[Webinar] Ending Oklahoma’s Death Penalty: How Catholics and Evangelicals Can Get Involved

Calling all Catholics and Evangelicals in Oklahoma!

Catholic Mobilizing Network and EJUSA Evangelical Network hosted a one-hour webinar to learn from Oklahoma faith leaders about how to stand up for the sanctity of life and end Oklahoma’s death penalty. Participants will learn the latest updates with the status of Oklahoma’s plan to execute 25 people over the next two years and action steps to stop these state-sanctioned killings from taking place.

Speakers

Cece Jones-Davis works at the intersections of faith, art and social justice as an award-winning faith leader, facilitator, public speaker and impact strategist to point people to the All-Powerful and the least powerful. Cece has partnered with large corporations, organized and led dynamic grassroots movements, and used her voice to address issues of equity and inequity. Her activism ranges from fighting to abolish the death penalty to advocating for menstrual equity. She is known most recently for her work in creating the #JusticeforJulius campaign that saved Julius Jones in Oklahoma just hours before his scheduled execution in 2021. Cece is a faith leader with a theology degree that includes the study of sacred music, worship, and the arts. She serves the broader Church through speaking engagements and — her first love — performing music. Her most recent worship album, Alive, was released in 2021.

Sam Heath leads EJUSA’s engagement with evangelical people and spaces. His faith background enables him to tell stories about the realities of justice and injustice in America and hold together a view of the world as a place both exceptional and exploitative. Before coming on board with EJUSA in 2021, Sam taught high school history for 10 years in North Carolina and Virginia. He has a B.A. in education and psychology from University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and a master’s in theology, ethics, and culture from the University of Virginia.

Fr. Tim Luschen is a Roman Catholic Priest of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City.  Fr. Luschen has been ordained since 1988 and currently is serving as pastor at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Oklahoma City.  As a lifelong Oklahoman, Fr. Luschen has worked to uphold the Church’s teaching concerning the dignity of all human life, including those persons who have suffered grave crimes and those who have been convicted and sentenced to death.  He is an outspoken advocate for the abolishment of the use of the death penalty.

Emma Tacke is CMN’s Director of Community Engagement. Emma spent a year with NETWORK Lobby in Washington D.C. working for social and economic issues as a Grassroots Mobilization Associate. Prior to NETWORK, she served as a Jesuit Volunteer in Seattle, Washington with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest. She is thrilled to motivate and support advocates all over the country to end the death penalty. 

This event is sponsored by Catholic Mobilizing Network, EJUSA Evangelical Network, and the Catholic Conference of Oklahoma.