Bad Faith: The Way of the Cross in Our Time
A reflection on our community conversation at the first Bad Faith film screening at First Plymouth Congregational Church UCC.
Join us for our final Bad Faith Film Screening at Lady Justice Brewery on Tuesday, July 29, 2025, 5 - 8 pm. Register here to attend.
Last weekend, our community gathered for a difficult and necessary screening of the documentary Bad Faith followed by a facilitated conversation about Christian nationalism and our call as people of faith in this moment. After the film, we had a vulnerable discussion where we discussed and discerned how we could move forward together.
Opening Reflections
After witnessing the systematic organization and reach of Christian nationalism documented in the film, the responses were raw and honest:
Many shared that while they expected the film to be difficult to watch, experiencing it together in community made all the difference in processing the hard emotions it brought up.
Several reflected on the heartbreak of witnessing the organization and implementation of Christian nationalist goals, with many noting the shift from fearing what could happen to seeing it actively unfolding in real time.
Others spoke about the grief of watching loved ones—family members and former faith communities—become disconnected from Gospel values they once shared. The integration of far right political and religious identities has created painful divisions in families and congregations.
The overwhelming sense from the group was recognition of just how organized, well-funded, and systemic the Christian nationalist movement is—and how much work lies ahead for those of us committed to the Gospel and democracy.
What's Our Call?
We asked, "What's our call in this moment?" to the 40 participants representing 20 different congregations, denominational judicatories, and public institutions. We gathered from the United Church of Christ (UCC), Baptist, Lutheran (ELCA), Episcopal Church, United Methodist Church (UMC), Quaker, Unitarian Universalist (UUA); and from Denver to Montrose, Gunnison, Broomfield, Parker, Littleton, Lakewood, Aurora, and Colorado Springs to Minnesota and Virginia; and from the Interfaith Immigration Network, the Mutual Aid Sanctuary and the Colorado Department of Human Services.
The responses revealed the diversity of gifts and callings within our communities:
Some spoke about their calling to share God's love with others who have been told by Christian nationalists that they are not welcome in God's kin-dom.
Others shared their commitment to embodying love, mercy, and justice in every conversation, while acknowledging the need to find age-appropriate ways to contribute to justice work in their senior years.
A few reflected on using their gifts to help others imagine different possibilities beyond what current systems tell us is inevitable.
Educators emphasized the importance of helping people understand that political engagement is actually part of faithful discipleship.
The Way of the Cross in Our Time
Others questioned what it means to follow Jesus' example of confronting Empire. Jesus engaged in public actions that challenged the powers of his time. He was willing to directly confront political and religious authorities who were complicit with oppressive systems; he set a vision of a new way of living; he built relationships of trust with disciples who organized within local communities and spread the vision; and together they built a new egalitarian culture of love for one another and God through compassion, healing, shared resources, hospitality, mutual care, an inversion of power structures, justice for the oppressed, and peace.
In Jesus’ last week of life he taught us what the way of the cross looks like, as we ourselves consider what it means to be on the path to death—death of the way things were, death of democracy, death of the structures and systems that for better or worse worked to uphold our collective values of caretaking, education, health, diplomacy, really everything about being in shared community. A path to death for the abducted and deported; the detained and imprisoned; those with basic needs of food, clean water, shelter, healthcare, senior and veteran care, and jobs that have been ripped away. A path to death for those who stand in the margins, who speak out, who practice public protest, action, and civil disobedience. A path to death for those who aren’t white and a certain type of “Christian.” A path to death for the progress we’ve made and hoped to make, now knowing there is a real death before us that we must journey through before we reach resurrection—what is coming after the sacrifice, pain, and violence we are now passing through. Knowing it will get worse, and yet, not knowing when the tide will turn.
Here are just a few examples of what Jesus taught us in his last week of life as we walk a similar path:
Jesus starts the week by leading a parade that mocked the religious and political authorities as Jesus fulfilled the prophecy in the Book of Zechariah (9:9) to a cheering crowd of disciples: "See, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey." Jesus came in a long tradition of kings who rode on a donkey instead of a chariot or horse to show humility and to declare and bring peace. Zechariah’s prophecy, which the authorities would be familiar with, also declared that the Messiah would have authority to the ends of the earth, set prisoners free and restore prisoners of hope. A public action from the people that demonstrated a significant threat to the Empire—a “king” of the people.
Jesus angrily turned tables upside down in the temple, where money changers cheated people and temple authorities aligned with the aristocracy to exploit the poor through high interest loans. The whole marketplace specifically overtook the court of the gentiles, or the place of worship for the nations, where everyone could come learn about and worship God. A public action that demanded separation of “church and state,” so that all could worship freely, and that demanded an end to economic systems that exploit the poor.
