Lisa as a Speaker
“Lisa is a strategic leader and communicator whose commitment to justice has inspired many. I’ve had the privilege of speaking alongside Lisa on several occasions, watching as she skillfully helps audiences to grapple with and apply the words of Scripture to the plight of those who are marginalized and vulnerable in our world. With empathy, passion and wit, Lisa’s voice is significantly shaping the Church today.”
Matthew Soerens
U.S. Director of Church Mobilization, World Relief
“Over six months on from our conference, Lisa’s opening address is still talked about by our conference attendees! Her message on Genesis was a conference highlight and set the tone for the event. She was so well received by our audience that we have invited her back to keynote again in 2018. Lisa is a warm and energetic speaker who clearly communicates the gospel in a rich and thought provoking way.”
Zara Vaccari
Conference Producer, Justice Conference Australia
“While serving as Theologian in Residence at the 2018 National Workshop on Christian Unity, Lisa Sharon Harper brought thoughtful and passionate reflection during our Bible Study times. Her unique perspective and experience was invaluable as we explored issues of racial injustice from an ecumenical perspective throughout the workshop. I would not hesitate to recommend Lisa to any organization who needs a speaker or workshop leader who can bring both Biblical and modern perspectives to bear on current issues.”
The Rev. David Simmons
Co-Chair, 2018 National Workshop on Christian Unity
“Even the briefest encounter with Lisa is enough to both inspire and challenge. When Lisa spoke to our community of missionary/activists she received a standing ovation. We all recognized in her, the best of us. She has the same missionary spirit, leading in a way that is fearless and engages the heart and mind. She speaks to the most pressing concerns of our time, but she also roots herself in the timelessness of Scripture. In the rarest kind of parody Lisa does not back down from a fight, but is equally full of love, compassion and fairness. She is a brilliant teacher, a tireless activist and a generous woman.”
Brian Sanders
Founder and Executive Director, UNDERGROUND Network
“Lisa is a 21st century prophetess — she speaks the Word of God with great power into the historic moment to create repentance and renewal. She is a renaissance prophetess – as skilled in training as she is in creative drama, writing, preaching or public witness. I am grateful for her committed discipleship and world-changing leadership.”
Rev. Alexia Salvatierra
“Lisa was able to come in and easily join the flow of our teaching series in a way that enriched and challenged our congregation. In a way that only someone who is both deeply knowledgeable and profoundly passionate about their content and faith can do, Lisa brought us present to the injustice in the world and then to the hope of restoration of shalom in Christ. Lisa was also a gift to work with as guest faculty at our Formation School. These lectures are also open to the public and geared to inform, inspire, and resource our people towards a more dynamic and faithful presence in the world… and she, very strongly, did just that! Lisa was also a helpful conversation partner as we discussed possible partnerships with local churches and non-profits where leadership development and Christian formation would be our collaborative goal.”
Tim Nelson
Education Pastor, Mars Hill Bible Church
“What a gift it was to have Lisa Sharon Harper teach at the Renovaré Institute. Lisa’s theological depth, historical scholarship, prophetic witness, humor, and grace made her an exceedingly effective teacher and a magnetic presence. If you are looking for someone who can help your community sort through some of the most vexing issues of our day from a place of grounded faith, deep thought, and lived experience, Lisa is a brilliant choice.”
Carolyn Arends
Director of Education, Renovaré Institute
General
“The knowledge and wisdom that Lisa brings to her work and ministry are not simply acquired by reading books; she has learned, lived, and cried with those our society considers disposable. Her integrity is rooted in her commitment to the people, and to the gospel. Lisa’s ministry is an inspiration to me, and many others.”
Carlos L Malave
Executive Director, Christian Churches Together
“Lisa Sharon Harper is a woman of faith who listens, learns and responds with creativity to the world around her. As a pilgrim in challenging times, like the early disciples, she brings insight and wisdom to the quest for justice. I especially appreciate her engagement of the issues of race in our diverse society.”
Sr. Simone Campbell
Executive Director, NETWORK
“Rev. Lisa Sharon Harper is simultaneously a powerful prophetic presence and an empathetic compassionate care giver. She is a teacher and preacher, thought leader, frontline activist and organizer, writer, critical thinker, and bridge builder. All of who she is blends together to bring forth a holistic healing moment that can initiate a movement. People and organizations who engage with her are better for the encounter and become more justice focused as a result.”
