Press Release: CrossLeft launches Institute for Progressive Christianity Website

For Immediate Release

CrossLeft – Balancing the Christian Voice
www.InstituteforProgressiveChristianity.org

National Organization Announces Effort to Build Progressive Christian Think Tank
To Launch Website Today

WASHINGTON DC. CrossLeft, a grassroots membership organization representing progressive Christians, announced the launch of a new think tank: the Institute for Progressive Christianity (IPC). IPC’s vision is to create a national Institute for progressive Christian values. The Institute will serve as an educational facility to conduct research, affect and advance policy, educate the public, and influence every sphere of American public life, including politics, academia, arts, and the church.

Mark Farr, a principal organizer of the think tank, states, “The launch of the Institute for Progressive Christianity is truly a first, a think tank that will promote Christian values in the progressive tradition.�

“Progressive Christian� is a bold, reemerging term in mainstream Christianity that finds its roots more in the compassionate traditions guiding Martin Luther King and abolitionists of slavery than Pat Robertson and advocates for intolerance. Politically and morally, progressive Christians choose poverty reduction over tax cuts to the wealthy, peace and diplomacy over war and occupation, and service toward the common good over individualistic consumerism.

Linda Hodges, another principal organizer, states in her flagship IPC article, “The ancient strand of our biblical, progressive tradition has always been the impulse toward freedom, compassion and justice. It is time for progressive Christians to boldly assert our vision of the freedom, compassion and justice of Jesus Christ.�

The IPC has formed an Academic Review Panel that will drive the research, writing, and development of innovative policy solutions, building an academic journal and other outreach functions. The Chair of the Review Panel, Zeus Yiamouyiannis, notes that “the IPC seeks to study, translate, and embody Christ’s example in concrete, accessible public words, thoughts, and deeds.�

The Institute for Progressive Christianity will hold a launch event on November 18th at the National Cathedral in Washington DC. The IPC is recruiting interested scholars to the academic review panel and is accepting submissions of papers for the journal. The IPC is also looking for organizations, churches, ministers, funders, and other individuals interested in participating in this bold new endeavor.

Contact Information:
Stephen Rockwell, Executive Director
Cell: 215-317-1865
Email: steve@crossleft.org

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