Liz Theoharis

Books

We Pray Freedom: Liturgies and Rituals from the Freedom Church of the Poor

Edited by Liz Theoharis and Charon Hribar

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.

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You Only Get What You’re Organized to Take: Lessons From the Movement to End Poverty

by The Rev. Dr Liz Theoharis & Noam Sandweiss-Back

Beacon Press

Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, one of the nation’s leading anti-poverty organizers and moral voices, and her co-author, Noam Sandweiss-Back, argue it is possible to abolish poverty. But this won’t happen through the goodwill of the powerful or the charitable actions of well-meaning people alone. It will happen through a mass movement, open to all, and led by the poor themselves.

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Articles & Interviews

The Young Organizers Survival Corps

Can the Young Wrest This Nation from the Clutches of Full-Throated Authoritarianism?

Tom Dispatch
By Liz Theoharis and Sam Theoharis
February 3, 2026

Here’s a small suggestion from the two authors of this piece (us): don’t be young in Donald Trump’s America if you can help it. Being young in America right now means you’ll have to contend with stalling job markets, rampant inflation, deep political and economic instability, and impending climate disaster. If you point these things out, you’re labeled a dangerous (and misguided) radical. If you’re too busy trying to make ends meet for you and your family, you get labeled as lazy, apathetic, and defeatist.

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Is Trump the New Nero?

The (Immoral) Politics of Authoritarianism and the Bible (Then and Now)

Tom Dispatch
By Liz Theoharis
December 11, 2025

As more of the Epstein files are released, reminding us of Donald Trump’s close association with Jeffrey Epstein and the young people he abused and trafficked, as well as the president’s ongoing array of misogynist insults and actions (like calling journalist Catherine Lucey “piggy” and name-calling Marjorie Taylor Greene to the point where she jumped ship), what keeps coming to my mind are the sexual exploits of authoritarians throughout history. As a scholar of the New Testament and the origins of Christianity, I have a special interest in the lives of the Roman emperors — in particular, the notorious Emperor Nero.

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Interview: A Soulful Revolution Podcast

Interview: A Soulful Revolution Podcast
We Pray Freedom: Ritual, Solidarity, and the Soul of Revolution
Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis & Dr. Charon Hribar on the deliciousness of solidarity
November 20, 2025

“In our seventh episode of the season, we sit down with Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis and Dr. Charon Hribar to explore the decades-long lineage behind their new book, We Pray Freedom: Liturgies & Rituals from the Freedom Church of the Poor.

We Pray Freedom is rooted in an active, justice-building understanding of prayer and ritual—embodied practices that sustain, empower, and transform.

“Drawn from the struggles and wisdom of poor and dispossessed communities, these liturgies reclaim the sacred as collective action for a world where all can thrive. In a society steeped in the rituals of empire, these prayers insist that the leadership, dignity, and traditions of the poor are not only holy—they are essential to building a just and life-affirming future.” – https://weprayfreedom.org/about/

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Interview: Gravity Commons Podcast

Interview: Gravity Commons Podcast
Liz Theoharis & Charon Hribar: Liturgies and Rituals from the Freedom Church of the Poor
October 28, 2025

We talked with Liz Theoharis and Charon Hribar about how prayers, rituals, and liturgies help to sustain movements for social change. Their book is full of prayers, resources, and stories that grew out of communities committed to abolishing poverty.

Dr. Charon Hribar (Cha-Ron Reebar) is a visionary leader, musician, and scholar. She serves as the Director of Cultural Strategies for the Kairos Center and Co-Director of Theomusicology and Movement Arts for the Poor People’s Campaign. With over two decades of experience, she empowers leaders and integrates rituals and arts into organizing efforts.

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Interview: Straight White American Jesus Podcast

Interview: Straight White American Jesus Podcast
Beyond Thoughts and Prayers: The Rituals of Freedom
October 27, 2025

Brad welcomes Liz Theoharis and Charon Hribar, editors of We Pray Freedom: Liturgies and Rituals from The Freedom Church of the Poor. Both guests are key leaders in the faith-based anti-poverty movement and longtime organizers with the Poor People’s Campaign. Together, they discuss how liturgy and ritual can be reclaimed as acts of collective resistance, solidarity, and hope among the poor and dispossessed.

The conversation weaves through Liz and Charon’s personal journeys—Liz’s formation in faith-driven social justice work and Charon’s discovery of liberation theology growing up in a steel town—and traces how decades of grassroots organizing through the Kairos Center inspired this new book. They explore how faith traditions, particularly Christianity, can serve as public, justice-oriented practice rather than private belief, what it means to “pray with your feet,” and how ritual itself can be political.

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Interview: This is Not Church Podcast

Interview: This is Not Church Podcast
We Pray Freedom: A Conversation With Liz Theoharis & Charon Hribar
October 20, 2025

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About the Author

The Reverend Dr. Liz Theoharis is a theologian, pastor, author, and anti-poverty activist. She is the 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 the past 30 years. Her books include: You Only Get What You’re Organized to Take: Lessons from the Movement to End Poverty (Beacon, 2025), We Pray Freedom: Liturgies and Rituals from the Freedom Church of the Poor (Broadleaf Press, 2025) and Always with Us?: What Jesus Really Said about the Poor (Eerdmans, 2017) and she has been published in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Politico, Sojourners and elsewhere. Rev. Dr. Theoharis is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA) and teaches at Union Theological Seminary. She has been awarded the Freedom Award from the National Civil Rights Museum, the Selma Bridge Award, the Women of Spirit Award from the Presbyterian Church (USA) and many others.