Theological Writing

I hold an M.A. in Religious Studies with a specialization in Theology from Mount Saint Mary’s University, Los Angeles.

I’ve published theological essays and articles, in publications including the Anglican Theological Review, the journals Political Theology and Crucible, Sojourners, The Living Church, Earth and Altar and more.

My theological research focuses on the intersection of Christian theology and prison/police abolition, as well as liturgical/sacramental theology. My M.A. thesis “Abolition Ecclesiology: Drawing on a Liberated Christian Spatiality to Build Communities of Resistance to Carcerality” (May 2024) uses concepts from spatial theory and humanistic geography as a lens for studying theology and prison abolition.

Selected Work:

Academic Articles and Conference Presentations

Scholarly Publications

• “Communion Without Baptism and the Paradox of the Cross,” Anglican Theological Review vol. 102 no. 3 (Summer 2020)
• “Virtual Communion, COVID-19, and the Nature of the Body of Christ,” with Neil Dhingra, Crucible: The Journal of Christian Social Ethics (October 2020)
• “From Substitution to Solidarity: Towards an Abolitionist Atonement Theology,” Political Theology 23 no. 4 (Summer 2022), 362–380, https://doi.org/10.1080/1462317X.2022.2038937
• “The Abolition of Hell: Abolitionist Interpretations of Jesus’ Descent Into Hell,” in Abolition and Spirituality, ed. Ashon Crawley and Roberto Sirvent (Common Notions, 2023).

Conference Presentations

• “Faith, Hope, and Love as Embodied Disciplines and Practices in Liberatory Anti-Violence Movements,” with Johonna McCants-Turner and James McCarty, Canadian Theological Society Virtual Conference, 24 May 2022.
• Panel discussion for Episcopal Migration Ministries conference, 31 March 2022.
• “Virtual Communion, COVID-19, and the Nature of the Body of Christ,” with Neil Dhingra, 17 June 2020 at “Christian Theology in the Time of COVID-19,” University of Winchester (virtual conference)
• “Rites of Unbinding in Liturgy and Restorative Justice,” 14 March 2020, AAR Western Regional Meeting (virtual conference)
• “Forgiveness and Payment of Debt in Prison Abolition and Atonement Theology,” 25 April 2019 at “Signs of the Times: Christianity and Socialism,” Baylor University

Public Theology

I’ve written public theology on topics of prison/police abolition and general theological ethics for various outlets, including an ongoing column at Sojourners. Articles include:

• “In Advent, We Make Space for Jesus, Our Unhoused Neighbor,” Sojourners, 12/2/21
• “How to Get Beyond Punitive Thinking in a Pandemic,” Sojourners, 1/24/22
• “What Does the Bible Say About Prisons?”, Sojourners, 3/2/22
• “The Book of Job Offers an Alternative to Censorship,” Sojourners, 4/13/22
• “Protesting In Front of a Judge’s House is an Act of Nonviolence,” Sojourners, 5/26/22
• “To End Gun Violence We Need More Than Legislation,” Sojourners, 7/6/22
• “Criminalizing Abortion Prevents Compassionate Choices,” Sojourners, 10/27/22
• “Wilderness, Highways, and Other Forgotten Advent Themes,” Sojourners, 12/14/22
• “Parenting Is an Act of Faithful Community Building,” Sojourners, 3/3/23
• “We Don’t Achieve Christian Unity by Avoiding Polarization,” Sojourners, 7/12/23
• “Prison Letters are Essential to Our Faith,” Sojourners, 8/9/21
• “Marc Lamont Hill’s ‘We Still Here’ Calls Christians to Action,” National Catholic Reporter, 5/22/2021
• “Abolition is the Embodiment of God’s Justice,” Sojourners, 5/3/2021
• “Specificity and Moral Imagination,” The Hour, August 2020
• “COVID-19 and Prisons” (part 1 and part 2), Covenant/The Living Church, May 2020
• “What It’s Like to Serve Communion in Jail,” Earth and Altar, 6/8/2020
• “A Christian Case for Prison Abolition,” Covenant/The Living Church, 9/20/2018
• “Why Christians Should Be Abolitionists—Again,” Episcopal Café, 9/2/2018
• “Solidarity with Trans Lives Is How We Fight the Right,” with Luke Melonakos-Harrison, The Bias Magazine, 5/18/22
• “We Must Restore the Chalice: Here’s How to Do it Health-Consciously,” Covenant/The Living Church, 2/3/22
• “Encampments for the Unhoused are Sacred Structures,” Sojourners, 5/25/2021
• “Holy Saturday and the ‘Apocalypse’ of Hell,” Covenant/The Living Church, 4/11/2020
• “Virtual Communion and the Call to Discern the Body,” Covenant/The Living Church, 4/3/2020
• “Moral Injury and the Temptation of Christ,” Earth and Altar, 3/3/2020
• Advent: The Four Last Things series: “Death,” “Judgment,” “Heaven,” “Hell,” Covenant/The Living Church, December 2019(“Christ With Us in Hell” abridged version also in print, The Living Church, Advent 2019)
• “Lay Ministry as a Manifestation of Baptism,” Covenant/The Living Church, 7/3/2019
• “Invoking the Trinity: An Expansive Liturgy,” Covenant/The Living Church, 5/22/2019
• “Christ’s Harrowing of Hell,” Covenant/The Living Church, 4/19/2019
• “Charism and Congregations,” Covenant/The Living Church, 11/29/2018
• “Angels: Messengers of Justice,” Covenant/The Living Church, 9/29/2018

I’m also a co-founder of Young People’s Theology and edited the 39 Articles Project there, I helped adapt and edit the Inclusive Psalter, and I’m on the team that put together the Breakdown Whiteness anti-racist education site.