Curtiss Paul DeYoung
CEO, Minnesota Council of Churches
“There are those friends in life who walk alongside you, agree with your decisions and support your endeavors. They are helpful to our journey of identity, self acceptance and belonging. And there those friends who inspire you, make you better person and who push you toward making the world a better place for everyone. Lisa’s friendship has been the latter for me. When I am lazy I don’t look forward to being with Lisa Sharon Harper because she cannot rest with injustice in the world and neither has she let me rest in a mediocre faith of inactivity and irrelevancy. I love her for this. In fact, my engagement in fighting for the rights of the undocumented in this country went to the next level of commitment and action through her gift of persuasion and vision for Shalom. I am a better minister of the Gospel because of Lisa’s loyal friendship and unrelenting heart for love and justice. In Spanish I would call my Comadre in life, faith and ministry. She has become family to my wife and me and the Spirit has bound us together in the work of bringing God’s Shalom to the world.”
Rev Dr. Orlando Crespo
National Director, InterVarsity Latino Fellowship
“Lisa Sharon Harper has been involved with the Justice Conference for many years as a friend, speaker, collaborator and partner.
She is a masterful storyteller, and as an activist, theologian, preacher, and leader, she brings truth and insight with a pastoral heart and prophetic vision. She is a reconciler and seeks the restoration of broken relationships.
Lisa is uniquely gifted in weaving together historical and theological narratives while pulling out current realities, and practical experiences. She can take learners on a journey that will meet them where they are at and also stretch them into new ways of understanding.”
Mark Reddy
CEO, The Justice Conference
“Lisa Sharon Harper provided leadership, encouragement and direction when we needed it most. She was my first call for help and hope when #SilenceIsNotSpiritual was being birthed one year ago She helped organize a clarion call to the church, and organized a process that encouraged almost 7000 people to rise to the challenge of stopping violence against women in the church. She listened to us, dreamed with us, and helped architect a step by step process our team and the expert team at Freedom Road followed through to success!
Lisa encourages open dialogue and is never afraid of pursuing paths that lead to truth. She is a truly skilled “bridge builder”, telling the story to those we rallied through grassroots organization and grasstop messaging so effectively we found the narrative in places we never expected– TIME, Newsweek, The New Yorker, The Walstreet Journal, Christianity Today, radio, TV, blogs and pod casts. I am grateful to Lisa for her willingness to get personally involved in leading a supporting the idea 1MT brought to her. Her unwavering commitment to co-founding #SilenceIsNotSpiritual was essential and key to the success of the Network.
Lisa and the experts at Freedom Road have helped us envision and execute multiple phases of growth. The endless creativity and productivity of the team she has assembled it amazing!
Lisa has helped me personally navigate my own narrative gaps in my leadership. Her truth telling way is not always easy to hear, but she never once made me feel unable to understand or change. Our mutual commitment to each other in the fight to bridge the gap was never questioned, and she breathed courage into me as I confronted some very difficult areas around my own story, my own race and racism. She has brought a balm to Gilead.”
Belinda Bauman
Founder, One Million Thumbprints
“Lisa Sharon Harper had been a dialogue partner via her work with Sojourners long before we became personally acquainted on that winter day here in Michigan. I tend to be skeptical of how authentically public figures engage thier work and personal convictions but meeting Lisa eased my skeptic at first meeting. It was a few months before the release of the Very Good Gospel and upon hearing its contents I knew it was the resource the evangelical church needed and did not know it was waiting for. I was inspired to invite a collection of my closest pastors and community leaders together to engage this important work for the benefit of our city. Lisa returned to us after the release of the book and helped us reorient ourselves around the value of God’s image-bearers on earth, our responsibility to bear God “icon” for all creation and to acknowledge the bad we impose upon what God calls “good.”
Lisa is a scholar, a preacher and a prophet to the nations who is not squeamish about proclaiming the truth of God’s love for the world and the responsibility God’s people have to represent God well on the earth. Her scholarship is grounded in careful exegesis and the historical narrative of the church in America. Her love for Christ’s church is obvious as she strives to sharpen the church’s witness in the world for the glory of God. These divided and often destructive times in America make fertile ground for an emerging prophet who speaks with the heart of God and the conviction of the faithful. Lisa Sharon Harper is that prophet and her leadership has prepared us well to take her side on Freedom’s Road.”
Rev. Dr. Denise Kingdom Grier, DMin, MDiv, BA
Maple Avenue Ministries
For The Very Good Gospel
“For anyone who has ever wondered if we were meant for more, The Very Good Gospel provides a resounding yes.”
Michael Eric Dyson
Best-selling author of Tears We Cannot Stop
“Lisa Sharon Harper is so smart and interesting—she’s a wonderful leader. I respect her immensely and am passionate about the message of this book.”
Jen Hatmaker
speaker and best-selling author of For the Love
“Lisa Sharon Harper has presented the Gospel, the good news, as it was meant to be— whole and complete. Our world has compromised so many elements of the good news that we are left with a divided Gospel. We need to recover the whole Christian Gospel, the wholeness of the church, the wholeness of relationships. Lisa has unleashed the whole-ism of shalom. Her application of the good news for America, for our culture, in the world, reminds us that God is bigger than our problems. My wish is that Christians, and non-Christians alike, read this book.”
