2026: Sustaining Witness: Faithful Resistance in Troubled Times
“Dorothy Day at City Hall” where she was arrested for protesting the mandatory “Operation Alert” civil defense drill (April 17, 1959). Photo by Felton Davis is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Thursday, July 9 - Saturday, July 11, 2026
Englewood Christian Church, Indianapolis, IN
Look hard for ways to make little moves against destructiveness (André Trocmé, 1901-1971)
From the beginning, the Ekklesia Project has sought to encourage and enable followers of Jesus to bear faithful witness to the reign of shalōm he proclaimed and embodied. In every time and place, the faithful proclamation of the gospel must be “good news to the poor,” seeking freedom for the imprisoned, healing care for the sick and injured, and liberty for the oppressed (Luke 4:18). By its very proclamation and embodiment this gospel exposes the pretensions of empire and cuts against the vested interests of the powers.
In our present cultural moment in the United States, dominated by government-sanctioned performative cruelty toward the very people at the center of Jesus’s gospel proclamation, faithfulness becomes—and in fact demands—resisting the powers on behalf of these little ones (Matthew 25:40). Such resistance begins with and centers on those acts of mercy named by Jesus: feeding the hungry and offering drink to the thirsty, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, caring for the sick, and visiting the imprisoned (Matthew 25:31-46).
The turmoil of recent months—the codification of climate change denial, government-funded racism and xenophobia, the specter of perpetual war, and active hostility toward the poor (among other things)—has given rise to a sense of urgency among followers of Jesus and led to questions about whether faithfulness in this moment calls for more. How do followers of Jesus discern how best to bear Christ in their places on earth? Are radical hospitality, corporal and spiritual acts of mercy, and praying for the victims of the powers and the enemies of the gospel sufficient, or does fidelity in this moment call also for acts of resistance, which may include certain forms of civil disobedience?
These basic questions point to other, specific practical matters: What personal and corporate devotional and liturgical practices animate and sustain faithful witness? Can resistance be an act of neighbor-love, not only toward those who are oppressed, but also toward those who oppress them? What purposes does resistance serve—that is, what is its telos? Where can it be learned, and from whom? The 2026 Gathering will offer teaching, facilitate conversation, and provide opportunities to engage these questions.
Joel Shuman, Gathering Planning Team Leader
Jim McCoy, Worship Coordinator
Christopher Jackson, Harding University, Lectio Divina Leader
Preachers
Katy Lines, Pastor, Englewood Christian Church, Indianapolis, IN
Rev. Dr. Rodney Sadler, Associate Professor of Theological Studies & Director of the Center for Social Justice and Reconciliation, Union Presbyterian Seminary, Charlotte, NC
Ragan Sutterfield, Ekklesia Project Board Chair, Associate Rector, Christ Episcopal Church, Little Rock, AR
Plenary Speakers
Steve Fowl, President & Dean, Church Divinity School of the Pacific, Berkeley, CA
Kelly Johnson, Fr. Ferree Chair of Social Justice & Associate Professor of Religious Studies, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH
Brenna Cussen-Anglada, Saint Isidore Catholic Worker Farm, Cuba City WI, and Meta Peace Team recently serving in Palestine
