The Convocation Digest [2:1]: Justice for All Ages, Mary and Musk, Resolute, and 2024 Post Mortem
PLUS, our latest Convocation Unscripted Podcast
Hi, everyone,
Welcome to the first 2025 edition of The Convocation Digest, which brings into one place a collection of the best writing from each of our Substack newsletters and occasional guest posts from other writers in our orbit. If you haven’t subscribed to our individual newsletters, the beginning of the year is a great time to be sure you don’t miss anything from us during what certainly promises to be a tumultuous year:
The Cottage by Diana Butler Bass; and
Du Mez CONNECTIONS by Kristin Du Mez
And be sure to tune in to The Convocation Unscripted—a biweekly, freewheeling conversation between the four of us. You can watch on YouTube or listen on Apple podcasts. We’ve included a link to our latest episode down below.
Happy New Year!
Robby, Kristin, Jemar, and Diana
From Jemar
What happens when a faith-focused studio company tells a gritty post-apocalyptic story? You get a fever dream of individualism, libertarianism, and anti-government themes laced with a veneer of conservative Christianity. Jemar’s review of Homestead unpacks the film’s intentions and missteps, exploring the broader implications for our political climate faith-based media and entertainment.
How can the church inspire all generations to engage in justice work? Drawing from his books I Am the Spirit of Justice and Stories of the Spirit of Justice, Jemar offers a roadmap for uniting adults and youth in a shared vision for transformative action.
In the 2024 presidential election, Black women once again emerged as the most stalward defenders of democracy. It's long past time we listen to, learn from, and follow their lead. Jemar spotlights Black women whose wisdom is essential for our times.
From Kristin
In December, Kristin provided an update on the Election Postmortem hosted by the University of Notre Dame’s Center for Philosophy of Religion. The post contains a wonderful summary of the day’s proceedings (a series of 10-minute talks by leading scholars and practitioners) and links to watch recordings of the first two sessions.
Kicking off the new year on a rather somber note, Kristin shared Martin Mycielski’s “Authoritarian Regime Survival Guide,” a list of what one might experience under an authoritarian government and what to do about it.
From Diana
On the fourth Sunday of Advent, Diana wondered what Mary, the Mother of Jesus, might say to Elon Musk.
From Robby
Robby shared key findings from PRRI’s post-election study, based on a new survey of 4,757 voters—one of the first large scale random probability surveys to be released. The study explores the U.S. political and cultural landscape after the 2024 election, including the impact of partisanship, race, and religion on voters’ choices and their feelings about the election’s outcome.
Robby also shared two final public conversations he had in 2024: one with Will Wright at Faithful Politics (which became the most downloaded episode of their podcast for the year) and one with our team at The Convocation Unscripted.