
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:
- Pursuing the Secret of Joy: What is joy when it's not promiscuously tied to happiness, Hallmark, or hedonism?
- Nonviolence in Najaf?: Will we recognize an Islamic peace movement when we see it?
- A Presidential Option for the Poor? :Venezuela's Hugo Chavez stirs up fierce criticism - and hope.
- Of Love's Risen Body: The poetry of Denise Levertov, 1923-1997
- Glimpses of God Outside the Temple: The spiritual vision of Vincent Van Gogh, Georgia O'Keefe, and Andy Warhol.
- Damnation Will Not Be Televised: Almost everything I know about hell I learned from watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer
She lives in Oak View, Calif., in the Ventura River watershed on traditional Chumash lands.
Posts By This Author
Are You a Terrorist, Too?
Sister Antonia Anthony is a 74-year-old Franciscan nun who raises funds for the poor of southern Mexico.
Being John the Baptist
What follows is an imprecise, and likely inaccurate, interpretation of the prologue to the gospel of Mark.
Corporations That Need A Clean-Up
Last year corporations took it on the chin when it came to financial scandal.
News Bites
Saints' Daze. A few days before Christmas, Pope John Paul II beatified Mother Teresa, elevating her to the rank just below sainthood.
Dams Away!
The RAND corporation, one of the earliest U.S. military think tanks, released a report on the implications of using alternative power-generation technologies...
Real Product: Holy Trinity 3-Pak
For the first time, you can possess your very own Holy Trinity 3-pak, featuring hand-carved God hair, a glow-in-the-dark Holy Spirit, and LEGO Jesus.
Touched by Peace
Jesuit Father Richard T. McSorley, 88, a retired professor of peace studies at Georgetown University and longtime peace and social justice activist, died October 17, 2002.
Killing Our Own
A 2001 U.S. Army Audit Agency report revealed that U.S. armed forces are unprepared for encountering chemical and biological weapons.
Slavery sucks
President Bush finally signed the Sudan Peace Act in October to pressure the Sudanese government to end that nation's 19-year civil war...
Who Owns Your Water?
Around the world publicly owned, government-run water utilities are being sold off to for-profit companies.
Stopping by a Red Light on a Weekday Evening
At the corner of 14th and Euclid Streets NW in Washington, D.C., many evenings at sunset, the Domino's deliveryman kneels down to pray.
Faith on the Barrelhead
Americans are keeping the faith today in many different waysincluding how they invest.
War Toys for Tots
G.I. Joe has shown boys how to exercise military might for decades, but America's recent "war on terror" has made way for a new cash crop of action figures. Since Sept.
News Bites
Force Failure. In 2001, .37 percent of Australians and 1.5 percent of New Zealanders told census-takers they were following the Star Wars-based "Jedi" faith.
Evangelical, Not Zionist
Forty-three prominent evangelical leaders sent a letter to President Bush indicating that the Christian Right's uncritical support of Israel is not the position of all American evangelicals.
Federally Funded Grassroots?
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Compassion Capital Fund released in October the first federal funds specifically targeted to assist faith-based and community organizations.
Who Answers at 2-1-1?
Who do you call when the marshals have tossed all your belongings on the sidewalk and you need a place to spend the night?
Pillaging the Populace
Western Pennsylvania's Citizens Budget Campaign met last spring with the Pittsburgh City Council to discuss the impact of the 2003 federal budget on their city.