-of-carey-grayson-in-alabama/
Let us pray over the life of Carey Dale Grayson. Lord, have mercy.

Vote for Love for the Historically Marginalized
2024-11-04 20:00 - 21:30 | Virtual
It’s revival time.
On the four nights before the presidential election on November 5th, Red Letter Christians is hosting our final Red Letter Revival of this year to create a space for Christians who want to see love and justice at the center of our policies. Instead of solely condemning the way our faith is being manipulated for political gain this election season, we’re “practicing something better,” as our friend Richard Rohr says. There’s that old saying “Be the change you want to see in the world”… and we’re committed to being the change we want to see in the Church. And we need YOU.
One of the promises of Scripture is this – “perfect love casteth out fear.” We are standing on that promise, and raising the questions –
What would our country look like if love rather than fear was shaping our policies?
What does it look like to love our neighbor as ourselves?
What does that mean on immigration? Guns? Militarism? Poverty? Criminal justice? And more?
What does love look like in public?
How does loving my neighbor shape the way I think about policies that affect their lives?
Together, we’ll challenge the way Christianity is often distorted and co-opted for political agendas that do not center Jesus and the needs of the poor and vulnerable, those Christ called “the least of these.”
Mark your calendar for these powerful, life-giving events taking place on November 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, starting at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT. We’ll be broadcasting LIVE on all our platforms, and you won’t want to miss it!
Featuring:

Aaron Niequist, Liturgist and Writer

The Most Reverend Michael B. Curry, 27th Presiding Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church

REGISTER NOW
*** These events are free and open to the public with an optional donation. If you can chip in, every dollar helps Red Letter Christians continue to push our faith closer to one that looks like Jesus. Thank you for investing in this work!

Vote for Love for Poor and Low-Income Families
2024-11-03 20:00 - 21:30 | Virtual
It’s revival time.
On the four nights before the presidential election on November 5th, Red Letter Christians is hosting our final Red Letter Revival of this year to create a space for Christians who want to see love and justice at the center of our policies. Instead of solely condemning the way our faith is being manipulated for political gain this election season, we’re “practicing something better,” as our friend Richard Rohr says. There’s that old saying “Be the change you want to see in the world”… and we’re committed to being the change we want to see in the Church. And we need YOU.
One of the promises of Scripture is this – “perfect love casteth out fear.” We are standing on that promise, and raising the questions –
What would our country look like if love rather than fear was shaping our policies?
What does it look like to love our neighbor as ourselves?
What does that mean on immigration? Guns? Militarism? Poverty? Criminal justice? And more?
What does love look like in public?
How does loving my neighbor shape the way I think about policies that affect their lives?
Together, we’ll challenge the way Christianity is often distorted and co-opted for political agendas that do not center Jesus and the needs of the poor and vulnerable, those Christ called “the least of these.”
Mark your calendar for these powerful, life-giving events taking place on November 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, starting at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT. We’ll be broadcasting LIVE on all our platforms, and you won’t want to miss it!
Featuring:

Dr. Terence Lester, Founder and Executive Director at Love Beyond Walls, storyteller, public scholar, speaker, community activist, & author

The Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, Director of the Kairos Center for Religions, Rights, and Social Justice & Co-Chair of the Poor People’s Campaign

Becca Forsyth, Freedom Church of the Poor and NYS Poor People’s Campaign

Music from Common Hymnal’s Jalen Seawright

REGISTER NOW
*** These events are free and open to the public with an optional donation. If you can chip in, every dollar helps Red Letter Christians continue to push our faith closer to one that looks like Jesus. Thank you for investing in this work!

