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.

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

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