Ohio Prophetic Voices Brings Faith Leaders Together for Biblical Justice
University Christian Church pastor Troy Jackson helped launch Ohio Prophetic Voices, a collaboration of more than 100 faith leaders across Ohio. The initiative seeks to engage Christians in biblical justice through issues including racial justice, food access, human trafficking, and the reintegration of former prisoners.
- Ohio Prophetic Voices brings together more than 100 faith leaders across the state.
- The initiative focuses on living out Christian faith in the public sphere while avoiding partisan alignment.
- Its concerns include racial justice, urban food access, human trafficking, and the rights of people returning from incarceration.
By Jennifer Taylor
Launching Ohio Prophetic Voices
Fifteen years ago, University Christian Church (Cincinnati, OH) was the first white, Evangelical church to join The Amos Project, a group focused on developing the leadership skills of low-income and working families. This spring, University Christian pastor Troy Jackson helped launch a new initiative called Ohio Prophetic Voices, a collaboration of more than 100 faith leaders across the state.
“For the last five or six years I’ve been growing in my passion for biblical justice and trying to figure out how to be salt and light,” Jackson says. “I want to see Evangelicals engaged in a way that’s not partisan or co-opted by structures of the world, but instead rooted in biblical faith.”
Living Out Faith in the Public Sphere
The organization took its name from the Hebrew prophets, who reminded people about the needs of the poor and the weak. Participants are concerned with “living out their faith in the public sphere,” Jackson says, which includes engaging with issues like racial justice, food access in urban areas, human trafficking, and the rights of prisoners returning to society after incarceration.
The group is open to any Christian in Ohio who wants to get involved. Upcoming events include a strategic planning meeting in Columbus on August 30 and a retreat with Walter Brueggemann in early January 2013. Contact tt*******@***oo.com for more information.
—Jennifer Taylor
