Another compelling offering from the Alternative Seminary.

AN ONLINE GATHERING: Saturday morning, September 6, 2025 from 10:30 am – 12:30 pm EST

What fellowship has anarchy with christianity?

Empowering small communities of people to take care of their own needs at the local level. Rejecting rulership and making decisions by consensus through face-to-face deliberation. Constructing societies in which people are placed above profit and systems are built on solidarity and mutual aid.

It is no coincidence that this describes both the historical movement of anarchism and the early church as described in the Acts of the Apostles.

In this gathering, we will explore the history, philosophy, and practice of anarcho-communism and how they cohere with the teachings of Jesus and the practices of the early christian communities. We will dive into how theologies touching on God, humanity, divine-human interaction, the Bible, and more can be illuminated and faithfully reformulated through an anarchist lens. And we will chart a christian praxis based on voluntary cooperation, the goodness of all people, and faith in God. We can build an ethical world – one built on structures of care – and anarchy might just be the unlikely key.

The Rev. Terry J. Stokes (he/they) is an anarchist theologian who seeks to foster political and spiritual radicalization through his writing and speaking. He holds degrees from Yale University and Princeton Theological Seminary and was ordained as a minister of word and sacrament by Park Avenue Baptist Church. He is a youth worker and associate minister in Trenton, NJ, and a group facilitator at The Wooden Shoe anarchist infoshop in Philadelphia. Their latest book is Jesus and the Abolitionists: How Anarchist Christianity Empowers the People. 

Registration is required. Click HERE to register.

The cost is $10 (or whatever you can afford).

The deadline for registration is September 2.

The Facebook page is HERE.

If you have any questions, please contact Will O’Brien at willobrien59@gmail.com or 267-339-8989.

The Alternative Seminary is a program of biblical and theological study and reflection designed to foster an authentic biblical witness in the modern world.  

Another compelling offering from our friends at the Alternative Seminary. 

A SIX-WEEK ONLINE COURSE

Thursday evenings, May 29 – July 3, 2024

7:00 – 9:00 pm EST

These are perilous times.  In the United States today, we are witnessing the emergence of fascist authoritarianism.  Undergirding this movement is a militant White Christian Nationalism – a dangerous heresy in which “American Jesus” is a gun-toting, law-and-order, pro-military, pro-capitalist, and racist Messiah of the Domination System.

We urgently need to recover the authentic Jesus of the Gospels.  Together we will explore the radical and revolutionary vision of Jesus in the midst of this emerging fascism.  What does Jesus mean in proclaiming “the reign of God”? How can we both prophetically challenge the idolatrous theology in U.S. society and seek to embody a faithful alternative? We will reflect on how the Gospel addresses issues of politics, economics, power, healing, community, and suffering, and how they can empower us to action. We will seek to draw from faith-based resistance movements, including the Confessing Church in Nazi Germany.  We will struggle with how Jesus challenges us to be a Beloved Community in these insane and vicious times. 

Continue reading “The Revolutionary Jesus: Living the Reign of God in a Time of Fascism” →

Another compelling offering from The Alternative Seminary.

A SEVEN-WEEK ONLINE COURSE
7:00 – 9:00 pm EST
Tuesday evenings, April 2 – May 14, 2024

In the United States today, we are witnessing the ascendancy of Christian Nationalism – a dangerous heresy in which “American Jesus” is a gun-toting, law-and-order, pro-military, pro-capitalist, and largely racist Messiah of the Domination System.

We urgently need to recover the authentic Jesus of the Gospels. Together we will explore the radical and revolutionary mission and vision of Jesus in the midst of the Empire and false idols of his time. What does Jesus mean in proclaiming “the reign of God”? How does his life embody that new spiritual and social reality? What kind of discipleship community does he call people to? We will reflect on how the Gospel addresses issues of politics, economics, power, healing, community, and suffering. We will struggle with how this Jesus challenges us to be a Beloved Community in these insane and dangerous times.

This course, which begins in Easter Week in the light of the Resurrection, will be led by Will O’Brien, coordinator of the Alternative Seminary.

Continue reading “Recovering the Authentic Jesus of the Gospels” →

Introducing a new online course from The Alternative Seminary.

DECOLONIZING PALESTINE: Settler Colonial Theory in Conversation with Palestinian Liberation Theology

January 8 – 29, 2024
7:00 – 9:00 pm EST

Led by Rev. Amy Yoder McGloughlin

“Decolonizing Palestine is a wake-up call for people interested in Israel/Palestine to recognize the reality on the ground, to reflect critically and prophetically on the scripture, and to engage in a new paradigm.”  — Mitri Raheb

Continue reading “Decolonizing Palestine” →