Dr. John Perkins
Co-founder of the Christian Community Development Association, founder of the John and Vera Perkins Foundation in Jackson, Mississippi and author of Let Justice Roll Down
“To speak of the gospel as good news, it has to be good news for the oppressed, the impoverished, the broken hearted. To embody God’s shalom is to embrace and restore the image of God in all humanity no matter who or where they are. Chapter by chapter Lisa Sharon Harper builds the case for reading, understanding, and living the gospel as the life-giving, freedom-bringing, shalom-infused reality it really is. There are new, exciting voices coming from a new, younger generation of evangelicals, and they are turning the traditional meaning of that word around. Lisa Sharon Harper is such a voice, and well worth hearing.”
Allan Boesak
South African human rights activist, Desmond Tutu Chair of Peace, Justice and Reconciliation Studies, Christian Theological Seminary and Butler University
“One can scan across the landscape of the church and not find a better articulator of the essence of the Gospel in the 21st century. Lisa Sharon Harper follows a rich tradition of reformers and iconoclast theological practitioners who deeply love the Gospel and God’s people. She has made it her life’s project to challenge lethargic and cynical people to live love and practice justice. Our world is richer and more vibrant because of her compassionate and strong voice.”
Reverend Dr. Otis Moss III
Senior Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ and author of Blue Note Preaching in a Post-Soul World
“Part mountaineer, part miner, Lisa Sharon Harper has somehow ascended the mountain of Scripture to survey its entirety while also digging deep into its core to extract raw truth of immense implication and conviction. Lisa’s revealing stories, scriptural depth, and prophetic voice make The Very Good Gospel a very good read—one you won’t want to miss.”
David Drury
Chief of staff for The Wesleyan Church World Headquarters and author of nine books including Transforming Presence
“Lisa Sharon Harper writes in a fresh and personal way combining rich theology with deep experience working with contemporary issues to inspire us not to settle for a thin gospel, but a thick gospel—the fullness of the good news of God’s reconciliation and shalom that touches all aspects of life. The Very Good Gospel is for all of us struggling with how the good news of Jesus should impact not just our own lives, but also speak to the injustices in our world. This book brings all the threads together and paints a glorious picture of God’s redemptive work in creation.”
Ken Wytsma
President of Kilns College and author of Pursuing Justice and Create vs. Copy
“In a world that has legitimate reasons to question the possibility of a good God, Lisa Sharon Harper reminds us what is in fact not only good, but beautiful about the God who loves us more than we want to be loved. Her winsome words wash over the reader with gentleness, while simultaneously striking out with a fierce love that is corrective and healing. The Very Good Gospel is more than just a social activist’s field guide, it is a road map to a better world—one marked by faith, hope, and love.”
Christopher L. Heuertz
Author, Activist, and Founding Partner of Gravity, a Center for Contemplative Activism
“Exposing racism, sexism and exploitation as a direct assault on God, The Very Good Gospel weaves its wisdom around God’s shalom—the blessed web of creation, where the flourishing of one is a flourishing of all. It is beautiful and true. Thank you Lisa!”
Dr. Mimi Haddad
President of Christians for Biblical Equality
www.cbeinternational.org
“There are lots of “gospels” out there competing for our affection—the gospel of the Kardashians, the gospel of Trump, the gospel of American exceptionalism… but Lisa Sharon Harper dives into the one true Gospel, God’s very good news. On these pages, the Garden of Eden meets the world we live in. Harper stirs up an ancient, radical vision of shalom—whereby God heals all the wounds that sin has created—in our hearts, in our streets, and in our world.”
Shane Claiborne
Activist and author of Executing Grace
“For many decades, both mainline Christianity and the evangelical church have been captive to competing, shallow, ‘thin’ understandings of what the ‘good news’ of the gospel really is. In The Very Good Gospel, Lisa Sharon Harper masterfully presents the case that the very good news God brings to us is about the restoration of shalom—that is to say peace, well-being, wholeness, and abundance—which conquers the false dichotomy between social justice and personal salvation. Lisa shows us that God’s creation is emphatically, even forcefully good, and it is the duty of every human being to responsibly steward God’s creation. Lisa’s clear, evocative prose blends scholarly theological insights with moving life experiences to show the clear applications of the gospel to our cross-gender relationships, our struggle against racism, how we care for the environment, our relationships with ourselves, and much more. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who seeks to understand God’s true purpose for the world and for our lives.”
Jim Wallis
New York Times bestselling author of America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege, and the Bridge to a New America, president of Sojourners, and editor-in-chief of Sojourners magazine
