H - PEOPLE FILES
- Ted Haggard - Contanze Hagmaier - Leslie A Hahner - JD Hall - Joseph Hall - Mark David Hall - Nick Hall - Laura Hammans - Cally Hammond - Thomas Hammond - Hank Hanegraaff - Collin Hansen - Lisa Sharon Harper -
ted haggard |
Ted Arthur Haggard is an American evangelical pastor. Haggard is the founder and former pastor of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado and is a founder of the Association of Life-Giving Churches. He served as president of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) from 2003 until November 2006.
Ted Haggard was born on June 27, 1956 in Delphi, Indiana, USA. He has been married to Gayle Haggard since 1978. They have five children.
Ted Haggard was born on June 27, 1956 in Delphi, Indiana, USA. He has been married to Gayle Haggard since 1978. They have five children.
January 10, 2023: Religion & Politics: Bad Preachers’ Wives
By the 2000s, the conservative evangelical stance on homosexuality had cemented itself in a series of denouncements, prohibitions, and therapeutic treatments. God wanted everyone to be straight; some just had to work a bit harder at it. Ted Haggard, president of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), knew this intimately.
Haggard was the charismatic founder and pastor of the 14,000-member New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He was friendly with the anti-gay Focus on the Family leader James Dobson and served as an occasional advisor to George W. Bush’s White House. In 2006, as marriage equality was being debated in state and federal courts, Haggard endorsed Colorado’s proposed ban on same-sex marriage. When sex worker Mike Jones learned about his long-time client’s true identity and political activism, he rushed to the press with the explosive details of Haggard’s double life.
By the 2000s, the conservative evangelical stance on homosexuality had cemented itself in a series of denouncements, prohibitions, and therapeutic treatments. God wanted everyone to be straight; some just had to work a bit harder at it. Ted Haggard, president of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), knew this intimately.
Haggard was the charismatic founder and pastor of the 14,000-member New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He was friendly with the anti-gay Focus on the Family leader James Dobson and served as an occasional advisor to George W. Bush’s White House. In 2006, as marriage equality was being debated in state and federal courts, Haggard endorsed Colorado’s proposed ban on same-sex marriage. When sex worker Mike Jones learned about his long-time client’s true identity and political activism, he rushed to the press with the explosive details of Haggard’s double life.
Jul 26, 2022: Religion News: Disgraced pastor Ted Haggard faces new allegations
Former Colorado megachurch pastor Ted Haggard, who fell from grace in 2006 after a gay sex-and-drug scandal, is now facing some of the same allegations at another church.
Haggard, 66, is being accused of using methamphetamine and behaving inappropriately with young men at St. James Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, a church he founded in 2010, The Denver Gazette reported.
Former Colorado megachurch pastor Ted Haggard, who fell from grace in 2006 after a gay sex-and-drug scandal, is now facing some of the same allegations at another church.
Haggard, 66, is being accused of using methamphetamine and behaving inappropriately with young men at St. James Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, a church he founded in 2010, The Denver Gazette reported.
