Draft:Jennifer Butler (reverend)

Jennifer Butler is an activist, scholar, and ordained Presbyterian minister. A well-known liberal religious advocate, she founded and led the nonprofit organization Faith in Public Life from 2005 to 2022, and now is the founder and CEO of the nonprofit Faith in Democracy. She also represented the Presbyterian church at the United Nations from 1996 to 2005, chaired the Obama administration's third Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, and served as the national faith engagement director of the Harris-Walz campaign.

Early life and education

Butler received a B.A. from the College of William and Mary, where she was the president of her Baptist Student Union. She then received a M.S.W. from Rutgers University, and a Master of Divinity from the Princeton Theological Seminary. It was here that Butler was introduced to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). From 1989 to 1991, she served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Belize.

Career

Butler represented the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) at the United Nations from 1996 to 2005, through the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program. She has taught classes at New York University's Global Liberal Studies program, and was an Auburn Senior Fellow, a progressive faith leader cohort launched by Auburn Media. Its members included other religious Left leaders, such as Rev. William Barber and Sister Simone Campbell.

In 2005, Butler helped found Faith in Public Life (FPL), a left-leaning religious advocacy organization. The idea emerged from the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, and spun off into its own organization in 2008. The organization leads and supports campaigns in issues ranging from immigration rights, voting rights, healthcare reform, and LGBTQ+ rights. Notably, Faith in Public Life strongly supported the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, and again supported it as Republicans attempted to repeal the bill in 2017. The organization has mobilized more than 50,000 local clergy and faith leaders since its inception, while also focusing on protest rallies and social media campaigns.

The Affordable Care Act

In 2009, Butler and Faith in Public Life helped organize left-leaning religious groups to advocate for the passage of the ACA. In August of 2009, FPL launched a campaign of prayer vigils, rallies, cable advertisements, and a roughly 140,000 person strong call-in webinar in conjunction with groups such as Faith in Action and Sojourners. Butler and FPL coordinated a multistate organizing strategy focused on moderate members of Congress, generally overseeing media strategy. They also coordinated a sign-on letter featuring faith leaders urging Nebraska senator Ben Nelson to support the ACA, suggesting signers would defend him if he voted for the bill. Nelson's vote was particularly important as the Democrats held an exact sixty-vote supermajority, providing no margin for error if the bill was to be passed. The day after the letter was sent to Nelson, he announced he would support the bill. In 2017, as the Republican administration attempted to repeal and replace Obamacare, Butler was one of 11 people arrested by Capitol police outside then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's office in the Senate Office Building.

Writings

Butler published Born Again: The Christian Right Globalized in 2006. Its thesis is that conservative religious movements have fared better than progressives due to their superior strategic organization.

Butler's second book, Who Stole My Bible: Reclaiming Scripture as a Handbook for Resisting Tyranny, was published in 2020.