On Sunday, October 20, Dayspring will host the Faith and Democracy Tour from 5 – 7 p.m. Featured speakers are Diana Butler Bass, author of Freeing Jesus, Kristin Du Mez, author of Jesus and John Wayne, Robert P. Jones, author of The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy, and Jemar Tisby, author of Spirit of Justice. The event will also include musical performances by Taylor Leonhardt, Fernando Ortega, and Tommy Sims.
Jemar Tisby will preach during the 10 a.m. service at Dayspring that day as well, and following the service, there will be a Q&A and book signing with Jemar Tisby and Kristin Du Mez.
Since 2016, a central threat to American democracy has been the rise of white Christian nationalism. On the far right, this movement is spread through church networks and parachurch events like the “Re-Awaken America Tour,” which brings together speakers and musicians to activate and recruit white Christian Americans to the cause.
This Dayspring event is one of several happening across the nation during this election season. This non-partisan gathering seeks to accomplish four goals: 1) Raise awareness of the existence and the danger of white Christian nationalism to our faith and our country; 2) Promote a positive vision of a religiously and ethnically pluralistic democracy that is rooted in Christian theology and practice; 3) Strengthen local congregations and networks already working in local communities; and 4) Provide opportunities for participants to become active in protecting democracy in the 2024 election cycle by connecting them with local groups doing this work.
More about the speakers:
Diana Butler Bass is a historian and award-winning author of eleven books, including most recently Freeing Jesus: Rediscovering Jesus as Friend, Teacher, Savior, Lord, Way, and Presence (HarperOne 2021) and Broken We Kneel: Reflections on Faith and Citizenship (HarperOne 2003).
Kristin Kobes Du Mez is professor of history at Calvin University and the New York Times bestselling author of Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation (Liveright 2020).
Robert P. Jones is President and Founder of Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI). He is a winner of the Grawemeyer Award in Religion and an American Book Award, and is New York Times bestselling author of The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy and a Path to a Shared American Future (Simon & Schuster 2023) and White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity (Simon & Schuster 2020).
Jemar Tisby is professor of history at Simmons College of Kentucky (Louisville, KY) and New York Times bestselling author of The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church’s Complicity in Racism (Zondervan 2019) and The Spirit of Justice: True Stories of Faith, Race, and Resistance (Zondervan 2024).
Please join us for this free event (donations gratefully accepted) aimed at making us aware of how we can put our faith into action to create the kind of just, peaceful, inclusive, and compassionate world we fight for.