constanze hagmaier |
The Reverend Constanze Hagmaier was elected to the Office of Bishop on Saturday, June 1, 2019 at the South Dakota Synod Assembly. Bishop Constanze Hagmaier is married to The Rev. Dirk Hagmaier and they have two biological children: Paul, 20; Emma, 4; and one foster son, Lymann, 21. Bishop Hagmaier had most recently been serving as the administrative pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Madison, SD with her husband, Rev. Dirk Hagmaier
How some South Dakota churches are adapting to attendance declines
Falling attendance and membership at many South Dakota churches has prompted pastors, leaders and elders to look for creative ways to keep people engaged and pursuing a larger purpose. Constanze Hagmaier, bishop of the South Dakota Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, said that includes using technology to allow for remote attendance and encouraging lay church members to take a more active role in spreading the gospel outside the walls of the church. (Bart Pfankuch/Sioux Falls Argus Leader 4/8/23)
Read More>>>>>
Falling attendance and membership at many South Dakota churches has prompted pastors, leaders and elders to look for creative ways to keep people engaged and pursuing a larger purpose. Constanze Hagmaier, bishop of the South Dakota Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, said that includes using technology to allow for remote attendance and encouraging lay church members to take a more active role in spreading the gospel outside the walls of the church. (Bart Pfankuch/Sioux Falls Argus Leader 4/8/23)
Read More>>>>>
Constanze Hagemaier
“Oftentimes, when we look at civic resources and civic engagements, it’s all about what can I do. It’s all about me, me, me, me, me and how we need to save ourselves. And if we can’t do that, we get frustrated and all these things bubble up and we start pointing fingers and conflict arises. But the church, ideally speaking, has this other voice, this countercultural voice, where if we take ourselves out of the picture and put God at the center, and that’s part of our message, then we can take our own differences away and look at life from a different lens, and work for communal good.....If we still think we live in the times that we lived in when our forefathers founded the land and the church, and these young people have all the pressing issues that we are not able to talk about, then they won’t be interested. If the church is not relevant in their lives, they won’t participate in church or be part of a church. They’re very selective in how they engage. The church has a clear and profound message at which the true God is at the center and from there we reach out to offer an alternative way of life. But if the church loses the focus we become fear driven and operate from a preservative mindset....If we believe that in everything God’s at the heart of things we are free to engage in our culture and offer an alternative.”
-Constanze Hagameir 4/8/23
-Constanze Hagameir 4/8/23
July 19, 2022: Aberdeen News: Churches in South Dakota, nationwide dealing with lower attendance, affiliation numbers“As the world keeps turning and changing around us, we expect the church to always be the same … well, nowhere in Scripture does it say the church will be the same,” said Constanze Hagmaier, bishop of the ELCA South Dakota Synod. "If we can’t hear the voices that are out there and respond with faith, then we’re emptying the church on our own; we’re just helping them pack and go out the door because we refuse to open ourselves up to actually listen.”
Changing and adapting is critical in reaching and attracting the next generation of Americans and South Dakotans, who look at the world and institutions with a more critical eye and demand more payback for the time and energy they invest, she said
Changing and adapting is critical in reaching and attracting the next generation of Americans and South Dakotans, who look at the world and institutions with a more critical eye and demand more payback for the time and energy they invest, she said
Oct 29, 2021: South Dakota Public Broadcasting: Bishop to Bishop: A conversation with ELCA Bishops Constanze Hagmaier and Megan Rohrer
This interview is from SDPB's daily public-affairs show, In the Moment, hosted by Lori Walsh.
This interview is from SDPB's daily public-affairs show, In the Moment, hosted by Lori Walsh.
May 4, 2021: Capital Journal: Madison pastor, German native, elected bishop of SD synod of ELCA; succeeds former Pierre pastor
The Rev. Constanze Hagmaier was elected bishop of the South Dakota Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America on Saturday, June 1, in Sioux Falls, to succeed Bishop David Zellmer, who was a pastor in Pierre from 1993-2007.
The Rev. Constanze Hagmaier was elected bishop of the South Dakota Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America on Saturday, June 1, in Sioux Falls, to succeed Bishop David Zellmer, who was a pastor in Pierre from 1993-2007.
