Featured Torchbearer
Shane Claiborne
Shane Claiborne is one of the founding members of a New Monastic community called The Simple Way in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This organization was featured on the cover of Christianity Today. He is the author of The Irresistible Revolution - Living as an Ordinary Radical (Zondervan ISBN 0-310-26630-0). Claiborne is also a prominent activist for the redistribution of resources to the poor. A Graduate of Eastern University, where he studied sociology and youth ministry, Claiborne did his final academic work for Eastern University at Wheaton Colleg (Illinois). While at Wheaton, Shane did an internship at Willow Creek Community Church. He has done some graduate work at Princeton Theological Seminary, but took a leave of absence, and now is a part of The Alternative Seminary in Philadelphia.Claiborne's outlook on ministry to the poor is often compared to Mother Theresa, who he worked along side with during a 10-week term in Calcutta. Recently, he spent 3 weeks in Baghdad with the Iraq Peace Team (a project of Voices in the Wilderness and Christian Peacemaker Teams). He was witness to the military bombardment of Baghdad as well as the militarized areas between Baghdad and Amman. As a member of IPT, Claiborne took daily trips to sites where there had been bombings, visited hospitals and families, and attended worship services during the war. He also continues to serve as a board member for the nation-wide Christian Community Development Association which was founded by the authors and community developers, John Perkins and Wayne Gordon.
Shane's latest campaign was Jesus for President. Click here for details.