| Ordinary Radicals | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Jamie Moffett |
| Produced by | Shannon Oberg Kevin Hackenberg |
| Starring | Chris Haw Shane Claiborne |
Release date | September 4, 2008 |
Running time | 99 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Ordinary Radicals is a 2008 documentary film directed by Philadelphia filmmaker Jamie Moffett.
The film follows authors Chris Haw and Shane Claiborne, co-founder of the Potter Street Community (formerly The Simple Way) of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on their Jesus for President: Politics for Ordinary Radicals book tour. [1]
Claiborne and Haw began their 23 city, 11,000 mile journey in June 2008 [2] on a refurbished school bus fueled by used vegetable oil. [3] Before starting the book tour the crew attended the P.A.P.A (People Against Poverty and Apathy) Festival in Grand Rapids, Michigan, which is a gathering of Christian community oriented individuals who use a combination of music, workshops, and Bible studies to discuss issues concerning community, theology and peacemaking. The Festival is organized entirely by volunteers and is funded completely by donations. Next the crew stopped at the Zondervan headquarters followed by the first stop of book tour at megachurch Mars Hill Bible Church, where Rob Bell is the head pastor. The tour continued through the United States and Canada, stopping at several other cities and churches.
The tour takes place during the 2008 U.S. presidential elections which becomes a topic of discussion for Claiborne and Haw while touring. After a speaking engagement in Pittsburgh Claiborne tells CNN during an interview in regards to the following of young evangels that the movement and tour has attracted:"This is not about going left or right, this is about going deeper and trying to understand together. Rather than endorse candidates, we ask them to endorse what is at the heart of Jesus and that is the poor or the peacemakers and when we see that then we'll get behind them". [3]
The documentary discusses Christianity from the standpoint of social justice advocacy and outreach. [4] Claiborne and Bell are considered to be part of the new emerging church movement. This movement which emphasizes following Jesus through non-violence, love of enemy and caring for the poor is also known as New Monasticism. New Monasticism communities, where Claiborne himself is a member, can be identified by 12 "marks". Claiborne explains that:" The marks show the common threads that connect Christian communities that might otherwise be seen as scattered anomalies, rather than vibrant cells of a body". [5] The tour expresses the beliefs of this movement and received acknowledgments from many respected individuals and scholars in the fields of Theology and Christian left thinking. Theologian and activist, Ron Sider stated:" The book and tour's decided mix of social justice and Christian outreach form a new wave for evangelicals in the U.S." [1] Sider is the Professor of Theology, Holistic Ministry and Public Policy at Palmer Theological Seminary in Wynnewood, Pa., and founder of Evangelicals for Social Action. As the film continues viewers are introduced to a variety of people advocating social justice. One of these individuals is Sister Margret Mckenna, who is the founder and director of New Jerusalem Now. This organization, located in North Philadelphia, is a recovery option for addicts that offers community style living and treatment for their addictions. Mckenna credits the success of the program to the community environment individuals are given when choosing New Jerusalem, the community forces individuals to change their behavior —"and changing behavior is key to recovery. In these medical models of recovery, there's no community obligation, you're just a patient. The day they get out, they use. I've heard that I don't know how many times." [6] Other featured interviews include pastor, author, sociologist, and public speaker Tony Campolo and author Becky Garrison.
Claiborne and Haw challenge tradition thinking about Christianity and in an excerpt from their book state: “This is not a set of political suggestions for the world; this is about invoking and embodying the alternative. All of this is an invitation to join a peculiar people- those with no king but God, who practice jubilee economics and make the world new. This is not the old-time religion of going to heaven; this is about bringing heaven to the world.” [7]
The film features and contains interviews with
The Ordinary Radicals was screened in various film festivals including Pocono Mountain Film Festival], where it was nominated for best documentary in 2009, [8] the Fallbrook Film Festival in Bonsall, California, the Crossroads Film Festival in Jackson, Mississippi, the Garden State Film Festival, the Ion Film Festival in Dubai, UAE, [9] the Alcolade Film Awards, the Flickerings Film Show Case, [10] the Hobokeben Film Festival, [11] and the Okanagan Film Festival [12] in Kelowna, BC.