==leslie a hahner================
Leslie A Hahner
“Christian Nationalism,” she explained, “is a set of ideological beliefs expressed by [some] white, evangelical Christians. Their beliefs champion the U.S. as a Christian nation, as one that is ordained by God. It’s often connected to, if not an outright embodiment of, ideologies of white supremacy.........Christian Dominionism is a set of beliefs and practices [that] often manifest through a smaller sect of white, evangelical Christians and some sections of Catholicism.” According to Hahner, followers of Christian Dominionism, many of whom are supporters of former Pres. Trump, believe that “God gave [them] the [United States]…and that God’s battle with Satan is currently playing out in the arena of politics and elsewhere.” In that way, she says, “Dominionism suggests that white supremacy manifests through God’s hand.” -Leslie A Hahner; 2.14.21
==jd hall================
‘Being a pastor is an awful existence,’ JD Hall says a year after being removed from the pulpit
Just over a year after he was removed from ministry for abusing the prescription drug Xanax, and later accused of embezzling money from his church and physical abuse, former pastor and notorious polemics blogger, Jordan Daniel "J.D." Hall, says being a pastor is an “awful existence” and he would never want his son to follow in his footsteps. Hall, who formerly led Fellowship Baptist Church in Sidney, Montana, and was known for his scathing criticisms of Christian leaders on his polemics website Pulpit & Pen, and, more recently, Protestia, was removed from his roles with those organizations after news broke about his arrest on DUI and a weapons charge last summer. However, no alcohol was found in his system when a blood alcohol test was administered.
(Christian Post 10/26/23) READ MORE>>>>>
Just over a year after he was removed from ministry for abusing the prescription drug Xanax, and later accused of embezzling money from his church and physical abuse, former pastor and notorious polemics blogger, Jordan Daniel "J.D." Hall, says being a pastor is an “awful existence” and he would never want his son to follow in his footsteps. Hall, who formerly led Fellowship Baptist Church in Sidney, Montana, and was known for his scathing criticisms of Christian leaders on his polemics website Pulpit & Pen, and, more recently, Protestia, was removed from his roles with those organizations after news broke about his arrest on DUI and a weapons charge last summer. However, no alcohol was found in his system when a blood alcohol test was administered.
(Christian Post 10/26/23) READ MORE>>>>>
==joseph hall================
Trump campaign touts evangelical support in Iowa as faith leaders endorse him
"As a pastor in Iowa, I believe President Trump has demonstrated a profound understanding of the issues that are crucial to us," Crossroads Church Senior Pastor Joseph Hall said. More than 150 faith leaders in Iowa have thrown their support behind former President Donald Trump ahead of the state's primary contest, potentially helping him to shore up a key voting bloc in Hawkeye State.
(Ben Wedon/Just The News 11/21/23)
READ MORE>>>>>
"As a pastor in Iowa, I believe President Trump has demonstrated a profound understanding of the issues that are crucial to us," Crossroads Church Senior Pastor Joseph Hall said. More than 150 faith leaders in Iowa have thrown their support behind former President Donald Trump ahead of the state's primary contest, potentially helping him to shore up a key voting bloc in Hawkeye State.
(Ben Wedon/Just The News 11/21/23)
READ MORE>>>>>
mark david hall
Mark David Hall (born 22 February 1966) Mark David Hall is a Professor in Regent University's Robertson School of Government and a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Religion, Culture & Democracy, an initiative of First Liberty Institute. Mark David Hall arrived at George Fox 2001 after receiving a BA in political science from Wheaton College and a PhD in political science from the University of Virginia. In addition to teaching politics and honors, he is director of the John Dickinson Forum for the Study of America's Founding Principles. As well, Mark is Distinguished Scholar of Christianity & Public Life at George Fox University, Associate Faculty at the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University, and a Senior Fellow at Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion. In 2022-2023, he was a Garwood Visiting Fellow at Princeton University’s James Madison Program and a Visiting Scholar at the Mercatus Center.