Vote for Love for Immigrants
2024-11-02 20:00 - 21:30 | Virtual
The Urgency of Immigration Advocacy: Communities, Prisons, Borders and the Body of Christ
Co-sponsor: Nootbaar Institute on Law, Religion and Ethics, Pepperdine Caruso School of Law
Expert guests will explore the multifaceted nature of our country’s immigration crisis – both how it is deeply rooted in local communities at the border, and how these local injustices fit into a broken, inhumane national immigration system urgently needing reform in a world where 120 million people have been forcibly displaced.
Speakers will challenge attendees to consider how the church can more meaningfully respond to the Gospel’s clarion call to welcome the stranger. The speakers will also highlight the urgent need to care for immigrants within the prison system, many of whom are unjustly detained and face compounded trauma.
As fellow Christians, the advocates will call on the church to step into these spaces, offering both practical support and a prophetic witness that reflects the radical hospitality of the Gospel. Participants will be asked to grapple with how race, class, and systems of oppression intersect with the immigration crisis. This panel will challenge the church to reimagine its role in standing with the stranger, the prisoner, and the most marginalized in our society.
Moderator:
Jennifer Lee Koh, Associate Professor of Law & Co-Director of the Nootbaar Institute on Law, Religion and Ethics, Pepperdine Caruso School of Law
Panelists:

Guerline Jozef, Co-Founder & Executive Director, Haitian Bridge Alliance

Tin Nguyen, Program Director, Decarcerate Orange County

Kimberly Serrano – director for the Center of Inclusion and Belonging at the American Immigration Council

*** These events are free and open to the public with an optional donation. If you can chip in, every dollar helps Red Letter Christians continue to push our faith closer to one that looks like Jesus. Thank you for investing in this work!
REGISTER NOW

This event is one of a series of four virtual Red Letter Revivals.
Learn more about the event series below.
It’s revival time.
On the four nights before the presidential election on November 5th, Red Letter Christians is hosting our final Red Letter Revival of this year to create a space for Christians who want to see love and justice at the center of our policies. Instead of solely condemning the way our faith is being manipulated for political gain this election season, we’re “practicing something better,” as our friend Richard Rohr says. There’s that old saying “Be the change you want to see in the world”… and we’re committed to being the change we want to see in the Church. And we need YOU.
One of the promises of Scripture is this – “perfect love casteth out fear.” We are standing on that promise, and raising the questions –
What would our country look like if love rather than fear was shaping our policies?
What does it look like to love our neighbor as ourselves?
What does that mean on immigration? Guns? Militarism? Poverty? Criminal justice? And more?
What does love look like in public?
How does loving my neighbor shape the way I think about policies that affect their lives?
Together, we’ll challenge the way Christianity is often distorted and co-opted for political agendas that do not center Jesus and the needs of the poor and vulnerable, those Christ called “the least of these.”
Mark your calendar for these powerful, life-giving events taking place on November 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, starting at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT. We’ll be broadcasting LIVE on all our platforms, and you won’t want to miss it!

Vote For Love for Victims of Violence
2024-11-01 20:00 - 21:30 | Virtual
It’s revival time.
On the four nights before the presidential election on November 5th, Red Letter Christians is hosting our final Red Letter Revival of this year to create a space for Christians who want to see love and justice at the center of our policies. Instead of solely condemning the way our faith is being manipulated for political gain this election season, we’re “practicing something better,” as our friend Richard Rohr says. There’s that old saying “Be the change you want to see in the world”… and we’re committed to being the change we want to see in the Church.
And we need YOU.
One of the promises of Scripture is this – “perfect love casteth out fear.” We are standing on that promise, and raising the questions –

What would our country look like if love rather than fear was shaping our policies?
What does it look like to love our neighbor as ourselves?
What does that mean on immigration? Guns? Militarism? Poverty? Criminal justice? And more?
What does love look like in public?
How does loving my neighbor shape the way I think about policies that affect their lives?

Together, we’ll challenge the way Christianity is often distorted and co-opted for political agendas that do not center Jesus and the needs of the poor and vulnerable, those Christ called “the least of these.”
Mark your calendar for these powerful, life-giving events taking place on November 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, starting at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT. We’ll be broadcasting LIVE on all our platforms, and you won’t want to miss it!
Featuring:

Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac, Academic Dean, Bethlehem Bible College; Christ at the Checkpoint Conference Director

Ben Cohen, Co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream

Rev. Sharon Risher, Author, Speaker, Pastor, Gun Violence Prevention activist

In conversation with Shane Claiborne
Music by Propaganda
REGISTER NOW
*** These events are free and open to the public with an optional donation. If you can chip in, every dollar helps Red Letter Christians continue to push our faith closer to one that looks like Jesus. Thank you for investing in this work!

