“It is easy to be distracted. In a time of mass distraction Jarrod McKenna keeps steady: he focuses on justice and what love looks like in public. He is honest with himself and honest with others. His words remind us of who we are meant to be with each other. His is a vital message for groups of people concerned about politics, about mercy, about inclusion and about power.”
Equipping [eco]prophets in nonviolent social change healing-justice earth affirming spirituality embodied solidarity contemplative prayer restorative justice decolonising-discipleship anti-racism work liberating Bible studies NVDA Christ
G’day. I’m Jarrod. Wanna deepen in embodying the nonviolent-power that is good news to the poor, oppressed our our planet? Me too.
Your liberation is bound up with mine. Let's work together.
“Jarrod McKenna is one of the most recognizable faces in a radical, grassroots Christian movement that believes when Jesus said, ‘Love your enemies,’ he probably meant, ‘Don’t kill them.'”
– Australian Financial Review
I am very fortunate
Nice people have said nice things

Pádraig Ó Tuama
Poet, Theologian and host of On Being’s Poetry Unbound

Dr. Cornel West
America’s leading Public Intellectual
“I salute my dear brother Jarrod McKenna for his prophetic passion and solidarity with those Jesus called ‘the least of these’.”

Josh Kelsey
Lead Pastor, C3 New York City
“Jarrod challenges me and many others to live a cross shaped life, a life that cares for the least of these, a life that looks like Jesus, loving everyone, even our enemies. His messages are powerful because they represent how he lives. He is a prophet to this generation and a needed voice to the church and the world we desire to love.”

Dr. Julia Baird
Author, Journalist, New York Times Columnist and Host of ABC's 'The Drum'
“Jarrod McKenna’s voice is crucial and sorely needed in Australia, as a reminder of the compassion and grace of Christ. His boldness in public debate has served as a timely corrective to the idea that Christianity is only to do with telling people what they can’t and shouldn’t do, by pointing to a radical kind of love that centres on the vulnerable and the powerless.”

Dr. Susan Carland
Academic, author and TV host
“Jarrod is one of the few people I know who actually lives out, moment-to-moment, what he believes. He lives it when it is uncomfortable and hard and frustrating. And by this, he is not just the true model of integrity, but a sincere follower of Christ. Like Batman, he may not be the voice Australia wants, but he is the voice we need.”

Wil Anderson
Comedian and Host of The Gruen Transfer
“Jarrod is the sort of God-botherer I enjoy being bothered by. His passion, compassion & humour are all things this world needs more of.”

Brian Zahnd
Pastor and Author
“Jarrod McKenna has the keen mind of a theologian, the warm heart of a pastor, and the dauntless courage of an activist. And as a skilled communicator all three of these attributes are evident as he seeks to form people in Christlike peacemaking. I have the highest respect for Jarrod McKenna and his work.”

Rev. James Lawson
Civil Rights Legend and strategist for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“My young friend from Australia, Jarrod McKenna, is an expert in nonviolent social change.”

Joel Houston
Leader of Hillsong United
“Jarrod McKenna inspires us to continue to find Jesus with the hurting and the poor, to renounce violence so we can take up my cross, and seek first God’s kingdom.”

Russell Brand
Actor and Comedian
“This is Brilliant… Jarrod McKenna crowdfunded a mortgage for a house, used to be an old meth-lab, to live there with 17 refugees! Yeah! Wow! You should help out! Who knows, might be some drugs still there.”

Anna Rose
Co-founder of Australian Youth Climate Coalition
“Jarrod’s leadership has had a transforming impact of the youth advocacy landscape in Australia. It’s not rare to find a deep analysis of different forms of oppression. What is unique is the way Jarrod combines it with an even deeper commitment to nonviolence as the way to achieve change. His deep commitment to move to the middle of the movement those that are often pushed out to the margins. His way of sharing his faith that makes space for people of no faith, or other faiths, to also share their stories. His refusal to separate his ecological concerns from his concern for the poor and the disenfranchised. The movement is richer and more diverse because of leadership and example like his.”