Mark David Hall
This book…(Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land) focuses on the ways in which Christians have advanced liberty and equality in the American context. Contrary to many academics and popular authors, I show that Christians have regularly been motivated by their faith to create fair and just institutions, fight for political freedom, oppose slavery, and secure religious liberty for all. Of course, some Christians have appealed to the Bible and Christian theology to oppose such reforms or to justify evil practices. Americans of other faiths and no faith have also worked to advance liberty and equality for all. Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land cannot tell all of these stories; its more modest goal is to put to rest the myth that Christianity has been a regressive force with respect to positive political, legal, and societal reform in the United States. --Mark David Hall
Kevin Deyoung Files
Hall has written an important book full of important history and corrective scholarship. As a physical book, the quality would have been improved with a better typeface, better paper, a better cover design, and something besides running footnotes (so that the total reaches 555 for the entire book). The impressive content, though, more than makes up for the lackluster design. Although the second half of the book strays a bit from the historical question “how Christianity has advanced freedom” into present-day advocacy for religious freedom, the book as a whole is thoroughly researched and effectively argued. Hall’s work is a needed reminder that even if America never was, and is not now, “Christian” in every sense of the word, we can never fully separate—nor should we want to separate—Christianity from America. The fight for liberty, not least of all religious liberty, is ongoing and should be the concern of all Americans. And for that liberty in the first place—for all Americans—we have Christians to thank. --Kevin DeYoung; 5.24.23
nick hall
Nick Hall is an international evangelist and the founder of PULSE, one of the largest student-led prayer and evangelism efforts in America. He also on the Board of Directors Executive Committee of the National Association of Evangelicals, and author of the book Reset: Jesus Changes Everything.
Mar 22, 2023: Church Leaders: Nick Hall on Asbury, Gen Z and Why He Believes ‘God Is Doing Something’
“People would stand up in the middle of Asbury. They would say, ‘Hey, if you’re here, you need to repent.’ Somebody stood up and said, ‘I’m guilty of adultery and I’m stuck in my sin.’ And the whole room would say, ‘The blood of Jesus forgives you.’ And then somebody else would stand up and say, ‘I’m addicted to porn or I have hate in my heart’ or whatever—’The blood of Jesus forgives you.’”
“People would stand up in the middle of Asbury. They would say, ‘Hey, if you’re here, you need to repent.’ Somebody stood up and said, ‘I’m guilty of adultery and I’m stuck in my sin.’ And the whole room would say, ‘The blood of Jesus forgives you.’ And then somebody else would stand up and say, ‘I’m addicted to porn or I have hate in my heart’ or whatever—’The blood of Jesus forgives you.’”
Feb 28, 2023: Religion News: The Asbury revival is over. What happens now?
On Sunday (Feb. 26), Minneapolis-based evangelist Nick Hall brought an Asbury-inspired revival event to Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky, about half an hour from the Christian school’s campus.
Hall is the leader of Pulse, a ministry that aims to bring “Jesus to the next generation” by hosting big events. He attended the Asbury revival in its first week and said he was overwhelmed by what God was doing.
On Sunday (Feb. 26), Minneapolis-based evangelist Nick Hall brought an Asbury-inspired revival event to Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky, about half an hour from the Christian school’s campus.
Hall is the leader of Pulse, a ministry that aims to bring “Jesus to the next generation” by hosting big events. He attended the Asbury revival in its first week and said he was overwhelmed by what God was doing.
laura hammans
June 18, 2019: CalMatters: How Redding, California, became an unlikely epicenter of modern Christian culture
“Redding is their test case of turning a city that is a democracy into a theocracy,” says Laura Hammans, a member of Investigating Bethel, a Facebook group with more than 1,000 members.
Hammans is one of a dozen members of the group meeting at a Redding park one afternoon. Another member, Donna Zibull, is passing out stickers that say, “Don’t drink the Kool-Aid.”
“Redding is their test case of turning a city that is a democracy into a theocracy,” says Laura Hammans, a member of Investigating Bethel, a Facebook group with more than 1,000 members.
Hammans is one of a dozen members of the group meeting at a Redding park one afternoon. Another member, Donna Zibull, is passing out stickers that say, “Don’t drink the Kool-Aid.”
==cally hammond===========
Reverend Dr Cally Hammond is the Dean of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. She is the Church Times’s Sunday’s Readings columnist.
