This is our first Convocation Unscripted+LIVE episode for 2025, which we’ll now be doing weekly during the first 100 days of Trump’s administration. We opened this episode by talking about the devastating wildfires in Southern California, which incoming President Trump is already politicizing with blatant lies about its causes. We talked about two events that each seem to mark the end of an era and are related to truth-telling. First, we discuss Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement this week that META is going MAGA, by appointing top officials from Trump’s orbit to its board and global policy positions, donating to Trump’s transition fund, and, most significantly, ending its fact-checking program on all platforms. We also reflect on President Jimmy Carter's funeral, which provided moving tributes to his life and legacy. And we recall that Carter’s principal campaign promise was, “I will never lie to you.” A new era indeed.

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The Convocation- convocation.substack.com

Robert P. Jones- www.whitetoolong.net

Diana Butler Bass- dianabutlerbass.substack.com

Kristin Du Mez- kristindumez.substack.com

Jemar Tisby- JemarTisby.Substack.com

In our last episode of The Convocation Unscripted for 2024, the Convocation Unscripted team give previews of their upcoming writing projects for 2025. Robby unpacks the findings from PRRI’s new post-election survey. The survey found that majorities of all white Christian groups voted for Donald Trump, as did Latino Protestants. Majorities of every other group—Christians of color, non-Christian religious groups, and religiously unaffiliated voters—voted for Kamala Harris. The survey also found that Democrats are five times more likely than Republicans to say they are altering upcoming holiday plans to spend less time with certain relatives in the wake of the election. Jemar and Kristin talked about the bizarre conception of manhood that seems operative among Trump’s inner circle. Jemar also emphasized a disturbing finding from the PRRI survey: that white evangelical churchgoers were more likely than infrequent attenders to support Trump. They are, Jemar noted, white vectors for, superspreaders of the MAGA movement and white Christian nationalism. Kristin talked about the importance of taking risks and normalizing the basic task of telling the truth in spaces that are denying it. Diana raised the dangers of Elon Musk’s influence over elected officials and the new threats of oligarchy and plutocracy we are facing with the staggering amount of wealth at the disposal of a few.

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The Convocation- convocation.substack.com

Robert P. Jones- www.whitetoolong.net

Diana Butler Bass- dianabutlerbass.substack.com

Kristin Du Mez- kristindumez.substack.com

Jemar Tisby- JemarTisby.Substack.com

The hosts of Convocation Unscripted kicked off the conversation by sharing their personal experiences of Thanksgiving. While each took some time away from the news to be with family, we talked about the importance of paying attention to Trump’s rolling administration appointee announcements, particularly while the Senate still has a role in confirming them. We discuss Trump appointees Russell Vought, Pete Hegseth, and Kash Patel, along with their deep ties to white Christian nationalism and Project 2025. The team wrapped the conversation by discussing the themes of justice and joy in the context of Advent, even amid this challenging time in our nation’s history.

On November 17th, The Convocation Unscripted team rolled into Atlanta for our third Faith & Democracy Tour stop, after previous events at First Baptist Church in Greensboro, NC, and Dayspring United Methodist Church in Tempe, AZ. It was an energizing night with our gracious hosts at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church with great music, inspiring conversations, and a packed house of like-minded people who wanted to celebrate—and think seriously about what it is now going to take to protect and live out—an authentic Christian faith that supports a vision of a pluralistic democracy.

At this special two-hour event, we were also honored to be joined by an amazing set of musical artists. If you don’t know their music, you should:

Ruby Amanfu, 2x Song of the Year Grammy Nominee, Recording Artist, Songwriter & Producer;

Sam Ashworth, Grammy & Oscar-nominated singer-songwriter (H.E.R., Leslie Odom Jr.);

Taylor Leonhardt, Solo recording artist, member of Paper Horses;

Tommy Sims, Grammy Award-winning producer & singer-songwriter (Eric Clapton — “Change the World”).

Follow:

The Convocation- convocation.substack.com

Robert P. Jones- www.whitetoolong.net

Diana Butler Bass- dianabutlerbass.substack.com

Kristin Du Mez- kristindumez.substack.com

Jemar Tisby- JemarTisby.Substack.com

In the first week out from his surprising sweep of every swing state and electoral victory, Donald Trump has embarked on a “shock and awe” strategy of overwhelming the media with rapid-fire announcements of administration and cabinet nominations. By picking extreme, unqualified, and controversial nominees, and by preemptively asking the Senate to forego its Constitutional duty to provide "advice and consent,” Trump is setting up the first loyalty test for Republican senators. We talk about how this clown car of nominees expresses contempt for the basic idea of competency and the task of governance, but accomplishes one clear end: embedding sycophantic Trump loyalists who have no regard for the missions of the institutions with which they are entrusted across every branch of the federal government. In the wake of what’s coming, we’ll need to look for models of faithful resistance. While many white Christians have understandably recently been invoking the example of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, as Jemar reminds us, there is a Spirit of Justice that has animated the Black Christian tradition that is much closer to home.

