The Rev. Jim Wallis. Image courtesy of Georgetown University.

The Rev. Jim Wallis will deliver the 2023 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Keynote Lecture at Villanova University on Wednesday, Jan. 25, at 7 p.m. in the Villanova Room, Connelly Center.

Born in Detroit, Wallis was raised by an Evangelical family in Redford Township, a small suburb of Detroit. During this time Wallis “questioned the racial segregation in his church and community and later became involved in the civil rights and antiwar movements at Michigan State University.” He attended Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. In 1971, Wallis, along with his fellow seminarians, founded the People’s Christian Coalition in Chicago. He also founded a Christian magazine named Post American that same year. The People’s Christian Coalition moved to Washington D.C. in 1975 and adopted the name Sojourners (Post American became Sojourners magazine.) Sojourners’ ministries “are a committed group of Christians who work together to live a gospel life that integrates spiritual renewal and social justice.”

A bestselling author, Wallis served on President Obama’s White House Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships in 2009. He is currently serving as the first Chair in Faith and Justice, and leader of the Center on Faith and Justice in the Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy. Prior to his current role, Wallis was a research fellow at the Georgetown University Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs. He taught courses at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and Georgetown University, and was awarded an honorary doctorate in humane letters from Georgetown University in 2007. Produced by Georgetown University’s Center on Faith and Justice, Wallis hosts The Soul of the Nation, a bi-weekly podcast with more than 15,000 listeners. In 2022, Wallis was named one of Washington DC’s 500 Most Influential People by the Washingtonian staff.

Dig deeper and explore the links below to learn more about Wallis before his visit to campus:

• Podcast: The Soul of the Nation
• The Rev. Jim Wallis: “Crossing the Color Line” (TheoEd Talks)
• Sojourners
• The Center on Faith and Justice (Georgetown University)
• Washington DC’s 500 Most Influential People (Washingtonian, 2022)
• A Reverend Reckons with American Nationalism and the Christian Faith Community (NPR, 2022)
• Obama Announces White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships (2009)

Wallis’ Books Available at Falvey Library:

• The Call to Conversion (1982)
• Waging Peace: A Handbook for the Struggle to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (1982)
• Peacemakers: Christian Voices from the New Abolitionist Movement (1983)
• Revive Us Again: A Sojourner’s Story (1983)
• Revive Us Again: A Sojourner’s Journey (1983)
• The Rise of Christian Conscience: The Emergence of a Dramatic Renewal Movement in the Church Today (1987)
• The Soul of Politics: A Practical and Prophetic Vision for Change (1994)
• Who Speaks for God? An Alternative to the Religious Right-A New Politics of Compassion, Community, and Civility (1996)
• Faith Works: Lessons from the Life of an Activist Preacher (2000)
• Cloud of Witnesses (Hollyday & Wallis, 2005)
• God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It (2005)
• The Great Awakening: Reviving Faith & Politics in a Post-Religious Right America (2008)
• America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege, and the Bridge to a New America (2017)

Kallie Stahl ’17 MA is Communication and Marketing Specialist at Falvey Library.

References:

About Jim Wallis. (n.d.). Center on Faith +Justice. Retrieved December 21, 2022, from https://faithandjustice.georgetown.edu/about-jim-wallis/

Jim Wallis. (2012, November 1). Sojourners. https://sojo.net/biography/jim-wallis

Jim Wallis | Biography & Facts | Britannica. (n.d.). Retrieved December 21, 2022, from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jim-Wallis

Obama Announces White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships. (n.d.). The White House. Retrieved December 21, 2022, from https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/realitycheck/node/2159