November Monthly Morning Prayer
2024-11-01 09:00 - 10:00 | Virtual
We are beyond honored to welcome Rev. Dr. William Barber II as our guest for November’s Monthly Morning Prayer.
Bishop William J. Barber II is President and Senior Lecturer of Repairers of the Breach, Bishop with The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries, Executive Board Member of the Christian Church Disciples of Christ, and Professor in the Practice of Public Theology and Public Policy and Founding Director of the Center for Public Theology and Public Policy at Yale Divinity School. Co-Chair of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call For Moral Revival, and a Kettering Foundation Senior Fellow.
He is the author of five books: We Are Called To Be A Movement; Revive Us Again: Vision and Action in Moral Organizing; The Third Reconstruction: Moral Mondays, Fusion Politics, and The Rise of a New Justice Movement; and Forward Together: A Moral Message For The Nation. White Poverty: How Exposing Myths About Race and Class Can Reconstruct American Democracy was released in June 2024.
Bishop Barber served as senior pastor of Greenleaf Christian Church, Disciples of Christ for thirty years and as president of the North Carolina NAACP from 2006-2017 and on the National NAACP Board of Directors from 2008-2020. He is the architect of the Forward Together Moral Movement that gained national acclaim in 2013 with its Moral Monday protests at the North Carolina General Assembly. In 2015, he established Repairers of the Breach to train communities in moral movement building through the Moral Political Organizing Leadership Institute and Summit Trainings (MPOLIS). In 2018, he co-anchored the relaunch of the Pour People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival—reviving the 1968 Poor People’s Campaign organized by women’s rights movement, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., worker’s rights movement, religious leaders, and people of all races to fight poverty in the U.S. As a moral leader Bishop William Barber II engaging in non-violent civil disobedience has been arrested more than 15 times in various states standing up with those who have been marginalized by systematic racism, poverty, and injustice.
A highly sought-after speaker, Bishop Barber has given keynote addresses at hundreds of national and state conferences, including the 2016 Democratic National Convention, one of few preachers in nations history to be invited to give the homily at the 59th Inaugural Prayer Service for President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Vatican at Pope Francis’s encyclical “Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home” and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. In June 2018, he addressed the 5th Uni Global Union World Congress to more than 25 countries.
Bishop Barber is regularly featured in media outlets such as MSNBC, CNN, NNPA, the New York Times, Washington Post, and The Nation magazine. He was named one of 2020’s BET 100 Entertainers and Innovators and one of the 2019 recipients of the North Carolina Award, the state’s highest civilian honor. He is a 2018 MacArthur Foundation Genius Award recipient and a 2015 recipient of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Award and the Puffin Award. Bishop Barber has had twelve honorary doctorate degrees conferred upon him. He earned a High School degree from Plymouth High, a bachelor’s degree from North Carolina Central University, a Master of Divinity from Duke University, and a Doctorate from Drew University with a concentration in Public Policy and Pastoral Care. And has studied in a special fellowship at MIT.
Shane Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove will be facilitating this time of reflection and prayer as always. We will be streaming live on all our socials; register to join us on Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAsf-yhqDktEtaFrLGo6ruPBpOkho6n2LLY
We will be live on all of our socials! 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: Richard Moore
2024-11-01 00:00 - 23:59 | dc
Join us to protest the execution of Richard Moore in South Carolina on November 1, 2024. To learn more about how you can help, visit: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/stop-the-execution-of-richard-moore-in-south-carolina-2
To act/learn more, visit: Stop the Execution of Richard Moore in South Carolina (actionnetwork.org)
Let us pray over the life of Richard Moore. Lord, have mercy.

