Mitchell Atencio is the senior associate news editor at Sojourners. He first served as a contract reporter for Sojourners in 2020.
Mitchell believes his role as a journalist is to ask compelling questions of the right people and to tell stories that impact the actions of readers. He loves writing stories of the radical or unique — especially within faith. Before joining Sojourners, Mitchell was a reporter in Kirkland, Wash. At Arizona State University he was a passionate and dedicated member of the award-winning, independent, student-newspaper The State Press. He also graduated with a degree in journalism and mass communications, but he doesn’t care as much about that part.
Although he didn’t stay long enough, Mitchell is proud to have been born in Atlanta and dreams of returning.
In journalism and elsewhere, Mitchell advocates for the physical medium. He is a vinyl record collector; a film photographer who shoots, develops, and scans his own film; a magazine subscriber; and a fan of writing letters on the family typewriter. In his spare time, he reads liberation theology, practices Zen, watches a lot of tennis, rants about the evils of pickleball, and makes coffee with a variety of methods. Mitchell is discalced out of religious commitment; he concedes it probably makes him a hippie.
Posts By This Author
Asian Women Lead Charge Against Bigotry in Christian Rallies Across U.S.
Soojin Park leads attendees in prayer in Korean, at Chinatown Park in Washington, D.C., on March 28, 2021. Mitchell Atencio/Sojourners
“It was clear that those on the ground had a desire to respond to the shooting in Atlanta,” Raymond Chang, president of AACC, told Sojourners the Friday before the rallies.
Stories of Passion: What Our Editors Are Reading
Ten stories of passion, and how to channel it toward the liberation of all.
Does Progressive Christian Financial Advice Exist?
For Christians who reject Dave Ramsey’s financial advice and the theology that supports it, it’s not always clear where to find alternatives.
Dismantling ‘The Last Plantation’
U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) speaks with reporters as he arrives for a vote in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Feb. 8, 2021. REUTERS/Al Drago
For the last decade, Black Lives Matter organizers and other activists have cultivated a renewed energy toward addressing racism in America. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) hopes to channel that energy through legislation that would overhaul the U.S. Department of Agriculture, known colloquially as “the last plantation.”
We Treat Kids Like Criminals. We Don't Have To
Photo by Mitchell Atencio
IN 1974, TWO teenagers went on a vandalism spree in the quiet community of Elmira, Ontario. They slashed car tires, broke store windows, and destroyed a garden gazebo, racking up about $3,000 worth of damage. The pair faced jail time for malicious vandalism. Instead, their parole officer, Mark Yanzi, who was also part of Mennonite Central Committee in Canada, asked the presiding judge if the youths could meet their victims face to face. This, they said, would allow the offenders to apologize directly and pay for damages. The judge agreed—setting legal precedent in Canada.
Though Indigenous and First Nations communities have a long history of similar conflict resolution practices, the Elmira case is seen as a moment when formalized restorative justice models, known at the time as victim-offender reconciliation programs (VORP), entered the Canadian criminal legal system. And Mennonite Christians were integral from the beginning.
In a 1989 handbook, VORP Organizing: A foundation in the church, Ron Claassen, Howard Zehr, and Duane Ruth-Heffelbower further developed the concept of VORP as a program that could work in cooperation with the judicial system but embodied “different assumptions about crime and punishment.”
“True justice requires that things be made right between the one offended and the one who has done the offending. It embodies a concept of restoration—of victim as well as offender. This also implies personal accountability on the part of the offender, who is encouraged to acknowledge his or her responsibility for the harm, participate in deciding what needs to be done, and to take steps to make amends,” they wrote.
Grace Semler Baldridge Is Bringing Queer Stories to Christian Music
Semler's EP, Preacher's Kid (unholy demos), topped iTunes Christian charts after its release in February. Photo by Molly Adams, courtesy of Semler.
The contemporary Christian music industry has been adamantly opposed to affirming LGBTQ+ people. But Semler's EP Preacher's dares to include songs about queer sexuality, lesbian weddings, and Christian faith.
Supreme Court Rules Pastor Must Be Allowed In Execution Chamber
The U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., on May 8, 2020. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
“The law guarantees Smith the right to practice his faith free from unnecessary interference, including at the moment the State puts him to death,” wrote Justice Elena Kagan.
Court Rules Alabama Must Allow Pastor in Execution Chamber
On Wednesday night, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reversed a district court’s decision and ruled that the state of Alabama must allow Willie B. Smith III’s pastor to be in the execution chamber during Smith’s execution.
He Wants His Pastor With Him At His Execution. Alabama Won't Allow It
Willie B. Smith III.
On Feb. 11, the state of Alabama intends to execute Willie B. Smith III without his pastor by his side — which Smith alleges is a violation of his religious freedom.
‘Safely Open the Doors of Our Sanctuary Churches,’ Members of Congress Urge Biden
A banner welcoming immigrants and refugees on the Catholic Shrine of the Immaculate Conception Church in Atlanta, Ga., on Jan. 22, 2019. Cari Rubin Photography / Shutterstock.com
Members of Congress, led by Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Tex.), wrote President Joe Biden a letter asking him to ensure those taking sanctuary in houses of worship would be protected from deportation. They also asked the Biden-Harris administration to lift the deportation orders against all people living in sanctuary.