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The Convocation- convocation.substack.com

Robert P. Jones- www.whitetoolong.net

Diana Butler Bass- dianabutlerbass.substack.com

Kristin Du Mez- kristindumez.substack.com

Jemar Tisby- JemarTisby.Substack.com

Two days after the 2024 presidential election, which resulted in the return to power of Donald Trump, we held our first Convocation Unscripted+LIVE webinar. Jemar hosted this conversation with over 500 participants. We talked about our deep disappointment that a majority of American voters chose to return to power a twice-impeached convicted felon and adjudicated sexual abuser who incited a violent insurrection when he lost the last election. Robby went over the exit poll numbers that showed the steady support of white Christians for Trump: 8 in ten white evangelical Protestants, along with 6 in ten white Catholics and white non-evangelical Protestants. Diana talked about the importance of being prepared to protect what and who we can in the coming years. And Kristin emphasized the importance of grasping the new reality in which we will soon be living, emphasizing the mantra, “Do not obey in advance." And, most importantly, we took thoughtful questions from all the live participants on the webinar, ranging from coping to organizing.

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The Convocation- convocation.substack.com

Robert P. Jones- www.whitetoolong.net

Diana Butler Bass- dianabutlerbass.substack.com

Kristin Du Mez- kristindumez.substack.com

Jemar Tisby- JemarTisby.Substack.com

It's our last episode of The Convocation Unscripted before the 2024 election. We open the session by taking stock of how we’re each doing since we returned from being on the road together for our first two Faith & Democracy Tour stops at First Baptist Church in Greensboro, NC, and Dayspring United Methodist Church in Tempe, AZ. Diana shared insights from a sermon she preached on uncertainty last week at the Duke University chapel. Robby unpacked some recent survey findings on authoritarianism and violence that are keeping him up at night. And Kristin talked about the importance of having courage and the rule of refusing to obey in advance, tapping lessons from Timothy Snyder’s book, On Tyranny. We also talked about the cowardice reflected in Jeff Bezos’s decision to stop the Washington Post from endorsing Kamala Harris, and the plans to traumatize civil servants that people like Russell Vought of Project 2025 are going to unleash within our government should Trump be elected.

 After months of planning, The Convocation Unscripted Team has hit the road! On October 13, we rolled into First Baptist Church in Greensboro, NC. And last Sunday (10/20), we held our second Faith and Democracy Tour stop at Dayspring United Methodist Church in Tempe, AZ, an event that was also co-hosted by The Fountains United Methodist Church in Fountain Hills. It was an energizing night with great music, inspiring conversations, and a packed house of like-minded people who wanted to celebrate an authentic Christian faith that supports a vision of a pluralistic democracy. At this special two-hour event, we were also honored to be joined by an amazing set of musical artists:

Taylor Leonhardt, Solo recording artist, member of Paper Horses;

Fernando Ortega, Dove Award-winning singer-songwriter (“Give Me Jesus”); and

Tommy Sims, Grammy Award-winning producer & singer-songwriter (Eric Clapton — “Change the World”).

Stay tuned for additional Faith & Democracy Tour stops to be announced soon!

In this episode of The Convocation Unscripted, Kristin Du Mez sits in the host chair for a conversation with Diana Butler Bass, Jemar Tisby, and Robert P. Jones. We reflect on the recent vice presidential debate, possibly the last debate of the election season. Beyond the performances, we talk about what the debate revealed about the deeper stakes for democracy: outright lies in a post-truth political world, Vance’s refusal to say Trump lost the 2020 election and his admission that he would not have protected the Constitution the way Mike Pence did in 2021, and the dangers of a “normal” sounding debate in these abnormal times. We wrapped the session with a conversation about the connections between the white evangelical “theo bros” and Christian nationalist vision of Project 2025. The team also announced the first two stops on The Convocation Unscripted’s “Faith and Democracy Tour,” inviting listeners to join us in person at First Baptist Church in Greensboro, NC on October 13th at 6pm ET and Dayspring United Methodist Church in Tempe, AZ on October 20th at 5pm MST. Links to register for those events can be found on the Convocation Unscripted substack home page.

In this special episode of the Convocation Unscripted, we record a live in-person conversation from Washington, DC. The four of us came to town to participate in “A Test of Faith: A Summit to Defend Democracy,” which was organized by Rev. Jim Wallis, Director of the Center for Faith and Justice at Georgetown University. The summit included the unveiling of a new statement presenting a theologically centered Christian defense of Democracy and a rich set of panel discussions. Kristin Du Mez kicks off the conversation, describing her experience as one of the drafters of the statement. Jemar Tisby and Robby Jones talk about the problematic term “polarization,” which implies a “both-sidesism” that distorts the moral nature of the choices we are facing in our contemporary politics. As Jemar often notes, “Justice takes sides.” Diana Butler Bass talks about the politeness and niceness pervading particularly white mainline Protestant churches that prevents Christians from calling out injustice and argues that confrontation, done rightly, can be an act of deep Christian kindness. Finally, Kristin Du Mez rounds out the conversation by giving us a preview of her new documentary short film, “For Our Daughters,” which discusses the sexual abuse scandal in white evangelical denominations. This special in-person episode covers a lot of other ground as well, including anti-semitic statements Trump made at a conference to fight anti-semitism and the disturbing racist and misogynistic comments made by Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson that were recently uncovered by CNN. The Convocation Unscripted team would like to say a heartfelt "thank you" to Jesse Dollemore and Brittany Page of the “I Doubt It” podcast for the generous use of their studio and for editing assistance for this episode. - The Convocation Unscripted [S1E10]

Follow:

The Convocation- convocation.substack.com

Robert P. Jones- www.whitetoolong.net

Diana Butler Bass- dianabutlerbass.substack.com

Kristin Du Mez- kristindumez.substack.com

Jemar Tisby- JemarTisby.Substack.com