College positions: Dean Director of Studies in Theology, Religion & Philosophy of Religion. Subjects: Classics Theology, Religion, and Philosophy of Religion
Degrees: MA, DPhil (Oxon.) Literae Humaniores. MA (Cantab) Theology and Religious Studies. Research interests: Augustine Confessions; liturgical praxis; characterization and causation in early Christian historiography; Mariology; words. Teaching interests: Early Christian history and doctrinal development; Greek and Latin languages; Cicero, Caesar, Virgil, Augustine.
Publications: Augustine, Teaching Christianity; the Teacher (Harvard: Loeb Classical Library) forthcoming Augustine’s life of prayer, learning and love: lessons for Christian living (2019) Caesar: the Gallic War (Oxford World’s Classics 1995) Passionate Christianity: a journey to the Cross (SPCK 2007) Joyful Christianity: finding Jesus in the world (SPCK 2009) Glorious Christianity: walking by faith in the life to come (SPCK 2011) Augustine: Confessions vol. 1, 1-8 (Harvard: Loeb Classical Library 2014) vol.2, 9-13 (2015) The Sound of the Liturgy: how words work in worship (SPCK: 2015)
College positions: Dean Director of Studies in Theology, Religion & Philosophy of Religion. Subjects: Classics Theology, Religion, and Philosophy of Religion
Degrees: MA, DPhil (Oxon.) Literae Humaniores. MA (Cantab) Theology and Religious Studies. Research interests: Augustine Confessions; liturgical praxis; characterization and causation in early Christian historiography; Mariology; words. Teaching interests: Early Christian history and doctrinal development; Greek and Latin languages; Cicero, Caesar, Virgil, Augustine.
Publications: Augustine, Teaching Christianity; the Teacher (Harvard: Loeb Classical Library) forthcoming Augustine’s life of prayer, learning and love: lessons for Christian living (2019) Caesar: the Gallic War (Oxford World’s Classics 1995) Passionate Christianity: a journey to the Cross (SPCK 2007) Joyful Christianity: finding Jesus in the world (SPCK 2009) Glorious Christianity: walking by faith in the life to come (SPCK 2011) Augustine: Confessions vol. 1, 1-8 (Harvard: Loeb Classical Library 2014) vol.2, 9-13 (2015) The Sound of the Liturgy: how words work in worship (SPCK: 2015)
Cally Hammond
In 1 Corinthians, Paul does not balance weal and woe. Instead, he sets truth against untruth. We could almost say that here is the purest distillation of the gospel; for our whole faith depends upon this one fact. If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is lies. We have even misrepresented God, and our hope is void — and not only our hope, but the hope of loved ones who have already died. If Christ has been raised, however, his resurrection is a “first fruits”. This means the first and freshest of the new harvest, which gives an indicator of the quality of what has not yet been gathered. Christ’s quality should be the guarantee of our own.
