Clarence Jordan

1912 - 1969

Clarence Jordan founded a multi-racial Christian farm community called Koinonia in 1942. He is author of the Cotton Patch Gospels which are written in a rural, Southern-colloquial dialect. Koinonia started Habitat for Humanity, an organization that builds houses for families in need all over the world.

With Jesus, peacemaking involved not merely a change of environment, but also a change of heart. God's plan of making peace is not merely to bring about an outward settlement between evil people, but to create people of goodwill.

When Jesus proclaimed the kingdom of God on earth, he was not offering to make people more comfortable in their sins. He was calling them to a new life in the spirit and to citizenship in his beloved community, which alone is capable of peace.

Source: Clarence Jordan: Essential Writings