Watch | God and Politics: Just Faith
“Just Faith: Reclaiming Progressive Christianity”
a conversation with author Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons
The new book “Just Faith” by author Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons is a call to action for progressive Christians to reclaim our place in our national discussion of faith and politics. Author and activist Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons joins us to recall the bold tradition of progressive Christians who have gone before us and equip our members to vocally engage politics and public life through our faith.
According to new research from the Public Religion Research Institute, there are over 35 million consistently progressive Christians in the United States. Majorities of American Christians support reproductive justice and LGBTQ+ rights. Yet they’re erased from our public narrative–only mentioned as outliers to the fundamentalist norm. In Just Faith, Graves-Fitzsimmons provides a blueprint for this type of resurrection based on his advocacy work at the intersection of religion and American politics. Graves-Fitzsimmons creates a rallying cry for a bold progressive Christianity that unapologetically fights for its values to impact the biggest political battles of our time–from immigration and economic fairness to LGBTQ+ rights and abortion rights–so that progressive Christians will stop lowering their voices when they identify as Christians.
Books can be purchased here
Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons is a fellow with the Faith and Progressive Policy Initiative at American Progress. His work focuses on a wide range of issues related to the role of religion in American public life, including promoting a progressive vision of religious liberty that champions LGBTQ rights and amplifying how faith communities empower social and economic justice.
Prior to joining American Progress, Graves-Fitzsimmons worked with national faith leaders on two high-profile issue advocacy campaigns: opposing the Muslim ban and passing comprehensive immigration reform. He served as the associate director of the Rights and Inclusion Collaborative at ReThink Media, where he worked to promote Muslim, Arab, Sikh, and South Asian rights. He was previously the faith coordinator at the National Immigration Forum, where he helped start the Evangelical Immigration Table.
He is the author of the forthcoming book Just Faith: Reclaiming Progressive Christianity. His writing on religion and politics regularly appears in national media outlets, including CNN and The Washington Post. He’s also the founder of The Resistance Prays, a daily devotional aimed at spiritually and politically defeating Trumpism.
Graves-Fitzsimmons received his undergraduate degree from American University and his Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary, where he was the William Sloane Coffin Scholar. He and his husband, both native Texans, now live in Louisville, Kentucky.