“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.”

“I salute my dear brother Jarrod McKenna for his prophetic passion and solidarity with those Jesus called ‘the least of these’.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“Jarrod is the sort of God-botherer I enjoy being bothered by. His passion, compassion & humour are all things this world needs more of.”

“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.”

“My young friend from Australia, Jarrod McKenna, is an expert in nonviolent social change.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”