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Preaching Reformed: From Polarization to Principled Pluralism

Equipping Pastors to Integrate Citizenship into Their Preaching

Pulpits can be politically contested places. Many people come to worship eager to hear if their pastor will reiterate their side’s latest political talking points and are ready to protest if they don’t. The result is that pastors are exhausted, weary of doing good, and even confused about what that good is. 

The Center for Public Justice (CPJ) remains firmly convinced that these challenges are opportunities for the church to grow in neighborly love and do not have to result in divisiveness. Through the Preaching Reformed Fellowship, CPJ will equip pastors to use their preaching to disciple congregations in every area of their lives, including their citizenship in a political community.

What is Preaching Reformed?

CPJ’s Preaching Reformed: From Polarization to Principled Pluralism Fellowship is an 18-month peer-learning cohort that brings together pastors in the Reformed tradition who are working to help the Church be a light in a politically divisive society.

Through Preaching Reformed, CPJ will guide program fellows to reflect on and develop their roles as Christians, citizens, pastors, and preachers, equipping them with tools to incorporate citizenship into their preaching.

Fellowship activities will consist of:

  • Opening and closing in-person retreats in Washington, DC
  • Nine online workshops with theological and preaching experts
  • Nine online meetings in small groups for peer coaching and encouragement
  • Proclamation Project: A preaching resource produced through collaboration between the program experts and fellows

While this program is primarily aimed at pastors regularly preaching in their congregations, we welcome pastors in alternate vocations and/or in a season of discernment to consider joining us.

2025 Cohort Details

Preaching Reformed is an 18-month cohort program running from May 2025 to November 2026, with the opening retreat from June 9th to the 11th. The application window is now open! Please make sure to fill out the Google Form linked below until March 14, 2025.

Please contact Preaching Reformed Program Manager Kelly Bronson at kelly.bronson@cpjustice.org, and we’d be honored to help you discern if the program is a good fit.

Meet the Team

Meg Jenista, Program Director, Preaching Reformed

Meg serves as the Project Director for Preaching Reformed. After 15 years of ministry experience, she is currently a PhD student at Fuller Theological Seminary, studying public and practical theologies—specifically, the disciplines of political theology and preaching. As a pastor in Washington, DC, from 2012-2023, Meg developed a curiostiy about the role of preaching in relation to political discipleship. Her research draws on the Neo-Calvinist tradition, especially the Dutch Reformed Church of South Africa, and the field of public theology more broadly.

 

 

Kelly Bronson, Program Manager, Preaching Reformed

Kelly Bronson serves as the Program Manager for Preaching Reformed. Kelly manages the program’s day-to-day operations, supporting preachers in practice and reflecting on the connection between preaching and political discipleship. Before CPJ, Kelly worked in various ministry and non-profit roles. She graduated with a degree in International Studies from the University of Central Florida and studied at Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, MO.

 

 

Dr. Vince Bacote, Program Advisor

Dr. Vincent Bacote is a Professor of Theology and the Director of the Center for Applied Christian Ethics at Wheaton College in Wheaton, IL. He is the author of Reckoning with Race and Performing the Good News: In Search of a Better Evangelical Theology (2020), The Political Disciple: A Theology of Public Life (2015), The Spirit in Public Theology: Appropriating the Legacy of Abraham Kuyper (2005), and has contributed to books including On Kuyper (2013), Aliens in the Promised Land (2013), Keep Your Head Up (2012) and Prophetic Evangelicals (2012). He is a regular columnist for Comment Magazine and contributes to other magazines, including Books and Culture, Christianity Today, Think Christian and re:generation quarterly, and journals such as Christian Scholars Review, Urban Mission and the Journal for Christian Theological Research. He is a member of the Evangelical Theological Society and the Society of Christian Ethics and resides in the Chicago area with his family.

 

Rev. Dr. Mary Hulst, Program Advisor

Rev. Dr. Mary S. Hulst has served as University Pastor at Calvin University since 2009. Before that, she spent eight years serving as the senior pastor at Eastern Avenue Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids before leaving to pursue a PhD in communication ethics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her bachelor’s degree is in classical studies from Calvin College, and her Master of Divinity was granted by Calvin Theological Seminary. Dr. Hulst taught for one year in the Communications Arts and Sciences Department at Calvin College and then for two years at Calvin Theological Seminary, as Assistant Professor of Preaching, where she still teaches on occasion. 

 

Rev. Dr. Jeff Liou, Program Advisor

Jeff Ming Liou is the National Director of Theological Formation for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA. He is also an adjunct assistant professor of Christian ethics at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA, where he received his Ph.D. in Theology and Culture.

 

 

 

Kaitlyn Schiess, Program Advisor

Kaitlyn Schiess is an author, speaker, and perpetual theology student. She is the author of The Ballot and the Bible: How Scripture has been Used and Abused in American Politics and Where We Go from Here (Brazos, 2023) and The Liturgy of Politics: Spiritual Formation for the Sake of Our Neighbor (IVP, 2020). Her writing has appeared at Christianity Today, The New York Times, Christ and Pop Culture, RELEVANT, and Sojourner. She is a co-host and Senior Editor of the Holy Post podcast and the host of Curiously, Kaitlyn. She has a ThM in systematic theology from Dallas Theological Seminary and is currently a doctoral student in political theology at Duke Divinity School. 

 

Rev. Dr. Case Thorp, Program Advisor

Dr. Case Thorp is a pastor who has served in New Jersey, Texas, California, and Louisiana. He serves as the Made to Flourish Network co-director for Orlando and served as the 39th Moderator of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. He teaches the Gotham Fellowship, the Orlando Fellows, and Arts Fellowship Orlando. Dr. Thorp has been published in the Orlando Sentinel, The Wall Street Journal, Westminster Journal, The Green Room blog, Presbyterian Outlook, and The Gospel Coalition. He holds degrees from Oxford College (AA), Emory University (BA), Princeton Theological Seminary (MDIV), and Fuller Theological Seminary (DMIN in Missional Ecclesiology). Dr. Thorp serves as the Theologian in Residence at First Presbyterian Church of Orlando, and leads The Collaborative, Inc. 

 

 

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