RLC Book Club with Eliza Griswold
2024-10-23 19:00 - 20:00
We are excited to have October’s featured guest Eliza Griswold talking about her latest book, “Circle of Hope: A Reckoning of Love, Power and Justice in an American Church” with Shane Claiborne and Katie Jo Brotherton.
About the Book:
“Circle of Hope” is an intimate portrait of a church, its radical mission, and its riveting crisis. “The revolution I wanted to be part of was in the church.”
Americans have been leaving their churches. Some drift away. Some stay home. And some have been searching for—and finding—more authentic ways to find and follow Jesus.
This is the story of one such “radical outpost of Jesus followers” dedicated to service, the Sermon on the Mount, and working toward justice for all in this life, not just salvation for some in the next. Part of a little-known yet influential movement at the edge of American evangelicalism, Philadelphia’s Circle of Hope grew for forty years, planted four congregations, and then found itself in crisis.
The story that follows is an American allegory full of questions with urgent relevance for so many of us, not just the faithful: How do we commit to one another and our better selves in a fracturing world? Where does power live? Can it be shared? How do we make “the least of these” welcome?
Building on years of deep reporting, the Pulitzer Prize winner Eliza Griswold has crafted an intimate, immersive, tenderhearted portrait of a community, as well as a riveting chronicle of its transformation, bearing witness to the ways a deeply committed membership and their team of devoted pastors are striving toward change that might help their church survive. Through generational rifts, an increasingly politicized religious landscape, a pandemic that prevented gathering to worship, and a rise in foundation-shaking activism, Circle of Hope tells a propulsive, layered story of what we do to stay true to our beliefs. It is a soaring, searing examination of what it means for us to love, to grow, and to disagree.
About the Author:
Eliza Griswold is the author of six books of poetry and nonfiction, all published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Her book Amity and Prosperity: One Family and the Fracturing of America was awarded the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction. She writes for The New Yorker, is the Ferris Professor and Director of the Program in Journalism at Princeton University, and lives in New Jersey with her husband and son.
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.

Called to Community: Reviving Jesus’ Justice for Our Time (Red Letter Revival Night 2)
2024-10-19 18:00 - 21:00 | Friends Center, 1501 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19102, United States
“Let us be those creative dissenters who will call our beloved nation to a higher destiny, to a new plateau of compassion, to a more noble expression of humanness.”
– Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?
On this second and final evening of the Red Letter Revival – Philadelphia, believers will gather to breathe new life into Rev. Dr. King’s “revolution of values”: casting an alternative vision for the future where Christians can clearly see the synergy between faith and justice and understand how to work with churches, organizations, and activists working to realize this justice – right here and right now.
Inspired by the grace and wisdom of faithful speakers, activists, and artists, we will collectively respond to King’s call to be creative dissenters and merge the resources, vision, and expertise of dozens of organizations and hundreds of leaders, bending our collective path closer towards the world God intended for God’s creation.
Welcome:

Lisa Sharon Harper, Founder & President, Freedom Road LLC & Board Member, RLC
Shane Claiborne, Co-founder, Red Letter Christians

Womanist Preaching Team:

Rev. Dr. Leslie D. Callahan, Pastor, St. Paul’s Baptist Church in Philadelphia, PA
Kimberlee A. Johnson, D.Min., Dean, Palmer Theological Seminary and Palmer College at Eastern University; Director, Center for Community Engagement; Founder/Advisor, Prison Education Program; Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary & Urban Studies
Dr. Anthea Butler, Geraldine R. Segal Professor in American Social Thought; Chair of the department of Religious Studies at the University of Pennsylvania

