Prayer can be more than quiet reflection — it can be protest, solidarity, and a catalyst for justice. In this episode of Shifting Culture, I talk with Liz Theoharis and Charon Hribar about their new book We Pray Freedom, a collection of prayers, songs, and liturgies born out of the Freedom Church of the Poor.

We explore how faith traditions can sustain movements, how ritual can become resistance, and how communities on the margins are leading us toward a more just and abundant world. From prayer in homeless encampments to liturgy at the border, this conversation invites us to see that prayer isn’t escape — it’s action, hope, and transformation.

Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis is a theologian, pastor, author, and anti-poverty activist. She is the Executive Director of the Kairos Center for Religions, Rights, and Social Justice and Co-Chair of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. Rev. Dr. Theoharis has been organizing in poor and low-income communities for the past 30 years. Her books include: We Cry Justice: Reading the Bible with the Poor People’s Campaign (Broadleaf Press, 2021) and Always with Us?: What Jesus Really Said about the Poor (Eerdmans, 2017) and she has been published in the New York Times, Politico, the Washington Post, Sojourners and elsewhere. Rev. Dr. Theoharis is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA) and teaches at Union Theological Seminary.

Dr. Charon Hribar is a movement song leader, cultural organizer, and social ethicist. She serves as the director of cultural strategies for the Kairos Center and as co-director of theomusicology and movement arts for the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. She cofounded Songs in the Key of Resistance and has been instrumental in creating music and cultural resources like the Songs in the Key of Resistance Songbook and the We Cry Justice Cultural Arts Project. Dr. Hribar combines on-the-ground organizing with teaching and leading social-movement music nationwide, empowering communities to integrate arts into their efforts for justice.

Liz and Charon's Book:

We Pray Freedom

Liz and Charon's Recommendation:

Andor

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