If the resurrection were a lie, or a fantasy, we would be trapped in sin, unable to escape. Then, we would deserve pity. The contrast for Paul is between a vigorous, plentiful crop full of goodness, and a failed harvest that yields nothing. Jeremiah and the psalmist both think along the same lines as Paul, although without Paul’s understanding of the resurrection. They see water and strong growth going hand in hand: those who trust in God are fruitful. --Cally Hammond; Church Times
If the resurrection were a lie, or a fantasy, we would be trapped in sin, unable to escape. Then, we would deserve pity. The contrast for Paul is between a vigorous, plentiful crop full of goodness, and a failed harvest that yields nothing. Jeremiah and the psalmist both think along the same lines as Paul, although without Paul’s understanding of the resurrection. They see water and strong growth going hand in hand: those who trust in God are fruitful. --Cally Hammond; Church Times
thomas hammond
April 18, 2023: Baptist Press: SBC leaders, former presidents react to death of Charles Stanley
“Dr. Stanley’s unwavering devotion to preach God’s Word without compromise had a tremendous impact on my life during my most formative years. His commitment to the inerrancy of Scripture fortified the resolve of many during one of the most pivotal seasons of the Southern Baptist Convention. Charles Stanley was truly America’s pastor for nearly five decades.”--Thomas Hammond, executive director-treasurer, Georgia Baptist Mission Board
“Dr. Stanley’s unwavering devotion to preach God’s Word without compromise had a tremendous impact on my life during my most formative years. His commitment to the inerrancy of Scripture fortified the resolve of many during one of the most pivotal seasons of the Southern Baptist Convention. Charles Stanley was truly America’s pastor for nearly five decades.”--Thomas Hammond, executive director-treasurer, Georgia Baptist Mission Board
Hank Hanegraaff
Thomas Nelson (June 7, 2012)
These are not obscure teachers that Hanegraaff unmasks. We know their names. We have seen their faces, sat in their churches, and heard them shamelessly preach and promote the false pretexts of a give-to-get gospel. They are virtual rock stars who command the attention of presidential candidates and media moguls. Through make-believe miracles, urban legends, counterfeit Christs, and twisted theological reasoning, they peddle an occult brand of metaphysics that continues to shipwreck the faith of millions around the globe:
“God cannot do anything in this earthly realm unless we give Him permission.”
“Keep saying it—‘I have equality with God’—talk yourself into it.”
“Being poor is a sin.”
“The Jews were not rejecting Jesus as Messiah; it was Jesus who was refusing to be the Messiah to the Jews!”
“You create your own world the same way God creates His. He speaks, and things happen; you speak, and they happen.”
Christianity in Crisis: 21st Century exposes darkness to light, pointing us back to a Christianity centered in Christ.
From the Preface:
“Having lost the ability to think biblically, postmodern Christians are being transformed from cultural change agents and initiators into cultural conformists and imitators. Pop culture beckons, and postmodern Christians have taken the bait. As a result, the biblical model of faith has given way to an increasingly bizarre array of fads and formulas.”
“God cannot do anything in this earthly realm unless we give Him permission.”
“Keep saying it—‘I have equality with God’—talk yourself into it.”
“Being poor is a sin.”
“The Jews were not rejecting Jesus as Messiah; it was Jesus who was refusing to be the Messiah to the Jews!”
“You create your own world the same way God creates His. He speaks, and things happen; you speak, and they happen.”
Christianity in Crisis: 21st Century exposes darkness to light, pointing us back to a Christianity centered in Christ.
From the Preface:
“Having lost the ability to think biblically, postmodern Christians are being transformed from cultural change agents and initiators into cultural conformists and imitators. Pop culture beckons, and postmodern Christians have taken the bait. As a result, the biblical model of faith has given way to an increasingly bizarre array of fads and formulas.”
collin hansen
May 9, 2023: Anxious Bench: The Evangelical Conversion Narrative of Molly Worthen
Earlier today, Tuesday May 9, Collin Hansen released an interview with historian Molly Worthen on his podcast, Gospel Bound. What unfolded in the interview was the surprising narrative of Molly Worthen’s evangelical conversion to Christianity.
Earlier today, Tuesday May 9, Collin Hansen released an interview with historian Molly Worthen on his podcast, Gospel Bound. What unfolded in the interview was the surprising narrative of Molly Worthen’s evangelical conversion to Christianity.
Feb 7, 2023: Religion News: New Tim Keller Center for Apologetics hopes to help churches reach a changing country
“This is the largest and fastest transformation of religion in American history,” said Collin Hansen, vice president for content and editorial director for the Gospel Coalition, an evangelical group that produces resources for churches. “The demographics don’t suggest any positive turn around the corner.”
That reality led Hansen and his colleagues to launch the Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics, a new initiative designed to help pastors and other Christian leaders adapt to a “post-Christendom culture.” Named for influential evangelical writer the Rev. Tim Keller, founder of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, the center hopes to support “a new generation of bold evangelists and effective apologists who will communicate the unchanging gospel for a changing world.”
