Photography provided by Don Woodward
Join us online October 2-4, 2026 beginning at 3:00 PM (PDT) for a discussion that is sure to stimulate and challenge our perspectives while also offering us tangible ways to live justly for the good of the world. It would be hard to think of a subject that is more relevant in our world today.
Authentic justice is a topic that is close to our hearts. It shapes how we relate to others in our communities, reaching into even the most mundane details of our ordinary lives.
Our sessions over this weekend will explore Jesus' view of justice, what it is and isn't, and how that connects with issues such as:
Our prison system
War
Immigration
Race and Gender relations
Employment and Education
The poor and marginalized
The LGBTQ community
This conference will be interactive and include over 15 hours of teaching and conversations. Attendees will receive unlimited access to the HD video recordings of the entire event plus an audio-only recorded version that is downloadable to your personal device.
We encourage you to make plans now and block off the weekend of Oct 2-4. We truly don't want you to miss this rare opportunity to join people from around the world to learn, ponder, and discuss more about Jesus, Justice, and your Neighbor.
Price
The price includes unlimited access to the video recording of the entire event. There will be 13 plenary sessions with Q&R and two interactive panels. In total, there will be 15+ hours of recorded conversations.
General Admission: $125 per person/device
Early Bird Discount: $99 per person/device (ends September 2)
Schedule
Schedule is subject to change. All times are Pacific Daylight Time.
Friday
3p – Session 1: John MacMurray
Introduction
3:35p – Session 2: Chris Green: Justice and Power
4:25p – Session 3: Fr. Kenneth Tanner
A Teacher We Can Follow: Jesus Makes Possible the Justice He Teaches
5:15p – Session 4: Brian Zahnd
Peaceable and Prophetic - Christians In A World of War
6:00p – End.
Saturday
9a – Session 5: Mercy Aiken
Reflections on Mercy and Justice from Palestine
10a – Session 3: Douglas & Rachel Campbell
Justice examined in our Prison systems
11a – Session 4: Paul Young
Justice from Death Row
12p – Break
1:30p – Question/Response
2p – Session 8: Fr. Joash Thomas
Jesus, Justice, and Empire
3p – Session 9: Gaby Viesca
Meeting Jesus at the Border: The U.S- Mexico Border as a Place of Transformation and Neighborly Love
4p – Session 10: Marc Schelske
Exclusion is Injustice: LGBTQ Affirmation and the Beloved Community
5p – Panel Discussion
5:30p – End.
Sunday
9a – Session 11: Sr. Vassa Larin
The Church-Mother in the Face of Injustice: The Inactive Action of Christian Witness
10a – Session 12: Felicia Murrell
Co-Suffering Love: Community amid Chaos - What Jesus, Thurman, and the pastors of the Freedom movement can offer us on restorative justice
11a – Session 13: Brad Jersak
Tying it all together with the justice of Jesus
12p – End
SPeakers
Most of the presenters have spoken at previous conferences. The speakers below are placed in the order that they appear.
John MacMurray
John is the founder and director of the Northwest School of Theology and the Open Table Conferences. Formerly an adjunct professor in Bible Literature, he now speaks internationally, and writes. His books include “A Spiritual Evolution” and “Father Fiction” (co-written with Donald Miller). He is also a landscape nature photographer, published in National Geographic, Sierra Club, and Audubon.
Chris E.W. Green
Chris is Professor of Public Theology at Southeastern University (Lakeland, FL), Director of St Anthony Institute for Theology and Philosophy, and Teaching Pastor at Sanctuary Church (Tulsa, OK). He and his wife Julie live in Tulsa with their kids, Zoë, Clive, and Emery. Chris has written extensively, his most recent book being the revised edition of Sanctifying Interpretation: Vocation, Holiness, Scripture.
Fr. Kenneth Tanner
Fr Kenneth Tanner is pastor of Church of the Holy Redeemer in Rochester Hills, Michigan, where he has served since 2005. He is the author of Vulnerable God: How Jesus Upends Our Assumptions About God—and Shows Us How to Be Human (Brazos Press, 2026).
His writing has appeared in many outlets, including Huffington Post, Sojourners, Mockingbird, National Review, Christianity Today, Clarion Journal, and more. He and his wife, Debbie, have seven children and four grandchildren.
Brian Zahnd
Brian is the lead pastor of Word of Life Church in St. Joseph, Missouri, which he and his wife Peri founded in 1981. He is the author of several books including “Water to Wine”, “Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God”, and “Postcards from Babylon.” His favorite activity is spending time with their three sons, two beautiful daughters-in-law, and seven grandchildren.
Mercy Aiken
Mercy has made Israel and Palestine her primary home since September 2015. Having previously written for several ministries, she is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Jerusalem while serving at Bethlehem Bible College. She is committed to relationship and bridge-building work with Muslims and Jews as well as challenging people to consider the perspective and experience of Palestinian Christians. She is the author of a soon-to-be-released book about Dr. Bishara Awad, the founder of Bethlehem Bible College.
Rachel Campbell
Rachel had an early career as a professional actress, and since then has been a professional artist. Originally from New Zealand, she has lived in many countries, surviving her husband's career, while raising two fabulous children. She has now resided in the USA for twenty-three years. During that time, along with her painting practice, she has had various experiences working and volunteering in the prisons of North Carolina. She has been involved in a retraining program for correctional officers in Texas and New Mexico. And she is trained in both circle practice and practices of repair.