‘My Whole Soul Is in This': Biden's Religion-Infused Inauguration
Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th president of the United States as Jill Biden holds the Bible during the 59th Presidential Inauguration on Jan. 20, 2021. Andrew Harnik/Pool via REUTERS
“Saint Augustine, a saint of my church, wrote that a people was ‘a multitude defined by the common objects of their love,’” Biden said. “What are the common objects we, as Americans, love, that define us as Americans? I think we know: opportunity, security, liberty, respect, honor, and, yes, the truth.”
How Religiously Diverse Is Biden's Cabinet?
Some of the leaders Joe Biden has selected for his incoming Cabinet. Upper row, left to right: Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Janet Yellen, Isabel Guzman, Pete Buttigieg, Lloyd Austin. Lower row, left to right: Xavier Becerra, Marcia Fudge, Neera Tanden, Deb Haaland, and Michael Regan. Photos via Wikimedia Commons and courtesy images. Graphic by Jayne Marie Smith / Sojourners.
President-elect Joe Biden has promised to have the “most diverse Cabinet” in U.S. history, but is the Cabinet religiously diverse? The answer, experts explain, must go beyond tracking the identities of various appointees; a diverse administration must have the power to impact policy for the communities they represent.
To Process Attacks, Some Legislators Turned to Religious Language
Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester addresses constituents following the attack on the U.S. Capitol in a video statement. Image via Facebook screengrab.
On Wednesday, symbols of Christian nationalism were on full display among many of those who stormed the U.S. Capitol. However, both before and after Wednesday's attacks, some legislators invoked the language of faith in a different way: to reject President Donald Trump's repeated attempts to to discredit the election and the insurrection it sparked.
What the Media Always Gets Wrong About Hispanic Faith Voters
A girl and her father on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Ryan Rodrick Beiler / Shutterstock.com
As the sun sets on each Election Day, people turn to exit polls to understand what happened and why. After the 2020 presidential election, exit polls suggested that outgoing President Donald Trump performed better among Hispanic/Latinx voters, earning reactions from pundits and former presidents alike. Some have suggested this is due to splits among Hispanic Catholics and Hispanic Protestants, but polls alone may not tell the full story.
Kim Jackson: The Black Lesbian Pastor Headed to Georgia’s State Senate
Georgia state Sen.-elect Kim Jackson. Photo courtesy Kim Jackson.
In November, Rev. Kim Jackson, an Episcopal priest, won a seat representing Georgia’s District 41 in the state Senate. Her election is celebrated as the first out LGBTQ person elected to Georgia’s state Senate — one of several that caught national attention for LGBTQ inclusion in politics. None of this, Jackson said, would have been possible without role models who taught her what she could become.
What Warnock’s Critics Get Wrong About the Black Baptist Tradition
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Rev. Raphael Warnock speaks during an event in Atlanta on November 3, 2020. Jessica McGowan/Pool via REUTERS
Rev. Dr. Willie Jennings, professor of systematic theology and Africana studies at Yale Divinity School and author of After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging, said that the critiques against U.S. Senate candidate Rev. Dr. Raphael Warnock are an attempt to “take from Black religious figures” what is granted “to white religious figures.”
How Joe Biden Won a Diverse Group of Faith Voters
Joe Biden at Grace Lutheran Church in Kenosha, Wisc., on September 3, 2020. Photo by Adam Schultz / Biden for President / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Before winning the election, Biden touted endorsements from more than 1,600 faith leaders, the largest number for a Democratic candidate in modern history. The noteable outreach could be attributed partially to President Donald Trump’s relationship with religious conservatives. The increasing visibility of religious leaders in progressive politics also provided an opportunity. However, when looking for a catalyst to the campaign’s faith outreach, experts in faith and politics point to Joe Biden himself.
Joe Biden Wins Election, Set to Become Second Catholic U.S. President
Democratic U.S. presidential nominee Joe Biden smiles as he takes off his mask to speak about the voting results of the 2020 presidential election on November 4, 2020. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
“I’m a practicing Catholic. I believe faith is a gift. And the first obligation we all have is, ‘Love your God,’ the second one is, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,’” Biden said. The president-elect’s religion and theology had been a central part of his pitch to “restore the soul of America,” which has been reflected in his schedule, policy, and statements from the campaign trail.
Hundreds of Faith Leaders Call for All Votes to Be Counted
Voters wait in a long line to cast their ballots at Church of the Servant in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on November 3, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Nick Oxford
Hundreds of faith leaders and organizations have released statements in the last week demanding that every vote be counted and expressing their peaceful commitment to the democratic process.
The People Ensuring Your Ballot Is Counted
Election worker processes mail-in ballots ahead of Election Day in Houston. Nov. 2, 2020. REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, mail-in voting has increased drastically in the 2020 election. Of the almost 100 million votes cast before Election Day, nearly 64 million of those were mail-in ballots. Though states have different rules and methods for mail-in ballots, voters across the country encountered a new question this election: “How do I know my vote was counted?”