“This is the largest and fastest transformation of religion in American history,” said Collin Hansen, vice president for content and editorial director for the Gospel Coalition, an evangelical group that produces resources for churches. “The demographics don’t suggest any positive turn around the corner.”
That reality led Hansen and his colleagues to launch the Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics, a new initiative designed to help pastors and other Christian leaders adapt to a “post-Christendom culture.” Named for influential evangelical writer the Rev. Tim Keller, founder of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, the center hopes to support “a new generation of bold evangelists and effective apologists who will communicate the unchanging gospel for a changing world.”
==lisa sharon harper=========
Jan 6, 2023: Red Letter Christians: January 6 Shows Us the Path to Religious Freedom is Not Christian Nationalism
Political pundits will fine tooth comb the January 6 committee’s highly anticipated report. As faith leaders, that is not our job. Our work is to reach into the moral conscience of our country, into the core values we share. Among those is freedom and among those blessed freedoms, our much-cherished freedom of religion.
Freedom of religion thrives in a strong and vibrant democracy and ours is currently under assault by an authoritarian faction that claims to value freedom of religion—as long it’s theirs. Cloaked in the cross, white Christian Nationalists were visible and violent during the January 6 Capitol Hill insurgency against the peaceful transfer of power. They have made it abundantly clear that they are willing to take away a breathtaking range of rights in the name of their faith. That is neither religion nor is it freedom.
Lisa Sharon Harper, President and Founder, Freedom Road
Author of Fortune: How Race Broke My Family And The World—And How To Repair It All
Political pundits will fine tooth comb the January 6 committee’s highly anticipated report. As faith leaders, that is not our job. Our work is to reach into the moral conscience of our country, into the core values we share. Among those is freedom and among those blessed freedoms, our much-cherished freedom of religion.
Freedom of religion thrives in a strong and vibrant democracy and ours is currently under assault by an authoritarian faction that claims to value freedom of religion—as long it’s theirs. Cloaked in the cross, white Christian Nationalists were visible and violent during the January 6 Capitol Hill insurgency against the peaceful transfer of power. They have made it abundantly clear that they are willing to take away a breathtaking range of rights in the name of their faith. That is neither religion nor is it freedom.
Lisa Sharon Harper, President and Founder, Freedom Road
Author of Fortune: How Race Broke My Family And The World—And How To Repair It All
Sept 19, 2021: Brethren Newsline: Lisa Sharon Harper takes NOAC along on a journey wrestling with identity
n 2003, Lisa Sharon Harper undertook a journey to wrestle with her identity. The journey took her along the Trail of Tears as well as into the heart of slavery in the American South.
Mar 20, 2015: Lisa Sharon Harper: Christian Post: Progressive Christian Leaders Pen Open Letter to Franklin Graham Over Racial Reconciliation
Mar 19, 2015: Lisa Sharon Harper: Sojourners: An Open Letter to Franklin Graham
Aug 25, 2014: Lisa Sharon Harper: Christianity Today: It's Time to Listen: "The Lie," a guest post by Lisa Sharon Harper
Lisa Sharon Harper, Sojourners’ senior director of mobilizing, was the founding executive director of New York Faith & Justice—an organization at the hub of a new ecumenical movement to end poverty in New York City. In that capacity, she helped establish Faith Leaders for Environmental Justice, a citywide collaborative effort of faith leaders committed to leveraging the power of their constituencies and their moral authority in partnership with communities bearing the weight of environmental injustice. She also organized faith leaders to speak out for immigration reform and organized the South Bronx Conversations for Change, a dialogue-to-change project between police and the community. She has written extensively on tax reform, comprehensive immigration reform, health-care reform, poverty, racial justice, and transformational civic engagement for publications and blogs including The National Civic Review, God’s Politics blog, The Huffington Post, Urban Faith, Prism, and Slant33.