Douglas Campbell
Douglas is Research Professor of New Testament and co-director of the Prison Program at The Divinity School, Duke University. He also co-directs the Prison Engagement Initiative at the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke. His main research focus has been the life, thought, and writings of the apostle Paul. But much of his current research focuses on the connections between biblical interpretation, theological paradigms, and human affects and emotions, in particular relation to the challenges posed by mass incarceration in the USA. Campbell is trained in restorative justice and practices of repair that address harm in an alternative way to current, predominantly punitive, responses. He has led a retraining program for correctional officers in U.S. Marshals and ICE facilities in Texas and New Mexico. He and his spouse have been personally involved in prison visitation and prisoner support since 2005.
Wm. Paul Young
Paul is the author of “The Shack”, “Eve”, “Cross Roads”, and “The Shack Reflections. He was born a Canadian and raised among a stone-age tribe by his missionary parents in the highlands of what was Netherlands New Guinea (now West Papua). He suffered great loss as a child and young adult, and now enjoys the “wastefulness of grace” with his family in the Pacific Northwest.
Fr Joash Thomas
Fr. Joash has discovered a faith in Jesus that unites rather than divides—and that stands firmly with neighbors on the margins. His passion is to invite people to a more contemplative yet courageous activism, motivated by the grace-filled, non-violent way of Jesus.
Born and raised in India, Fr. Joash served as a U.S. political consultant and lobbyist before pivoting to global human rights advocacy. Now based in the Toronto area, he holds a master’s degree in Political Management from The George Washington University and two master’s degrees from Dallas Theological Seminary in Christian Leadership and Theology. An ordained Priest in the Diocese of St. Anthony, he is the author of the #1 Amazon Canada Bestseller in Liberation Theology, The Justice of Jesus (published by Brazos Press / Baker Publishing).
Fr. Joash serves on the leadership team at St. Stephen’s University as an Instructor in Public Theology, Peace & Justice. You can keep up with Fr. Joash's writing on his Substack, Masala Chai Theology.
Gaby Viesca
Gaby was born and raised in Mexico and has been living in the United States for the last nine years. She holds a master's degree in Biblical studies and a bachelor's degree in international business. She currently serves as the Director of Strategic Planning & Outreach at Portland Seminary.
Gaby has worked in full-time pastoral ministry in Israel, Mexico and the Pacific Northwest and enjoys God's presence the most when she's exploring the outdoors, traveling, dancing, and talking to strangers who quickly become friends. She lives in Portland, OR with her husband, Daniel, and their dog, Mila.
Marc Schelske
Marc Alan Schelske is a happily recovering fundamentalist praying for the restoration of all things. He writes and teaches about spiritual maturity, emotional growth, and the other-centered, co-suffering way of Jesus. His books, including Walking Otherward, Journaling for Spiritual Growth, and The Wisdom of Your Heart, can be found at www.MarcAlanSchelske.com. Marc serves as the teaching elder at Bridge City Community Church in Milwaukie, Oregon.
Sr Vassa Larin
Sister Vassa Larin (born Barbara Larin, December 11, 1970 in Nyack, New York) is a Russian Orthodox liturgiologist. She is author of many scholarly articles and books, including, most recently, Praying in Time. The Hours & Days in Step with Orthodox Christian Tradition. She is also host of the online catechetical programs and YouTube channel, "Coffee with Sister Vassa." Her online-mission includes a daily Newsletter (with a brief reflection on Scripture), a weekly audio-podcast called “Monday Morning Coffee” (on the feasts, saints, and Scripture-passages of the week), an ongoing video-course on Divine Liturgy, available on patreon.com/sistervassa
Felicia Murrell
Felicia is a spiritual director and the author AND: The Restorative Power of Love In An Either/Or World. A former ordained pastor with over 20 years of church leadership experience, her writing has also been featured multiple times in several publications.
Felicia holds certifications as a Master Life Coach and Motions of the Soul Enneagram Practitioner. For Felicia, the Way of Love (agape) is to consciously participate with the Divine in how we live, move and have our being. Mom to 4 adult children, she makes her home in St. Paul, MN with her husband, Doug. For more about Felicia, visit her website www.feliciamurrell.com.
Dr. Brad Jersak
Brad is an author and teacher based in Abbotsford, Canada. He is editor-in-chief of “Christianity Without the Religion” magazine and teaches at Westminster Theological Centre. He is also the author of over a dozen books, including “Can You Hear Me? Tuning in to the God Who Speaks” and “A More Christlike God: A More Beautiful Gospel.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is speaking?
See the pictures and bios above.
Do I have to be online for the entire webinar?
No, every session will be recorded. We encourage you to tune in to as many live sessions as possible, but all paid attendees will be provided a link to access the recordings for free within one week after the completion of the conference.
Should both my spouse and I register?
Your registration is good for one device, email address, and log on. Multiple people can watch if sharing the same screen/email. If you want to watch on multiple devices, the cost is $79 per device.
When will I receive the link to the conference?
You will receive instructions and the link to the conference within 24 hours of the event. You will also receive reminders.
What will the schedule look like?
The schedule is posted above. You will also receive a final schedule when you receive your link to enter the conference 24 hours before the event. The virtual conference will include 13 plenary sessions with Q&R, and three interactive panels. In total, there will be over 15 hours of conversations recorded.
Will there be "Breakout" sessions?
Not for this event.
Can we ask questions during the sessions?
Yes, participants will be able to submit questions through Zoom’s Q&A function and chat function. Each presenter will also provide time to address as many questions as possible after their presentation.
What is the Refund Policy?
Contact us to request a refund. No refunds will be issued after you receive the link to the conference.
VIDEO Software
Zoom
Zoom video conference software has quickly become one of the number one ways to connect people, either for personal or business use, during this world-wide crisis. We will be using Zoom to bring the conference to you live, and we will be recording the conference so you can watch all the the talks later.
Zoom is free to use. Click the link below to learn more.