A Voice for Progressive Christians in Texas (and beyond)

Check out this article featuring Zach and Restore Austin (with a shout out to Public Theology!) by Eric Killelea, Religion Reporter for the Chron

Several weeks ago, Chron religion reporter Eric Killelea asked if we could set up a call to discuss progressive Christianity in Texas and how it relates to politics in the lone star state. I was obviously interested and we set a date.

Just a few minutes into that call, I found myself explaining the intersection of conservative politics and evangelical church affiliation, and why I receive such vitriol online from people that, from the outside looking in, should see me as one of their own.

I’ve lived in Texas my whole life. I grew up in a Southern Baptist megachurch and once served as the personal intern to a former SBC President. I know the ins and outs, the motivations and fears, and more insider information than most.

Like most of the members of our church and those who connect with my work online, I’ve been kicked out of churches, cut off by former friends and family, and told I’m going to hell (and taking my congregation with me).

So why do I do it?

Read on to find out.

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Are Texas churches safe for liberal Christians?

By Eric Killelea, Religion Reporter at the Chron

December 13, 2024

"I'd be lying if I said this is how I wanted the election to go, and I'd be lying if I pretended like I'm ok right now." So began an X post from Texas Pastor Zach Lambert of Restore Austin Church two days after Donald Trump secured his win in the 2024 election and his second term in the White House.

Lambert, a 36-year-old political progressive, has quickly gained popularity among Christian Democrats throughout Texas for speaking out against the religious conservatives who helped prop up the now president-elect. Lambert believes many far-right politicians and powerful religious leaders statewide have misused and misquoted the Bible to campaign for Trump, to pass restrictive abortion laws and to attack the rights of immigrants and transgender people across Texas.

Lambert faced online criticism and death threats after announcing on social media last month that he cast a ballot for Vice President Kamala Harris. Despite the backlash, he's continued to release new messages on social media and through his Substack newsletter "Public Theology" to stay engaged with political debates. "I don't have all the answers, but I have a few ideas on how we move forward," Lambert wrote on X. "We've gotta take care of ourselves and take care of our neighbors—especially women, people of color, LGBTQ+ folks, the disabled, undocumented immigrants and others who will be disproportionately harmed during a Trump presidency."

In recent interviews, Lambert told me he'd expected the vast majority of white evangelicals and a rising number of Latino Catholics in Texas to vote for the second coming of Trump and to reestablish the Republican-controlled state House and Senate. But now that the religious right had won another round of races—despite the U.S. growing more secular and more multicultural as a country, and despite the number of Americans who disagree with the right's positions on abortion access—the pastor expressed concern over how to maintain a safe space for his congregation of about 1,000 members, roughly 30 percent of which identify as LGBTQ.

"A lot of people in our church have been hurting and struggling after the election," Lambert said. "We have documented and undocumented members of the church and LGBTQ and transgender folks who are really struggling with their feeling of being targeted by their government—statewide and now nationwide."

Continue reading at Chron.com.