Musicians & Artists: The Angels of Harmony from Eastern University

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The Birthplace of Democracy: A Spiritual Pilgrimage
2024-10-19 13:30 - 16:30 | Philadelphia
Join with fellow co-conspirators on a pilgrimage through Philadelphia’s storied past. As part of the Red Letter Christians 2024 Philadelphia Revival, this walking pilgrimage invites believers to trace the paths of those who stood for justice and embodied the love of Christ in the face of oppression and inequality.
With each stop, we’ll pause to offer prayers and blessings, led by voices committed to the Gospel’s call for justice, peace, and Becoming Beloved Community – right here and right now. We’ll visit sites where faith and action intertwined, where the cries for freedom were lifted, and where the seeds of a just society were planted. Along the way, we’ll also highlight additional points of interest, providing opportunities to delve deeper into the history and ongoing struggle for justice.
This pilgrimage is more than a journey through history; it is a call to action. As we reflect on the legacy of those who came before us, we are reminded of the work still to be done. Together, we will draw inspiration from the past to shape a future where Christ’s love stands against injustice, where our faith compels us to act, and where the vision of a just and peaceful world becomes a reality.
Join us as we hear these sacred stories affirming that Jesus and justice go hand-in-hand and commit ourselves to the work of building a society with love at its core.
Tentative Walking Pilgrimage Sites

Meeting Point & Start of Pilgrimage: S Front St & Market St
Front Street and Market Street where enslaved Africans were sold
Statue of Tamaned (Lenape Chief) who engaged William Penn and other “settlers”/colonizers
Christ Church, site where several of the country’s worshiped
Ben Franklin’s House
Congregation Mikveh Israel (Longest Running Synagogue in the U.S.)
Arch St. Quaker Meeting House
St. George Methodist Church
National Mint
Free Quaker Meeting House
First President’s Mansion where George Washington lived and owned enslaved people
Liberty Bell
Independence Mall
Sansom Street Hall (Site of the 5th national Women’s Rights Convention)
Mother Bethel AME Church

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Tour of Transformative Community Organizations in Kensington, Philadelphia
2024-10-19 09:00 - 12:00 | The Simple Way, 3234 Potter St, Philadelphia, PA, 19134, United States
Join fellow co-conspirators for a tour of Kensington in North Philadelphia.
RAWtools Philly
Spend the morning turning guns into garden tools with blacksmiths from RAW tools Philly! Hear stories of magnificent transformation and deep trauma of grief and loss as you recommit to solving our problems without guns and violence.
The Simple Way
Visit a community organization knitting neighbors together in a network of love and mutual support. The Simple Way has a garden and Food Choice Pantry. They offer support services and advocate for systematic change with other local partners when bigger systems throw obstacles in their neighbors’ way. See how this network of compassion allows neighbors Kensington to thrive.
Simple Homes
Simple Homes is dedicated to creating dignified, affordable housing for low-income families in Philadelphia. Born from a collaboration between The Simple Way community and the Fuller Center for Housing, Simple Homes revitalizes abandoned houses, turning them into stable, healthy homes. With over 20,000 abandoned houses in Philadelphia and countless families in need, Simple Homes is committed to transforming neighborhoods and ensuring that everyone has a place to call home. Their model, proven effective in cities across the country, focuses on building not just houses, but a supportive and thriving community.
Details

Tour begins at 10:30am from The Simple Way: 3234 Potter St, Philadelphia, PA 19134
This experience requires roughly 20 minutes of walking
Recommended optional donation: $35. This tour is free and open to the public.

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Setting the Table: Creating a Safe Space for Christian Women in Dialogue about the Future of our Nation and the Church
2024-10-19 09:00 - 10:00 | dc
As Christian women in this divided time, we believe it is important to commune together through shared meals and to prayerfully listen to one another in order to ask what God is doing in this moment. How do we see this movement theologically and spiritually? It is through relationships with one another and the intentional building of mutual trust that opponents can become friends, that we can speak to one another instead of past each other, and that we can move forward together.
This event will include breakfast, conversation at tables and a closing liturgy with Christian women leaders representing communities from a range of political perspectives.
This event is by invitation only as has a registration fee of $25. Please contact revivals@redletterchristians.org if you wish to attend.

