A fifth-generation Californian, Ched is an activist theologian who has worked in social change and radical discipleship movements for more than 45 years. With a degree in New Testament Studies, he is a popular educator who animates scripture and issues of faith-based peace and justice. He has authored over 100 articles and more than a half-dozen books, including Binding the Strong Man: A Political Reading of Mark’s Story of Jesus; Ambassadors of Reconciliation: A N.T. Theology and Diverse Christian Practices of Restorative Justice and Peacemaking (with Elaine Enns), Our God is Undocumented: Biblical Faith and Immigrant Justice (with Matthew Colwell); Watershed Discipleship: Reinhabiting Bioregional Faith and Practice, and most recently Healing Haunted Histories: A Settler Discipleship of Decolonization (with Elaine Enns, Cascade, 2021). Most of Ched’s articles can be found on this site, and books at bcm-net.org.
Ched has worked with a variety of social justice organizations, including the Pacific Issues Network and the American Friends Service Committee. He is a co-founder of the Word and World School, the Sabbath Economics Collaborative, and the Center and Library for the Bible and Social Justice. He and his partner Elaine Enns, a restorative justice practitioner, live in the Ventura River watershed in southern California and work with Bartimaeus Cooperative Ministries.
Ched holds a B.A. in Philosophy from the University of California at Berkeley (1978) and an M.A. in New Testament Studies from the Graduate Theological Union (1984). He serves on the faculty of the Proctor Institute Dale Andrews Freedom Seminary and has taught at the Saskatoon Theological Union, Memphis Theological Seminary, Fuller Theological Seminary, Claremont School of Theology (1998-99 Fellow in Urban Theology), Canadian Mennonite University, Ecumenical Theological Seminary, United Theological Seminary, the Seminary Consortium on Urban and Pastoral Education, Maryknoll School of Theology, Virginia Theological Seminary, Phillips Theological Seminary, Pacific School of Religion, Toronto School of Theology, Vancouver School of Theology, Churches of Christ Theological College (Australia) and Tamilnadu Theological Seminary (India).
Besides his own writing, Ched works with other authors and publishers as an editor and manuscript evaluator. He has traveled throughout North America and abroad giving seminars and retreats, teaching, preaching, and facilitating gatherings. He works with Catholic, Protestant, and Anabaptist parishes and diocesan or denominational offices, as well as with ecumenical and interfaith organizations. He supports many faith-based peace and justice efforts including Christian Peacemaker Teams, the Catholic Worker movement, Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, Creation Justice Ministries, and The Abundant Table Farm Project.
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