Fairfax Presbyterian Church

Faith &
Resistance

"My house shall be a house of prayer for all peoples."

Isaiah 56:7

Begins April 12, 2025
Time 9:15 AM
Where Fairfax Presbyterian
About the Series

This four-week series invites participants to explore how Christian faith calls us to discern when to obey and when to resist unjust authority. Grounded in Scripture and church history, we will work together to center the vulnerable, understand the biblical narrative of resistance, and practice faithful action in today's pressing crises.

"The story of Scripture is God's sustained refusal to accept the status quo — the weak dominated by the strong, the poor by the rich, the outsider by the insider. That thread runs from Genesis to Revelation."

What We'll Cover

01
How We Know When to Obey and When to Resist

We ground ourselves in the moral logic of Christian resistance — examining the tensions between authority, humility, tolerance, and action, and introducing a discernment framework centered on who is suffering.

02
Scripture as a Long Resistance Story

From the midwives of Egypt to the Revelation of John, we trace the biblical arc that has always refused to accept the domination of the weak by the strong.

03
A History of Discernment

How did faithful Christians wrestle with obedience and resistance in real time — through Calvin, the Covenanters, abolition, and the Civil Rights movement? What can we learn from their struggle?

04
Practicing Faithful Resistance Today

We apply our discernment framework to the crises of our own time, and explore the practices — sanctuary, truth-telling, nonviolent courage, directed giving — that sustain faithful action.

This class is open to everyone — longtime members and first-time visitors, those with deep convictions and those full of questions. You do not need to arrive with answers. You need only a willingness to grapple honestly with what our faith asks of us in times like these.

We will work together — not as partisans, but as a community of faith — to discern what it means to protect the vulnerable, act as sanctuary, and sustain our values when the world makes that hard.

"Faithful resistance is not a political stance. It is the shape of Christian love in a world where the strong still dominate the weak."

Join the Conversation

Register below and we'll be in touch with any additional details before April 12th.

No cost. Open to all. Child care available.

Thank you — we look forward to seeing you on April 12th. Watch your inbox for details.