This title will be released on:
Sep 9, 2025
Description
A book of prayers, rituals, and liturgies that grows out of communities committed to abolishing poverty.
Prayer has long sustained movements for social change. Ritual gives shape to our desire for justice, and liturgy lends power to our work. In We Pray Freedom, we learn from activists and movement builders the songs, stories, and ritual practices that keep them going for the long haul. The Freedom Church of the Poor, called for by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., has existed in many forms; today it includes laborers, poor folks, pastors, organizers, and others bound together by a conviction: It does not have to be this way.
Edited by Liz Theoharis, theologian, pastor, anti-poverty activist, and editor of We Cry Justice, and Charon Hribar, song leader, cultural organizer, and social ethicist, this book guides readers through a journey of remembering, healing, mourning, action, and celebration. It is a collection of prayers, resources, and stories from the communities in which they arose, including:
A Prayer to Protect a Sacred Place
A Prayer for Burials
A Black Friday Prayer for Workers' Justice
Passover Seder
Vigil for the Detained
Healthcare Vigil
A Shinnecock Song of Peace
Earth Liturgy
A Ramadan Ritual
A Poem in the Wake of Police Violence
A Revolutionary Advent Wreath
A Prayer for Diwali
Benediction for Homeless Persons' Memorial Day
Join Chaplains on the Harbor on their Stations of the Cross, Iglesia del Pueblo for Día de los Muertos, Domestic Workers United in their community garden ritual, and an of encampment of unhoused residents in Alabama for their communion service. With more than fifty resources from eighty contributors, We Pray Freedom is useful for individual reflection, corporate worship, and protest and action. Through liturgies of liberation, join a movement that bears witness to the justice of God and to human faith, suffering, protest, and love.
Product Details
| Publisher | Broadleaf Books |
| Publish Date | September 09, 2025 |
| Pages | 272 |
| Language | English |
| Type |  Paperback / softback |
| EAN/UPC | 9798889830344 |
| Dimensions | 0.0 X 0.0 X 0.0 inches | 0.7 pounds |
About the Author
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 thirty years. Her books include We Cry Justice, We Pray Freedom, You Only Get What You're Organized to Take, and Always with Us?, and she has been published in the New York Times, Politico, the Washington Post, Sojourners, and elsewhere. Rev. Dr. Theoharis is co-pastor of the Freedom Church of the Poor, and teaches at educational institutions across the country, including Union Theological Seminary in New York City, Episcopal Divinity School, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, and more.
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. She lives in the Bronx.
Reviews
"We Pray Freedom is a powerful testament to the sacred call for justice and liberation, woven together by the voices of grassroots faith and community leaders. Liz Theoharis and Charon Hribar have crafted a living, breathing collection of songs, prayers, and rituals that ignite hope and inspire action." --Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis, senior minister of Middle Collegiate Church and author of Fierce Love and The Just Love Story Bible
"We Pray Freedom is a call to move beyond the confines of traditional worship into a deeper, more inclusive prayer that embraces both our humanity and our divine calling. It beckons us to hear the cries of the oppressed--not as distant voices, but as teachers of a liberation that transforms us all. The liturgies found in this collection are not just words, but powerful acts of justice and compassion that invite us into right relationship with each other, with creation, and with God." --Richard Rohr, Franciscan friar, ecumenical teacher, author, and founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation
"An amazing and inspirational journey through the immense value of the incorporation of rituals and prayers within our multi-diverse communities. The vivid personal stories, the in-depth references to spiritual resources, and the encouragement to 'reflect, embody, discuss' at the end of each chapter gently, yet persistently, guide the reader toward a new vision of possibility. Through each chapter, We Pray Freedom offers a powerful blueprint for individuals, churches, unions, and organizations to work together toward liberation, justice, and equality for all." --Sweet Honey in the Rock
"When we sing together, we are not only supporting a movement; we are building it. Much of this collective song is rooted in our shared traditions of faith. The leaders and communities featured in We Pray Freedom embody this truth, teaching us to build movements through the harmony of our hearts." --Marshall Ganz, Rita E. Hauser Senior Lecturer in Leadership, Organizing, and Civil Society at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
"Freedom-cum-justice is not a gift that falls from the sky. It is rather a piece of hard, sustained work that must always struggle against the rulers of this age. Such good work requires preparation and readiness through practice. In this rich, suggestive collection, Theoharis and Hribar invite us to liturgical practice for the sake of such emancipation. Their models of liturgical practice open a wide deposit of images, resources, and perspectives that will prosper such good work." --Walter Brueggemann, Old Testament scholar and author
"Each page of We Pray Freedom is testimony--evidence of God's connection with and empowerment of real faith communities in times of actual transition, crisis, grief, hope, and triumph. Receive this evidence and its grounding practices as a gift." --Lisa Sharon Harper, author of Fortune and The Very Good Gospel, and president and founder of Freedom Road
"We Pray Freedom helps us breathe. During disarray and turmoil, we need prayers, rituals, and words to give forth new life and help sustain and empower us. Editors Liz Theoharis and Charon Hribar give us a beautifully written, uplifting, powerful, and challenging book that will change the way we see worship, community, and the world." --Grace Ji-Sun Kim, professor of theology at Earlham School of Religion and author of When God Became White and other books
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