Senior Editor, Sojourners magazine
Photo: Brandon Hook / Sojourners

Invite Rose to Speak

Rose, who lived in Washington, D.C. for 35 years, lives in Oak View, Calif. She has been on Sojourners staff since 1986.

For more than 35 years, Rose has rooted herself with Sojourners magazine and ministry. She is author of Bending the Arch: Poems (2019), Drawn By God: A History of the Society of Catholic Medical Missionaries from 1967 to 1991 (with Janet Gottschalk, 2012), and Who Killed Donte Manning? The Story of an American Neighborhood.

In the course of a 35 plus-year career in faith-based activism, advocacy journalism, and pastoral leadership, Rose has proven to be a skilled organizer, exceptional writer, visionary pastoral leader, and innovative teacher of biblical literacy.

With Sojourners, Rose has worked as an organizer on peace and environmental issues, internship program director, liturgist, community pastor, poetry editor, and, currently, as a Senior Editor of Sojourners magazine, where she writes a regular column on spirituality and justice. She is responsible for the Living the Word section, poetry, Bible studies, and interviews – and oversees the production of study guides, discussion guides, and the online bible study Preaching the Word. She is also a religion reviewer for Publishers Weekly and a Huffington Post commentator. Her work has appeared in National Catholic Reporter, Publishers Weekly, Religion News Service, Radical Grace-Oneing, The Merton Seasonal, U.S. Catholic, and elsewhere.

Rose has a veteran history in social justice activism, including: organizing inter-religious witness against the Keystone XL pipeline; educating and training groups in nonviolence; leading retreats in spirituality and justice; writing on topics as diverse as the “Spiritual Vision of Van Gogh, O'Keeffe, and Warhol,” the war in the Balkans, interviews with black activists Vincent Harding and Yvonne Delk, the Love Canal's Lois Gibbs, and Mexican archbishop Ruiz, cultural commentary on the Catholic church and the peace movement, reviews of movies, books, and music.

A founding member of a small creative writing group, Rose Berger has taught writing and poetry workshops for children and adults. She’s completed her MFA in poetry through the University of Southern Maine’s Stonecoast program. Her poetry has been published in Sojourners, The Other Side, Radix and D.C. Poets Against the War.

Rose grew up in the Central Valley of California, located in the rich flood plains of the Sacramento and American rivers. Raised in radical Catholic communities heavily influenced by Franciscans and the Catholic Worker movement, she served for nine years on the pastoral team for Sojourners Community Church; five as its co-pastor. She directed Sojourners internship program from 1990-1999. She is currently senior editor and poetry editor for Sojourners magazine.

She has traveled throughout the United States, and also in Ukraine, Israel/Palestine, Costa Rica, the Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Kosova, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, and El Salvador visiting primarily with faith communities working for peace in situations of conflict.

Rose’s articles include:

She lives in Oak View, Calif., in the Ventura River watershed on traditional Chumash lands.

Posts By This Author

Acting Out

by Rose Marie Berger 07-01-2003

The Motor City may never lack for drama, but until the Mosaic Youth Theatre came along there were few opportunities for young people to express themselves on stage.

Churches Push Amnesty Project

by Rose Marie Berger, by Kate Bowman 07-01-2003

A coalition of Latino religious leaders from 17 states is fighting for amnesty for thousands of undocumented workers in the United States.

Can You Hear Me Now?

by Rose Marie Berger, by Kate Bowman 07-01-2003

As if there weren't enough reasons to get rid of your cell phone, a new study from the Worldwatch Institute reports that coltan—the mineral that keeps cell phones and other electronic eq

Not Following Orders

by Rose Marie Berger, by Kate Bowman 07-01-2003

Lance Corporal Stephen Eagle Funk, 20, (second from left) turns himself in at his Marine Corps reserve unit after refusing to serve in the Iraq war.

Who Controls the Spigot?

by Rose Marie Berger 07-01-2003

Private companies are slurping up public water at an alarming rate.

Children Against AIDS

by Rose Marie Berger, by Kate Bowman 07-01-2003

A Jesuit priest in southern India, along with local Jesuit school students, has launched an AIDS-awareness campaign conducted mostly by children orphaned by the disease.

What the Mean Streets Teach

by Rose Marie Berger, by Kate Bowman 07-01-2003

Calling herself "Aly," the Episcopal bishop of Rhode Island, Geralyn Wolf, spent the month of January on the streets, befriending the homeless and sleeping and eating in shelters.

News Bites

by Rose Marie Berger, by Kate Bowman 07-01-2003

Labor Rites.

Getting Our Gaze Back

by Rose Marie Berger 07-01-2003
Is daydreaming a dose of self-medication in a data-processed world?

Resources

by Rose Marie Berger, by Kate Bowman 07-01-2003
Building Supplies

Boycotting World Bank Bonds

by Rose Marie Berger, by Kate Bowman 07-01-2003

Following a two-year organizing drive by students and faculty at the University of New Mexico, the university became the first in the United States to adopt a policy against investment in World Bank bonds.

Character Counts. (Who Knew?)

by Rose Marie Berger, by Kate Bowman 07-01-2003

Arguing that "character counts," the United Church of Christ is pressuring all 50 state public utility commissioners to investigate WorldCom and revoke its local licenses...

Religious Rights

by Rose Marie Berger, by Kate Bowman 07-01-2003

Several religious bodies recently testified before the U.N. Commission on Human Rights about religious intolerance and discrimination in Pakistan. "

Through a Glass, Brightly

by Rose Marie Berger 05-01-2003

The Gallery at the American Bible Society in New York City recently presented "Reflections on Glass: 20th Century Stained Glass in American Art and Architecture."

One Citizen's Shining Light

by Rose Marie Berger 05-01-2003

On Feb. 9, 2003, Orion magazine took out a full-page advertisement on page five of The New York Times.

Reading Gilgamesh on the Day 500,000 Protesters Marched Against George W. Bush and Lockheed Martin's War on Iraq

by Rose Marie Berger 05-01-2003

Go to the Cyclops, to their metalworks, to buy your armaments—

Women Empowered to Fight AIDS

by Rose Marie Berger, by Kate Bowman 05-01-2003

The San Francisco-based Global AIDS Interfaith Alliance received a $1 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to fight HIV/AIDS in Malawi, Africa.

Wonder-Working Power

by Rose Marie Berger, by Kate Bowman 05-01-2003

In January, Maine Interfaith Power and Light—an electricity-purchasing group rooted in the faith community—announced the availability of two green electricity options for homeowners in Maine.

Terrorist Training Camp?

by Rose Marie Berger, by Kate Bowman 05-01-2003

Eighty-six human rights advocates from across the United States were tried in January and February in federal court for nonviolent civil disobedience

Real Product: Got the Cube?

by Rose Marie Berger, by Kate Bowman 05-01-2003

EvangeCube slaps the entire mystery of salvation on a Rubik-style cube, enabling instant conversions in friends, family, and neighbors. Flip one way and you'll see our fall from grace.