The Body of Christ in the American Empire (Red Letter Revival Night 1)
2024-10-18 18:00 - 21:00 | The Historic African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas, 6361 Lancaster Avenue (Absalom Jones Way), Philadelphia, PA, 19151, United States
On the first evening of the Red Letter Revival – Philadelphia, believers will gather at The Historic African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas to reflect on the chaos of injustice and ignite our spirits in preparation to birth a more just world with Christ’s love at its core. In this divisive election season, we’ll explore how to strategize and mobilize to put love at the center of our policies on racial justice, gun violence, housing, poverty, voter engagement, and war and how to uproot Christian nationalism which distorts our faith and threatens the neighbors we are called to love.

Welcome & Introduction:
The Very Rev. Canon Martini Shaw, Seventeenth Rector of the Historic African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas
The Rev. Charles (Chaz) Lattimore Howard, PhD, University Chaplain and Vice President for Social Equity & Community, University of Pennsylvania
Lisa Sharon Harper, Founder & President, Freedom Road LLC & Board Member, RLC
Shane Claiborne, Co-founder, Red Letter Christians
Preacher:
Rev. Traci deVon Blackmon
Rev. Traci Blackmon lives by the mantra: Faith hears, Love heals, and Hope builds. She is the Founder & Lead Consultant of HopeBuilds, LLC, a newly launched social impact firm that accompanies communities, corporations, and congregations eager to build the just and equitable worlds they imagine. HopeBuilds envisions a world where our greatest differences become invitations to shape collective narratives that serve as building blocks of hope, empowering communities to thrive.
From 2016 through 2023, Rev. Blackmon served as Associate General Minister & Vice-President of the United Church of Christ, a Christian denomination of approximately 750,000 members dispersed among 5,000 churches within the United States. In that role, she led the Justice and Local Church Ministries. From 2009 through 2020, Rev. Blackmon pastored Christ The King United Church of Christ, a congregation anchored in Florissant, MO, in St. Louis County. Under her leadership, Christ The King served as a sanctuary for community engagement, and the denomination launched several anchor initiatives focused on congregational education, engagement, and social action. Following the police killing of Michael Brown, Jr. in nearby Ferguson, the church hosted the first city-wide community engagement meeting and remained a gathering site for faith-based organizing efforts.
Prior to 2009, Rev. Blackmon served as a pastor of Simpson Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church and worked as a licensed registered nurse, healthcare administrator, and community organizer for several healthcare delivery systems. She was appointed chair of the Criminal Justice Reform Task Force of the Ferguson Commission, which released the ‘Forward Through Ferguson: A Path Toward Racial Equity’ report in 2015, calling for sweeping changes in policing, the courts, child well-being, and economic mobility. In 2012, she was appointed to the President’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships by Barack Obama.
Rev. Blackmon currently serves on the boards of the Parliament of World Religions, the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, and Americans United for Separation of Church and State. She is an Auburn Senior Fellow and theologian in residence for Eden Theological Seminary. Rev. Blackmon earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Birmingham-Southern College, a Master of Divinity from Eden Theological Seminary, and an honorary Doctor of Divinity from Eden as well. Traci is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., and is the mother of three adult children.
Featuring the Gospel Choir of The Historic African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas.

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Execution Alert: Derrick Dearman
2024-10-17 00:00 - 23:59 | dc
Join us to protest the execution of Derrick Dearman in Alabama on October 17, 2024.
To act/learn more, visit: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/stop-the-execution-of-derrick-dearman-in-alabama/
Let us pray over the life of Derrick Dearman. Lord, have mercy.

Execution Alert: Robert Roberson
2024-10-17 00:00 - 23:59 | dc
Join us to protest the execution of Robert Roberson in Texas on October 17, 2024. To learn more about how you can help, visit: Stop the Execution of Robert Roberson in Texas – Action Network

To act/learn more, visit: Stop the Execution of Robert Roberson in Texas – Action Network
Let us pray over the life of Robert Roberson. Lord, have mercy.

National Christian Prayer Call on the Death Penalty
2024-10-10 18:30 - 19:30 | dc
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
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 | dc
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!
