evangelical.ejusa.orgEJUSA Evangelical Network

Loading... And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8 - our guide to transforming the justice system JOIN US Statement Founding Supporters Resources Featured CampaignStatement Founding Supporters Resources Featured CampaignStatement Featured Campaign Resources Founding SupportersSarah Craft 2024-02-14T15:03:31-05:00 We are Evangelicals and we recognize that every person is created in the image of God, and therefore all life has immeasurable value. We believe that our justice system should reflect this truth, and that every individual should be treated with respect and dignity. Our current justice system, and our responses to violence in particular, have not lived up to this vision and instead have delivered further pain and harm to communities. We need new responses to violence that address trauma, advance racial equity, and fulfill the promise of healing, safety, and restoration for all. We may not agree on all of the details, but we stand united around these basic principles in our quest for justice: Healing for individuals and communities harmed by violence is an essential component of justice. Crime survivors should have the supports and resources they need to rebuild their lives. We recognize that those who hurt others have also often suffered from significant past harm. While this does not excuse their actions, it does mean that they, too, need the supports and resources to heal, address their trauma, and rebuild their lives. Violence is not the inevitable behavior of intrinsically evil people. We should invest in prevention that tackles root causes, including trauma-informed and public health approaches that have shown results. Systems of accountability should support people in their work towards restoration and redemption. Restorative justice should be used more widely. A sentence like the death penalty leaves no room at all for such change, and should be ended. People of color have borne the brunt of many of the justice system’s flaws. The justice system should not be a tool to further racial inequity or any other disparities. It’s time for our justice system to be the solution instead of the problem. In working toward this goal, Micah 6:8 should be our guide: And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Sign the Statement More Collapse × Full Name* Email Address* Phone Zip Code* Title, Role, or Position (if applicable) Denomination/Faith Community Δ × In signing this statement, you agree to receive communications from EJUSA and that your name may be displayed on public materials by the . × Join Us Optional Member Code Thank you for signing up! × Join Us × What do we mean by evangelical”? Photo: Scott Langley, deathpenaltyphoto.org FEATURED CAMPAIGNS: The Death Penalty in the U.S.Building Community-Centered Public Safety Ecosystems We’ve learned a lot about the death penalty in the last 40 years. For four decades, we have tinkered with the death penalty in an effort to make it fair, accurate, and effective. Yet the system continues to fail. Innocent Lives in the Balance Since 1973, at least 196 people have been freed after evidence revealed that they were sentenced to die for crimes they did not commit. That’s more than one innocent person exonerated for every ten who have been executed. Learn More The Closure Myth To be meaningful, justice should be swift and sure. The death penalty is neither. It prolongs pain for victims’ families, dragging them through an agonizing and lengthy process that promises an execution at the beginning but often results in a different sentence in the end. Learn More Fair and Equal Under the Law? Just one percent of murders in the United States have resulted in a death sentence over the last decade. But are those individuals truly the worst of the worst” — or simply those with the worst lawyers, the wrong geographic location, or the wrong skin color? Learn More We are breaking cycles of trauma by promoting and strengthening alternative responses to violence. When we succeed, we will transform justice from a system of punishment and harm to one of healing, equity, and genuine accountability. Click here for our theology around death penalty repeal and building community-centered public safety ecosystems. READ LISTEN WATCH FOUNDING SUPPORTERS Lisa Sharon Harper Freedom Road Washington, DC Eugene Cho One Day’s Wages Seattle, WA Shane Claiborne Red Letter Christians Philadelphia, PA Joel Hunter Community Resource Network Longwood, FL Ken Wytsma Kilns College; Author Bend, OR Gabriel Salguero National Latino Evangelical Coalition Orlando, FL Jeanette Salguero National Latino Evangelical Coalition Orlando, FL Brian McLaren Convergence Leadership Project Marco Island, FL Lynne Hybels Author and Activist South Barrington, IL Jonathan Merritt Author and Contributing Editor Brooklyn, NY Demetrius Minor National Advisory Council of the Project 21 Black Leadership Network St. Petersburg, FL Sarah Withrow King CreatureKind Eugene, OR Karen Swanson Billy Graham Center for Evangelism at Wheaton College Wheaton, IL Fisher Humphreys Samford University Birmingham, AL Alan Warneke Former Montana Ministry Network of the Assemblies of God Billings, MT Tony Campolo Red Letter Christians St. Davids, PA Rev. Robert Schenck, D.Min. The Dietrich Bonhoeffer Institute Washington, DC Kristyn Komarnicki Evangelicals for Social Action, The Sider Center at Eastern University Philadelphia, PA Carlos Malave Christian Churches Together Louisville, KY Photo: Scott Langley, deathpenaltyphoto.orgThe promotes a justice system centered on redemption and healing. Equal Justice USA is a national organization working to transform the justice system by promoting responses to violence that break cycles of trauma. We have worked with Evangelical leaders across the nation since 2011, leading the way in engaging Evangelicals to speak out against the death penalty. We partnered with the National Latino Evangelical Coalition as their board unanimously voted for a position to repeal the death penalty, and we worked with members of the National Association of Evangelicals as they changed the pro-death penalty position they had held for 40 years. We have hosted events at Evangelical institutions such as Wheaton College and Calvin College, and at Northland, the largest mega-church in Florida. Our Evangelical Network unites Evangelicals under a bold vision of justice transformation, so that violence is rare and every community is safe and healthy. Sam Heath, Manager, Evangelical Network Sam leads EJUSA’s Evangelical Network . His faith background in Southern Baptist, Presbyterian, and now Anglican denominations enables him to tell stories about the realities of justice and injustice in America and hold together a view of the world as a place both exceptional and exploitative. He was a church elder in Charlottesville, VA for 6 years, where he still lives with his wife and three kids. Before coming on board with EJUSA in 2021, Sam taught high school history for 10 years in North Carolina and Virginia. He has a B.A. in education and psychology from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and a master’s in theology from the University of Virginia. Contact Sam at samh@ejusa.org Rev. Sharon Risher joins EJUSA’s Sam Heath and Heather Beaudoin at the Christian Community Development Association conference. You can also see our friend and Funding Supporter Shane Claiborne in the background. Rev. Risher’s mother was murdered at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC in 2015. She came through a multi-year journey that ended with her forgiving Roof and calling for the end of the death penalty. Equal Justice USA 44 Court St #1217 #1001 | Brooklyn, NY 11201 ejusa.org | Privacy Policy This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives...