Proposal
Reclaiming Jesus: A Conference
We propose Reclaiming Jesus as the title of a national conference we would like to work with others to organize and hold in Austin, Texas in October 2026.
In the spring of 2026 with Trump’s war on Iran, with Trump’s appropriation of the person and message of Jesus, and with the beginning of the breakup of the MAGA coalition, we believe we’ve arrived at a critical moment. We believe followers of Jesus are presented with a generational opportunity to center the true teachings of Jesus in the national dialogue.
Jesus has been kidnapped. His identity, his core teachings, his prophetic example, are being held hostage by unscrupulous political forces who seek to deny his very essence. The kidnappers pretend that Jesus condones imperial war and violence, despises immigrants, hates the poor, encourages the worship of corrupt politicians, and puts wealth on a pedestal. The public meaning of the Jesus of the Gospels has been dramatically distorted by the fusion of white evangelical identity with MAGA politics. MAGA evangelicals treat political authority, specifically the authority of the Trump regime and not the teachings of Jesus, as the center of Christian life, reversing historic commitments to humility, compassion, and separation of church and state.
Why a Conference?
The Reclaiming Jesus movement affirms Jesus' command that we love God and love our neighbors as ourselves; that we be peacemakers rather than warmongers; that we welcome the stranger, feed the hungry, work for justice, serve the poor rather than the rich; that we be the light of the world. Reclaiming Jesus invites those who feel disenfranchised from the Jesus of the gospels to join a movement dedicated to disentangling faith from the State and redefining Christianity as a moral framework that brings people together, not a political tool that divides us. We propose to publicly separate the historical Jesus from political nationalism, to offer a spiritual alternative for Christians who feel displaced, and to restore credibility to Christian witness in public life.
Purpose
The Reclaiming Jesus Conference aims to restore the life, teachings, and public witness of Jesus to the center of Christian faith and practice. At a time when the name of Jesus is frequently invoked to justify political power, cultural dominance, and narratives of fear or exclusion, we gather to reaffirm the Jesus revealed in the Gospels — the teacher of compassion, service, humility, justice, truth, and radical love. We seek to create a space where Christians can disentangle their faith from partisan identities, resist the misuse of sacred symbols, and reclaim a discipleship rooted in the actual ministry of Jesus. Through prayer, scholarship, dialogue, and community, we commit ourselves to renewing Christian witness in the world: a witness marked by courage, mercy, integrity, and a deep concern for the flourishing of all people. Our mission is not to oppose any group, but to re‑center our lives on Jesus himself — his words, his way, and his call to love God and neighbor without exception.
Why Texas?
A century ago, the early fundamentalist Christian movement was nurtured most explicitly in the state of Texas. In the 1920s, early modern fundamentalist leaders like John R. Rice and J. Frank Norris planted Fundamentalist Baptist churches in cities and towns across the state. Today, that fundamentalist movement dominates the Southern Baptist Convention and the broader evangelical movement as well as the political and the religious public life of Texas and the entire United States. Today, in 2026, the fundamentalist tradition is most sharply challenged by a resurgent movement by followers of Jesus like James Talerico and many other Post Evangelical leaders.