Richard Rohr
Author and Franciscan Priest
“It’s amazing that we should need to tell Christians that Jesus taught and surely lived a nonviolent life. And almost as amazing –and wonderful- that Jarrod McKenna should be able to teach it so well in our time and culture.”

Otis Moss III
Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ, Chicago
“This extraordinary minister from Australia is a living embodiment of love coupled with justice. He dares to speak with the boldness of a Bishop Desmond Tutu and the critical eye of Martin Luther King, Jr. mixed with the ironic wit of Russell Brand. Jarrod is one of the voices our world has been praying for and this generation needs to hear.”

Tom Ballard
Comedian
“Jarrod McKenna is an eloquent, compassionate activist who is working tirelessly to make things better. I’m no Christian, but in Jarrod I see the absolute best that religion can be.”

Sarah Bessey
Author of "Jesus Feminist" and "Out of Sorts"
“Jarrod McKenna is a much-needed intersection of action and contemplation deeply empowered by the Holy Spirit, his leadership is turning hearts and minds towards actually following Jesus. I’m deeply grateful for his voice, for his leadership, and his fierce example – even when, as all true prophets do, he’s stepping on my toes.”

Scot McKnight
Biblical Scholar
“When I think of Christian peace-making in Australia I think of the tireless and creative efforts of Jarrod McKenna. He combines passion, theological alertness, and the self-denying pattern Jesus calls to as his disciples.”

Shane Claiborne
Author and Activist
“One of the doctors I met in Iraq said (with tears in his eyes), ‘This violence is for people who have lost their imagination.’ Jarrod McKenna is a prophet of imagination. He is on a mission to create new heroes and sheroes and to reclaim God’s dream for this world.”

Jo Vallentine
Former Australian Senator and joint Nobel Peace Prize Nominee
“Jarrod McKenna practices nonviolence as more than a tool for social change – he makes it the way of his life. I’ve appreciated working with Jarrod on a number of campaigns, and know him to be strongly committed to peace in action, and an excellent communicator.”

Rev. Dr. Michael Jensen
Pastor, Theologian, Author and Social Commentator
“Make no mistake: driving everything else that Jarrod does is the gospel of God’s free grace for we sinners in Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen Lord. He’s a compelling preacher of that message.”

Thandi Gamedze
Poet and Community Organiser
“Jarrod Mckenna exudes the tangible presence of Love in the spaces that he occupies. Philoxenia, which translates from the Greek into ‘hospitality’, or ‘friend to the stranger’, is not only a concept that he speaks about, but an orientation that he wholly embodies. To be in Jarrod’s presence is to feel seen, loved and valued. Through his teachings, his decolonial unpacking of the scriptures, his fearless embrace of mystery, his radical acts of confronting injustice, and his openness to listening and truly being changed by what he hears, he invites those that he encounters on a journey of becoming more fully human, and in the process, more like Christ.”
who is Jarrod?
Since I was 21, I’ve initiated communities of prayer and service where I’ve daily shared my home with those who would otherwise be homeless, drug addicted, returning from prison or seeking safety from war zones and persecution. Why? Well, Jesus. I love him so much it makes Evangelicals blush. As problematic as I am, his love is transforming me powerfully. My passion is to see the transfiguring fire of God’s love become our experience in prayer and our program for ecological and social healing.

Easter, Extinction, and Nonviolent Direct Action
I have spent my adult life dedicated to welcoming asylum seekers and refugees. I was arrested as part of #ExtinctionRebellion because by 2050 over 1 billion people face becoming climate refugees if we don’t act now. That, and because I believe Jesus is risen from the grave.
A Survivors’ Guide on How to Navigate Sexual Abuse in the Headlines
Hey, other survivors, I see you. You are not alone.
People supporting survivors, I see you too. Thanks for standing with us when we can feel so alone.
On days when your deepest trauma is international news, what do you do?
Easter Made Me Do It! On Scapegoats, Asylum Seekers and Being Arrested
Easter reveals the violent shape of our society’s scapegoat mechanisms that crucify the vulnerable. That is why we willingly accepted that we would be arrested, not willing to leave without an answer to why 1,138 children were being indefinitely detained.