Her first book, Evangelical Does Not Equal Republican…or Democrat, offers a power-packed look at the roots of evangelical faith, how evangelicals strayed so far from those roots, and what is bringing them back. Her second book, Left, Right & Christ: Evangelical Faith in Politics, was co-written with D.C. Innes (an evangelical Republican who is also a Tea-Partier). Harper and Innes explore their philosophies of government and business, as well as six major issues that the next generation of evangelicals must wrestle with to be faithful witnesses in the public square.
Harper co-founded and co-directed the Envision 2008: The Gospel, Politics, and the Future conference on the campus of Princeton University (June 2008) and co-chaired the Envision 2011: Caring for the Community of Creation: Environmental Justice, Climate Change, and Prophetic Witness symposium in New York City (June 2011). She was the recipient of Sojourners’ inaugural Organizers Award and the Harlem “Sisters of Wisdom” Award. She was celebrated on Rick Warren’s website purposedriven.com as one of the inaugural “Take Action Heroes,” and was recently named fifth among the “13 Religious Women to Watch in 2012” by the Center for American Progress.
She earned her master’s in human rights from Columbia University in New York City. Harper serves on the board of directors of the New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good and is a member of Metro Hope Church in New York City, an Evangelical Covenant Church.
n 2003, Lisa Sharon Harper undertook a journey to wrestle with her identity. The journey took her along the Trail of Tears as well as into the heart of slavery in the American South.
Mar 20, 2015: Lisa Sharon Harper: Christian Post: Progressive Christian Leaders Pen Open Letter to Franklin Graham Over Racial Reconciliation
Mar 19, 2015: Lisa Sharon Harper: Sojourners: An Open Letter to Franklin Graham
Aug 25, 2014: Lisa Sharon Harper: Christianity Today: It's Time to Listen: "The Lie," a guest post by Lisa Sharon Harper
Lisa Sharon Harper, Sojourners’ senior director of mobilizing, was the founding executive director of New York Faith & Justice—an organization at the hub of a new ecumenical movement to end poverty in New York City. In that capacity, she helped establish Faith Leaders for Environmental Justice, a citywide collaborative effort of faith leaders committed to leveraging the power of their constituencies and their moral authority in partnership with communities bearing the weight of environmental injustice. She also organized faith leaders to speak out for immigration reform and organized the South Bronx Conversations for Change, a dialogue-to-change project between police and the community. She has written extensively on tax reform, comprehensive immigration reform, health-care reform, poverty, racial justice, and transformational civic engagement for publications and blogs including The National Civic Review, God’s Politics blog, The Huffington Post, Urban Faith, Prism, and Slant33.
Her first book, Evangelical Does Not Equal Republican…or Democrat, offers a power-packed look at the roots of evangelical faith, how evangelicals strayed so far from those roots, and what is bringing them back. Her second book, Left, Right & Christ: Evangelical Faith in Politics, was co-written with D.C. Innes (an evangelical Republican who is also a Tea-Partier). Harper and Innes explore their philosophies of government and business, as well as six major issues that the next generation of evangelicals must wrestle with to be faithful witnesses in the public square.
Harper co-founded and co-directed the Envision 2008: The Gospel, Politics, and the Future conference on the campus of Princeton University (June 2008) and co-chaired the Envision 2011: Caring for the Community of Creation: Environmental Justice, Climate Change, and Prophetic Witness symposium in New York City (June 2011). She was the recipient of Sojourners’ inaugural Organizers Award and the Harlem “Sisters of Wisdom” Award. She was celebrated on Rick Warren’s website purposedriven.com as one of the inaugural “Take Action Heroes,” and was recently named fifth among the “13 Religious Women to Watch in 2012” by the Center for American Progress.
She earned her master’s in human rights from Columbia University in New York City. Harper serves on the board of directors of the New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good and is a member of Metro Hope Church in New York City, an Evangelical Covenant Church.