The Jesus movement was an evangelical Christian movement which began on the West Coast of the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s and primarily spread throughout North America, Europe, and Central America, before it subsided in the late 1980s. Members of the movement were called Jesus people, or Jesus freaks.
The emerging church is a Christian Protestant movement of the late 20th and early 21st centuries that crosses a number of theological boundaries: participants are variously described as post-Protestant, evangelical, post-evangelical, liberal, post-liberal, progressive, socially liberal, Reformed, charismatic, neocharismatic, and post-charismatic. Emerging churches can be found throughout the globe, predominantly in North America, Brazil, Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Africa.
Jesus People USA (JPUSA) pronounced: ǰ-pu-sa is a Christian intentional community in Uptown, on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois.
Anthony Campolo is an American sociologist, Baptist pastor, author, public speaker and former spiritual advisor to U.S. President Bill Clinton. Campolo is known as one of the most influential leaders in the evangelical left and has been a major proponent of progressive thought and reform within the evangelical community. He has also become a leader of the Red-Letter Christian movement, which aims to put emphasis on the teachings of Jesus. Campolo is a popular commentator on religious, political, and social issues, and has been a guest on programs such as The Colbert Report, The Charlie Rose Show, Larry King Live, Nightline, Crossfire, Politically Incorrect and The Hour.
Progressive Christianity represents a postmodern theological approach, and is not necessarily synonymous with progressive politics. It developed out of the liberal Christianity of the modern era, which was rooted in the Enlightenment's thinking. Progressive Christianity is a postliberal theological movement within Christianity that, in the words of Reverend Roger Wolsey, "seeks to reform the faith via the insights of post-modernism and a reclaiming of the truth beyond the verifiable historicity and factuality of the passages in the Bible by affirming the truths within the stories that may not have actually happened."
Craig L. Blomberg is an American New Testament scholar. He is currently the Distinguished Professor Emeritus of the New Testament at Denver Seminary in Colorado where he has been since 1986. His area of academic expertise is the New Testament. This includes parables, miracles, historical Jesus, Luke-Acts, John, 1 Corinthians, James, the historical trustworthiness of Scripture, financial stewardship, gender roles, Latter Day Saint movement, hermeneutics, New Testament theology, and exegetical method. Blomberg has written and edited multiple books. He is married to Frances Fulling Blomberg and has two grown daughters, Elizabeth Little and Rachel Blomberg.
Donald Arthur Carson is an evangelical biblical scholar. He is a Distinguished Emeritus Professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and president and co-founder of the Gospel Coalition. He has written or edited about sixty books and currently serves as president of the Evangelical Theological Society.
Norman Leo Geisler was an American Christian systematic theologian and philosopher. He was the co-founder of two non-denominational evangelical seminaries.
Robert Holmes Bell Jr. is an American author, speaker and former pastor. Bell founded Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville, Michigan, and pastored it until 2012. Under his leadership, Mars Hill was one of the fastest-growing churches in America. Bell is also the author of the New York Times bestseller Love Wins and the writer and narrator of a series of spiritual short films called NOOMA. In 2011, Time named Bell on its list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. He has since become a freelance writer and speaker appearing on various talk shows and national speaking tours on topics related to spirituality and leadership. He also hosts a popular podcast called The Robcast. In 2018, a documentary about Bell called The Heretic was released.
New Monasticism is a diverse movement, not limited to a specific religious denomination or church and including varying expressions of contemplative life. These include evangelical Christian communities such as "Simple Way Community" and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove's "Rutba House," European and Irish new monastic communities, such as that formed by Bernadette Flanagan, spiritual communities such as the "Community of the New Monastic Way" founded by feminist contemplative theologian Beverly Lanzetta, and "interspiritual" new monasticism, such as that developed by Rory McEntee and Adam Bucko. These communities expand upon traditional monastic wisdom, translating it into forms that can be lived out in contemporary lives "in the world."
