Oct. 30, 2025

#12 - Reverend Jennifer Butler

#12 - Reverend Jennifer Butler

Reverend Jennifer Butler sensed as a young person that she might need to leave her community and her known world in order to find herself. She did. And then she did. And in finding herself, she has also found ways to help countless others. 

Rev. Jennifer Butler has spent the last three decades strengthening and rebuilding the progressive faith movement. She has dedicated her life to helping individuals and communities ground themselves in liberative spirituality that empowers them to speak out with a faithful voice to change the world. 

In 2005, she founded Faith in Public Life (FPL) to amplify progressive faith voices and forge multi-racial, multi-faith and ideologically diverse faith coalitions to work for justice and the common good. In founding FPL, Rev. Jen drew on her decade long experience countering religious extremism with a faithful argument for democracy, the rights of women and LGBTQ people. Her book Born Again: The Christian Right Globalized (Pluto Press) remains a go-to resource for those tracking white Christian nationalism globally. 

Rev. Jen Butler served as CEO of Faith in Public Life from 2005 to 2022. Highlights of her work as CEO include mobilizing a multi-state faith strategy to secure passage of the Affordable Care Act and defeating Republican efforts in 2017 to gut the bill. She spearheaded faith based campaigns to defeat fake religious freedom bills at the state level by empowering ideologically diverse religious leaders to oppose discrimination in the name of faith. Rev. Jen also led FPL in the Trump years to draw a bright moral line in the sand against rising authoritarianism and racism.

For more information, visit her website HERE

Reverend Jennifer Butler

Jennifer as a Peace Corps volunteer in Belize

With students in Belize

Students enjoying the library in Belize

Screenshot from 'Morning Joe' appearance

Who Stole My Bible? (Amazon link HERE)

 

Show Credits:

SP/FS Producer & Host: Christopher Wurst

Opening Voices: Dmitri Wurst, Elena Wurst, Kjara Wurst, Christopher Wurst

Show Artwork: Kate Furby

Voice of Dubious Aunt Deb: Cathy Zielske

Cold Open Music: BWM – The Brina Band

Dubious Ant Deb Music: Cass County Beauty Queen – Alan Singley

Episode Music:

Club Count – Blue Dot Sessions

Chiaroscuro - Toonorth

The Air was Made of Waiting – Melodie Moonrise

Alley Crawler – Blue Dot Sessions

Lechuza – Blue Dot Sessions

Backyard Adventure – Hans Hylkema

Interview date: April 11, 2025