You’re invited to join Red Letter Christians for The Birthplace of Democracy: A Spiritual Pilgrimage 👣🔥❤️ - a transformative pilgrimage through Philadelphia’s storied past, as part of a Red Letter Christians 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.
Register to join us for this free, open to the public event now Sign-in 🔗🔥
Designed by The Rev. Chaz Howard (University Chaplain and Vice President for Social Equity & Community at the University of Pennsylvania Penn SPARC - the Spiritual & Religious Life Center) and Lisa Sharon Harper (theologian, activist, and President of FreedomRoad.us), this pilgrimage aims to tell a compelling story centered on the rich history of the Black Church—a story that intersects with the broader narrative of faith and activism in America. By focusing on the rise of the Black Church, we gain new insights into the movement of the Holy Spirit during a pivotal era that helped establish democracy. We’ll explore how this movement not only inspired the Anti-Slavery and abolitionist efforts but also changed the trajectory of peace churches that partnered with Black leaders in the struggle for freedom.
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. Together, we will visit sites where faith and action intertwined, where cries for freedom were lifted, and where the seeds of a just society were planted.
Along the way, we’ll highlight key historical points, providing opportunities to delve deeper into both the rich tapestry of Philadelphia’s religious history and the 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 recognize the work still to be done.
Stops include -
📍 Arch Street Meeting House
📍 Historic St. George's United Methodist Church
📍 Christ Church, Philadelphia
📍 Mother Bethel AME Church
And so many more 🔥 Register now to save your spot!
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#RedLetterChristians #SpiritualPilgrimage #PhiladelphiaRevival
#BlackChurchHistory #PhiladelphiaPilgrimage #FaithInAction
We’re kicking off our Red Letter Revival in Philadelphia at The Historic African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas - AECST with a spirit-filled, soul stirring sermon from The Rev. Traci Blackmon 🔥🔥🔥
Together, we’ll 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.
Welcome & Introductions:
🔥The Very Rev. Canon Martini Shaw, Seventeenth Rector of The Historic African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas - AECST
🔥The Rev. Charles (Chaz) Lattimore Howard, PhD, University Chaplain and Vice President for Social Equity & Community, University of Pennsylvania Department of Religious Studies Penn SPARC - the Spiritual & Religious Life Center
🔥Lisa Sharon Harper, Founder & President, FreedomRoad.us LLC & Board Member, RLC
Shane Claiborne, Co-founder, Red Letter Christians
You won’t want to miss this! Register to join us now: Sign-in 🔥🔥🔥
More about the Red. Traci 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. Full bio on our website.
Rev. Blackmon currently serves on the boards of the Parliament of the World's 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
Register to join us now: Sign-in 🔥🔥🔥
“For over a decade, I’ve been involved in frontline work against the death penalty. In recent years, I’ve stood in execution chambers and held the hands of eight different men while the state murders them. In each of those circumstances, I have vehemently opposed the execution. So much so, I’ve often blamed myself for not being able to stop it. After the tragedy, I’d get home and stay awake at night wondering what more I could’ve done. With every execution, the nights only grow longer. Torture is an understatement. Grief is too simplistic. I guess excruciating pain might be close. The horror of it all is based on a deeply held belief that life is worth saving at all costs. But what about when it’s not?”
“‘Who else is going to Stand beside him?’A Different Look at the Death Penalty” by Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood is on our blog now.
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🔥 To learn more about how you can engage, visit: Sign-in
This weekend, join us for a pilgrimage through Philadelphia’s storied past. 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.
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.
Walking Pilgrimage Sites:
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Tentative Walking Pilgrimage Sites
📍Meeting Point & Start of Pilgrimage: Front Street and Market Street where enslaved Africans were sold
📍 Statue of Tamaned (Lenape Chief)
📍 Christ Church, site where several of the country’s founders 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
Register to join us here: Sign-in
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May we never become those who shout about peace with war in our hearts. May we never become communities who love to be right, but rarely choose to love. We must become the peace we long to see in the world.
- Practices to Prevent a Civil War by Aaron Niequist is on our blog now.
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'The destruction of civilians in war was always forbidden by the Church, and if a soldier came to me and asked if he could put a bullet through a child’s head, I would have told him, absolutely not. That would be mortally sinful. But in 1945 Tinian Island was the largest airfield in the world. Three planes a minute could take off from it around the clock. Many of these planes went to Japan with the express purpose of killing not one child or one civilian but of slaughtering hundreds and thousands and tens of thousands of children and civilians – and I said nothing.' - Father George Zabelka
The Chaplain who Blessed the Hiroshima Bombers, Repents by Shane Claiborne is on our blog now.
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Our dear friend Rev. Munther Isaac, one of the most prophetic and important voices of the times we now live in - is on a Friends of Sabeel North America FOSNA Tour across the US! Make sure to go out there and listen to this amazing man of God from Palestine preach and speak truth to power! 🔥
For more details, visit www.fosna.org/the-fosna-blog/fosna-presents-rev-munther-isaac!
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www.redletterchristians.org/event/rev-munther-isaac-u-s-speaking-tour/
“So yes, let us vote in November. But may we not be deceived by any effort to manipulate faith to divide people according to our fears. Instead, let’s embrace the moral vision that inspired the abolitionists, women’s suffragists, labor and civil rights movements before us.
May our faith move us to vote from the top of the ticket to the bottom for political leaders who want to lift from the bottom so everyone can rise to a better tomorrow.”
- “Christians, Get Out and Vote” by Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II and Shane Claiborne is on our blog now.
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“We have a choice. We can focus on what is, or we can focus on what we want to be. If we wake up every day committed to putting faith, hope and love in action, we will take steps that make life better for all of us, including future generations. If we engage with women who are uplifting fellow women and girls, our ordinary contribution will blossom into the extraordinary.“
- “God Is Asking Us to Do More, Not Do It Alone” by Sally Vonner is on our blog now.
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United Women in Faith
“I think churches feel obligated to break out the red letter words from Jesus found in the sixth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew at least once a year, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6: 19-21, NRSV). The words may appear during the yearly stewardship season or when the finance team begins to fret about giving falling short in comparison to the mounting bills, but a recent incident made me start to rethink the power of Jesus’s words for the community.”
- “Treasure in Heaven” by Rev. Dr. Michelle Bodle is on our blog now.
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Join us in reflection and prayer for August’s Monthly Morning Prayer with Catholic priest, peace activist, Nobel Peace Prize nominee and author of more than 40 books on nonviolence and peacemaking: Father John Dear!
Shane Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove will be hosting as always; this time we will be going live on all our socials at August 1 at 8 AM and not 9 AM ET! Register to join us on Zoom! 🔥
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Today’s blog features a reflection based on the story and paintings found in Rev. Rebecca J. Craig’s memoir, “Once Upon a Nightmare: Through the Looking Glass of Narcissistic Abuse.”
“Sighs Too Deep for Words” by Rev. Rebecca J. Craig is on our blog now.
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“But there is so much in life that cannot be seen or even spoken. There is mystery. To deny that risks our humanity. I am cracked and broken, too, and so is everyone else I know. Together, we heal one another and heal the places we worship.“
- “My Church is Broken, and So Am I” by Sarah Maxwell is on our blog now.
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“You have the opportunity to help. Stand with Indigenous land and water protectors in defense of religious freedom, and in defense of the sacred lands and sacred waters of the San Carlos Apache.”
- “A Call to Solidarity” by Sarah Augustine and Deborah Yoder is on our blog now.
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