But the person behind many of the federal government cuts, Elon Musk, head of the so-called "department of government efficiency", called USAID a "criminal organization" and said that it was "time for it to die".
Adam Russell Taylor, the president of Sojourners, a Christian social justice group, said such remarks remind him of "the prophet Isaiah, who forewarned us that woe to you that call evil, good, and good, evil".
The resounding vigil chant directed toward Congress each week is simple: “What time is it?” asks Sojourners’ the Rev. Adam Taylor. “Time for moral courage,” we all chant back.
You are invited to join Faithful Witness Wednesdays throughout the month of March, as people of faith gather on the Capitol grounds to call on Congress to take action. Sign up for the March 19 or the Mach 26 events, which are organized by Sojourners and the Washington Interfaith Staff Community.
“USAID was chosen as a first agency to target because there was a belief that most Americans don’t know what USAID does or support these development and humanitarian programs,” Taylor said during a March 12 “moral courage” vigil convened by numerous interfaith advocacy organizations.
NPR's Michel Martin speaks with Rev. Adam Russell Taylor of Sojourners, a Christian social justice group that's holding weekly vigils on Capitol Hill in protest of the Trump administration.
The next day, religious demonstrators organized by Sojourners and other groups will host a separate event on the Hill focused on foreign aid as part of a weekly faith-based demonstration.
Also among the signers to the leaders’ letter are the Rev. Teresa Hord Owens, general minister and president of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the U.S. and Canada .... the Rev. Adam Russell Taylor, president of Sojourners; and Richard Santos, president and CEO of Church World Service.
The Rev. Adam Russell Taylor, president of Sojourners, the national social justice advocacy organization, is partnering with interfaith leaders from more than 20 denominations and religious groups to pray in the shadow of the Capitol on Wednesdays from Ash Wednesday through the end of March. Besides praying for an end to attempts to freeze federal grants, dismantle agencies and threaten birthright citizenship, the gatherings will be “calling on Congress to protect its powers and to advance the common good,” said Taylor.
The progressive Christian social justice advocacy organization Sojourners is helping churches respond after a recent Trump administration decision to allow illegal immigration enforcement at houses of worship.
Sandy Ovalle, Sojourners' senior director of campaigns and mobilizing, told The Christian Post that her organization is working with Latino church leaders, pastors and others as part of ' a network of churches that we've created for this time.'
The hope is to be a resource to immigrant churches, where the pastor or members of their churches are immigrants.
Standing in solidarity with communities and individuals being targeted by President Trump and the MAGA movement involves giving time and money to organizations that are working to block the administration’s most egregious and often illegal actions in the courts and to efforts to organize nonviolent and strategic resistance to these harmful policies (such as Democracy Forward, Sojourners, Public Citizen, and so many others).
In an attempt to gain some clarity on Trump’s return to power, these historic and tumultuous first weeks of his reign and the connections between the country’s democracy crisis and moral crisis, I recently spoke with Rev. Adam Russell Taylor. He is president of Sojourners and author of “A More Perfect Union: A New Vision for Building the Beloved Community.”
Before President-elect Trump takes office, faith leaders in Newark are preparing for potential raids targeting migrants and their families. Sojourners Senior Director of Campaigns and Mobilizing, Sandy Ovalle, spoke about what she and others are doing to help migrant families prepare for what lies ahead. “Family preparedness plans like what would happen if a raid comes into your work or if some on comes knocking into your place. Do you have people that could look for your children? Do you have all of your documents put together.”
“Organized by Faiths United to Save Democracy (FUSD) — a nonpartisan and multi-faith organization — pastors, imams, rabbis and clergy known as “poll chaplains” and “peacekeepers” are present at polling stations in 10 states.”
“Most of the poll chaplains, all volunteers for Faiths United to Save Democracy, an organization convened by Williams-Skinner, Wallis and Sojourners President Adam Russell Taylor since the last presidential race to keep peace at the voting sites, reported a relatively problem-free election so far.”
“The effort is part of the campaign’s broader efforts to uphold the integrity of the American democratic process through an interfaith coalition led by Sojourners, a national faith-based media and advocacy organization; Skinner Leadership Institute in Baltimore; and the Center on Faith and Justice at Georgetown University.”
Source: Newsweek | Adam Russell Taylor
I grew up in the shadow of the civil rights struggle believing that my generation inherited the unfinished business of the civil rights movement. I failed to imagine the degree to which the struggle for voting rights would become part and parcel to that unfinished business. The health and future of democracy are facing their greatest test since the height of that struggle.
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The Reverend Adam Russell Taylor of Sojourners, a Christian social justice group, says the president was putting his finger on how commonly people wrap themselves in Dr. King's legacy for political expedience.
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Source: Center for American Progress | Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons
The Center for American Progress interviewed one of the country’s most influential Christian leaders, the Rev. Adam Russell Taylor, in December 2021 via email in an effort to understand more about Christian political engagement at this moment in history—and find inspiration from influential historical leaders such as the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Source: The Dallas Morning News | Benjamin J. Dueholm
Melissa Florer-Bixler, a pastor writing in Sojourners, has a theory: pastors are joining the “Great Resignation,” burned out and overmatched by the ingrained attitudes and financial struggles of congregations. Despite the space in our national discussion taken up by huge churches and their leaders, Florer-Bixler points out that most churches in the U.S. are small. Their clergy are not famous or prominent. And many of those clergy, especially the younger ones, are experiencing “the incompatibility between the teachings of Jesus Christ and the practices of many who claim to follow him.”
Source: Baptist News Global | Adam Russell Taylor
The United States Congress is currently considering a series of bold investments in American families and communities that will better enable all of us to pursue our God-given potential while protecting the most vulnerable in our society. As a Baptist pastor and as a father, I urge our elected leaders to support these critical investments, which are both a moral and prudential imperative.