Shane Claiborne is an evangelical Christian leader, an author, one of the founding members of the non-profit organization, The Simple Way, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, cofounder of the Red-Letter Christians. Claiborne is also a social activist, advocating for nonviolence and service to the poor. He is the author of the book, The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical.
Scot McKnight is an American New Testament scholar, historian of early Christianity, theologian, and author who has written widely on the historical Jesus, early Christianity and Christian living. He is currently Professor of New Testament at Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in Lisle, IL. McKnight is an ordained Anglican with anabaptist leanings, and has also written frequently on issues in modern anabaptism.
Another Gospel: Cults, Alternative Religions, and the New Age Movement is a non-fiction book discussing new religious movements and the New Age movement, written by Ruth A. Tucker. The book was published in 1989 by Zondervan, a Christian publishing house. Another edition was released by the same publisher in 2004.
The Church of the Saviour in Washington, DC is a network of nine independent, ecumenical Christian faith communities and over 40 ministries that have grown out of the original Church of the Saviour community founded in the mid-1940s. The current ministries and faith communities are the result of an alternative approach to “church” and church structures which is the hallmark of the Church of the Saviour. This approach and these structures were formed in an effort to improve Christian discipleship and “recover... something of the vitality and life, vigor and power of the early Christian community." In that effort the church's approach emphasizes integrity of membership, the ministry of the laity, and communal intimacy and accountability. This desire for intimacy and accountability among members of the church is what led the community to break into smaller congregations rather than try to grow larger as a single church. It has also led to the formation of small groups called “mission groups”, made up of 2 to 15 members gathered around a shared sense of vocation or God's calling. These groups became the fundamental unit of community and accountability in the church, and the various groups, each following their own sense of call, gave rise to most of the ministries associated with the church. As a structure, the mission groups have been continued in one form or another in the church's offspring faith communities. Through the writings of longtime church member Elizabeth O'Connor (1928–1998) and others, Church of the Saviour has become influential among Christian religious groups throughout the country and has informed such contemporary movements as the missional church movement, the Emergent Church movement, and the New Monasticism movement.
Jamie Moffett is an American independent motion picture director, producer, and social activist.
Nigel Goring Wright is a British Baptist theologian.
Jesus for President: Politics for Ordinary Radicals is a 2008 book co-written by the evangelical authors Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw, two important figures in New Monasticism. The book asserts that the countercultural themes in the ministry of Jesus, such as those of self-denial, are ignored by American Christians because they have become accustomed to exercising Christian privilege and are unwilling to give it up.
Chris Haw is a Catholic theologian and professor in the United States.
Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove is a Christian writer and preacher who has graduated both from Eastern University and Duke Divinity School. He associates himself with New Monasticism. Immediately prior to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, he and his wife, Leah, were members of a Christian peacemaking team that traveled to Iraq to communicate their message to Iraqis that not all American Christians were in favour of the coming Iraq War. Wilson-Hartgrove wrote about this experience in his book To Baghdad and Beyond: How I Got Born Again in Babylon. Also in 2003, he became one of the co-founders of Rutba House, a Christian intentional community in Durham, North Carolina's Walltown Neighborhood. In 2006, he founded the School for Conversion, a popular education center committed to "making surprising friendships possible." He taught workshops there alongside his mentor and freedom teacher, Ann Atwater, until her death in 2016. Wilson-Hartgrove has also worked with the Rev. William J. Barber, II to promote public faith for the common good through Moral Mondays and the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival.
Charismatic Christianity is a form of Christianity that emphasizes the work of the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts as an everyday part of a believer's life. It has a global presence in the Christian community. Practitioners are often called Charismatic Christians or Renewalists. Although there is considerable overlap, Charismatic Christianity is often categorized into three separate groups: Pentecostalism, the Charismatic movement, and the Neo-charismatic movement.
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