The Prophetic Voice: Two Rants for These Times

Written By Jenny Whitcher (she/her)

This is Part 2 of our weekly blog series in preparation for the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Read part 1, We Tell a Different Story, here.

Before we offer worship resources, we begin where many progressive congregations find themselves: with righteous anger. These two pieces — raw, direct, and theologically grounded — can serve as spoken-word readings, bulletin inserts, or the basis for a sermon series. They name, clearly and without softening, what is actually happening.

They Are Self-Evident — a Rant

This piece takes the Declaration of Independence at its word — and then refuses to let us pretend those words have ever been applied equally. It is a lament dressed as legal argument, a sermon dressed as sarcasm. Consider using it as a call to confession, or as an anchor for a service wrestling with the question: Who is "we the people"?

Spoken Word/Reading, by Rev. Allyson Sawtell


They are self-evident, these truths we hold.

Aren't they?

The "created equal" bit is only if

   You are straight

   White

   Male. No, really, male. None of this gender-thing foolishness.

The "created equal" bit is only if

   You have the wealth to prove it

   You're not wearing a headscarf

   You didn't arrive here in shackles

   You're the right gender, otherwise you (and the dog) are property of your
  husband.

They are self-evident, these truths we hold.

Are they?

The rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness —

Life, with the uncomfortable bits of history denied because that deep, generational

trauma is so uncomfortable for the comfortable to hear,

and that deep, generational resilience threatens the powerful.

Life, unless you live in Cancer Alley in Louisiana,

or the most polluted zip code in the country in colorful Colorado.

All to feed our addiction to fossil fuels.

Liberty if you have the right papers or skin color.

Happiness as defined by good "god-fearing christians" meaning none of this queer stuff,

or uppity women stuff or anything that reeks of God-given diversity and beauty,

or expansive welcome or even critical thinking!

Loving your country, O you exalted leaders in the halls of power,

does not mean brown-nosing pandering to preposterous supremacist patriotism

that reeks of superiority, control, fear, and power.

Loving your country means growing a spine and standing up and out

against fascist regimes and their dictators,

and maybe enacting, finally, for God's sake, just a few just laws!

They are self-evident, these truths we hold.

They are?

"…whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends,

it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it,

and to institute new government…"

This is what we now call elections.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident…"

   Who is the "we"?  What half-truths have we really been holding?

   Who calls all the shots?

       It's supposed to be "we the people."

          How self-evident is that now?

             What do we need to claim and proclaim? And take back?

What in God's name are we celebrating during this 250th milestone in our nation?

Celebrating 1776 means throwing Project 2025 onto the bonfires of justice and sanity, relegating it to the hell from which it came.

To the Current Administration — a Rant

Written in May 2026, this second piece turns toward the theological audacity of those who invoke God while practicing cruelty. It is a prophetic interrogation — not of faith, but of the weaponization of faith. It asks: which Bible are you holding? Which God? Consider pairing it with a sermon on the diversity within scripture itself as a counter to authoritarian certainty.

Prophetic Reading, by Rev. Allyson Sawtell

You do your works of injustice and exclusion

You erase identities and histories

You drive species to the brink of extinction

All in the name of God.

God??

The one who created heaven and earth

Light and dark,

Seas and dry land

All manner of creatures

Balance and diversity?

That God?

Or yourselves?

You hold up your Bible to justify your power and prejudice.

Never to be questioned.

The Bible?

The one with 2 contradictory Creation stories,

The one where the same king is both honored and smeared in completely different tellings?

The one with 4 different Gospel stories about Jesus?

That Bible?

What do you do with that —

its questioning of authority,

its difference and diversity,

its contradictions?

Can you hold the holy Both/And?

Can you hold the uncertainty?

Does that undermine your power?

So you create your own stories by your own force of will.

And become the sole arbiter of their truth.

For Reflection — Sermon & Small Group

The second rant contains a profoundly useful theological observation: scripture itself is diverse, contradictory, and multi-voiced. The two creation accounts in Genesis, the four distinct Gospel portraits, the complicated legacy of King David — the Bible does not speak with one uniform voice, and never has. Authoritarian readings that flatten that complexity are not faithful readings; they are power plays dressed in religious language.

In a worship series, this might anchor a Sunday on The Bible as Conversation, Not Verdict — or on the spiritual practice of holding uncertainty, which the current moment demands of us all.

Jenny Whitcher (she/her)

Rev. Dr. Jenny Whitcher is the Minister of Prophetic Formation and founder of Juniper Formation, an entrepreneurial and ecumenical faith community of the United Church of Christ (UCC), with the mission of "prophetically reimagining the Church from the margins."

She is a pastor, entrepreneur, community organizer, artist, public scholar, and theologian committed to liberation and social justice.

Her areas of expertise include: professional, personal, spiritual, and organizational formation and leadership; religion and public life; democratic culture, leadership, and pedagogy; community organizing; and social change theory and practice.

Whitcher previously served as the faculty Director of the Office of Professional Formation and Term Assistant Professor of Religion & Public Life at Iliff School of Theology, after serving as Iliff's Director of the Master of Arts in Social change (now M.A. in Social Justice & Ethics) and Director of Service Learning.

As an interdisciplinary public scholar committed to social justice and human rights, Whitcher bridges fields of religious, theological, and civic studies within local, national, and international contexts. Prior to working at Iliff, Whitcher served as Associate Director of the Center for Community Engagement & Service Learning (CCESL), where she taught Community Organizing and Denver Urban Issues and Policy courses; created and led student civic development curricula; trained faculty in public scholarship and pedagogy; led local and international Immersion Programs; and was the creator, editor, and contributing writer of the "Public Good Newsletter" at the University of Denver for five years.

Her career in higher education started in 2004 at the University of Denver's Office of Internationalization Study Abroad Program. Whitcher transitioned into higher education from the nonprofit sector where she worked locally in Denver with populations experiencing homelessness and globally on affordable housing with Habitat for Humanity International where she was also the "Advocacy Alert" columnist for Frameworks Magazine.

Whitcher's publications include book chapters, articles, and public resources on civic and spiritual development and formation, relational community organizing, experiences of organizers and public life, and democratic education. She is co-author and co-editor of the first and second editions of the Community Organizing Handbook (2009, 2010).

Whitcher's public scholarship, teaching, leadership, and ministry have included work with various local congregations and denominational leaders across the U.S. and across denominational, faith, and spiritual identities. In addition, she has worked with various nonprofits and foundations, including, but not limited to:  WorldDenver, La Academia at Denver Inner City Parish, Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF), Interfaith Alliance of Colorado, Diyar Consortium, Everyday Democracy, Colorado Progressive Coalition, Puksta Foundation, the Kettering Foundation, El Centro Humanitario, Denver Public Schools, American Commonwealth Project, Urban Peak, and Habitat for Humanity International.

Internationally, Whitcher has travelled and partnered with local leaders and communities in Palestine, Israel, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Haiti, India, Hungary, Italy, and Spain.

She is the recipient of the Peacemaker Award from the Rocky Mountain Conference of the United Church of Christ (2006) and the Young Philanthropist Award by Women in Development of Greater Boston (2004).

Ordination: Metro Denver Association of the Rocky Mountain Conference of the United Church of Christ (UCC).

Education:

B.A., New York University
M.A., University of Denver
Ph.D. Iliff School of Theology & University of Denver

https://www.jennywhitcher.com
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