The final preparation for crucifixion is where Jesus holds intimate ritual with his community. A prophetess anoints Jesus proclaiming him the Messiah with the Spirit of God at work in her hands, while simultaneously foretelling his death by preparing his body for burial. Jesus quiets the protesting disciples, inviting them to be present to the meaning of this ritual. Jesus gathered the twelve disciples over a meal to speak deep truths about both impending betrayal and God’s deep love for humanity. In the sharing of bread and wine, Jesus gave thanks to God, and spoke of God’s covenant relationship with us—creating a sacrament, a spiritually bonding communal ritual. Jesus then invites the disciples to be present with him in his anguish as he prays to God in the Garden of Gethsemane, yet they fall asleep. Public actions of ritual presence and spiritual connection to God—prophetic anointing, intimate communion, and invitation to the hardest prayer of his life. May we accompany one another with presence and ritual.
We are left to reflect and discern together: What do sacrifice and courage look like in our current context? Are we willing to sacrifice comfort, privilege, and complacency?
There are lives currently and increasingly in danger, are we ready to put our bodies on the line to protect one another?
Joy as Resistance
As one of our facilitators noted, in the words of poet Toi Derricotte, whose one line from her poem “The Telly Cycle,” revolutionized Black feminism: “joy is an act of resistance.”
For those of us from marginalized communities, embodying joy becomes "antithetical to what systems and structures want me to embody. They want me to feel defeated,” shared co-facilitator Rev. Javon Bracy.
This isn’t about toxic positivity or prosperity gospel thinking, but about the radical act of maintaining hope, community connection, and deep joy while holding righteous anger and prophetic action about injustice.
Building Culture, Not Just Protesting It
A key insight from our conversation was recognizing ourselves as "cultural workers"—people who build and shape culture through how we are in the world. This happens in small acts: learning and using service workers' names as an act of humanity and calling out the sacred in them. Practicing good democratic processes in our churches instead of fighting and name-calling, so that we might bring these honed skills into our workplaces, community groups, and political work. Building social fabric in an age of hyper-isolation through relationships, gatherings, step-by-step community-building.
Stories were shared about simple but effective organizing efforts in conservative communities—creating coordination between scattered groups, building relationships with neighbors, and meeting practical needs in isolated areas.
“We have to have a vision of what we want this world to be like and work towards that, cocreating a new culture. There has to be something for people to look to, to join. Particularly for those who start to realize that this regime is not what they expected or want, we need to create an alternate reality—not just protest what is wrong, but build together what is right, what is just, loving, kind,” said co-facilitator Rev. Dr. Jenny Whitcher.
Creating Space for Spiritual Liberation
One of the most challenging questions posed was: How will we respond to former conservative Evangelicals who begin questioning what they've been taught?
How do we process our own anger at the misrepresentation of our faith, at the harm and violence that has occurred, while still offering a path of transformation, accountability that is not penal, theology that is liberative, and belonging to those waking up to the manipulation they've experienced?
The recent addition of Crossroads Church in Fort Collins to the United Church of Christ was offered as an example. Crossroads is an evangelical congregation that lost thousands of members when they chose LGBTQ+ inclusion, then spent years finding a denominational home that matched their inclusive values, and where they could belong.
Juniper Formation UCC is filled with what are called ex-vangelicals. They are some of the strongest advocates for inclusion, justice, and peace, and living the way and teachings of Jesus in their personal lives and in our shared public life. They out-progressive the “progressive church” at times.
Moving Forward Together
Our evening concluded with recognition that we're being "baited into a civil holy war" and our challenge is to avoid that bait while cocreating a different path. This requires:
Relationship building across difference,
Creative imagination about what's possible beyond the current chaos,
Sacrificial love that may cost us comfort but builds beloved community,
Joy and hope as spiritual practices of resistance, and
Practical organizing that meets people where they are to take collective action.
An Invitation
This conversation was part of our preparation for the Prophetically Reimagining the Church Conference this September 19-20, 2025, where we'll continue exploring how liberative faith communities can respond faithfully to our current moment.
But the real work happens in our daily lives—in how we practice democracy in our church meetings, how we build relationships across political differences while protecting each other from harm, and how we embody the radical hospitality and justice that Jesus demonstrated.
The Christian nationalists in Bad Faith offered their followers a sense of participating in prophecy, of having a special relationship with God, of finding spiritual home. Our challenge and opportunity is to respond to these same deep spiritual needs through the actual gospel—one that includes everyone, seeks justice for the marginalized, and builds beloved community rather than tearing down democracy and our people.
We are the church that believes different doesn't mean deficient. We are the church that knows love wins. And we are the church that will keep showing up, keep building relationships, and keep imagining the world that love makes possible. Join us in the movement!
Register for the Prophetically Reimagining the Church Conference here.
And, register here to join us for our final screening of Bad Faith on Tuesday, July 29, 2025, 5-8pm at Lady Justice Brewery, 3242 S Acoma St, Englewood, CO 80110.
If our ministries are what you want to see the Church do in the world right now, please consider making a donation to Juniper Formation UCC, so that we can keep following Jesus by seeking liberation for us all.
Go to: JuniperFormaiton.org/donate
