Following Jesus in the American Empire
Live class and Q&A on wednesday, May 27th from 8:00-9:30pm ET
Following Jesus in the American Empire
What is the right relationship of faith to politics? If you’re watching the news lately you might have seen it play out in a lot of ways, many of them harmful. This class invites us to reflect on what it means for the U.S. to be an “empire” and how the values of empire continue to shape our lives. Rather than separating faith and politics we will look at how Scripture has things to say about politics: about power, injustice, and the mercy and justice of God. In this class, instructor Kat Armas will teach us about the stories we have inherited—about power, belonging, fear, and control—and consider how they echo the logic of empire present throughout Scripture.
Together, we will explore what it means to follow Jesus when our politics are full of division and domination. How can our theology move us toward faithful presence rather than passive acceptance? What does it look like to embody mercy, justice, and truth in our personal lives, our families and neighborhoods, and out in public?
This class includes:
One-night live class
Live Q+A session
Link to class recording
Downloadable class slides
Cost: PAY WHAT YOU CAN
Topics we’ll cover:
What is empire and how do a lot of Western values reflect empire in a way we might be surprised by?
What are the stories that have shaped us around power, fear, belonging, and control and what does the Bible have to say about them?
How can we wrestle honestly with the present reality in a way that reflects discernment and resistance?
What does it mean to follow Jesus in a divided, power-driven political context?
YOUR INSTRUCTOR
Kat Armas
Kat Armas is a Cuban-American author, speaker, theologian, spouse, and mom (to two humans and a beloved band of farm animals). She holds a ThM from Vanderbilt Divinity School and a dual MDiv and MAT from Fuller Theological Seminary, where she received the Frederick Buechner Award for Excellence in Writing. Her work has appeared in the National Catholic Reporter—including an article shared by the Pope—as well as The Christian Century, Plough Magazine, and numerous other publications. Kat speaks and leads workshops at universities, churches, and organizations across the country, engaging the intersections of empire, decolonization, and the Bible. She is the author of Abuelita Faith, Sacred Belonging, and her most recent book, Liturgies for Resisting Empire.
