Ptoxocracy: An End to Christianity — Book Event with author M. C. Lohrmann

Name: Ptoxocracy: An End to Christianity — Book Event with author M. C. Lohrmann
Start: 2025-10-19T12:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-10-19T13:30:00-05:00
Location: 3325 W Wrightwood Ave

Schedule

Sun Oct 19 2025 at 12:00 pm to 01:30 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

3325 W Wrightwood Ave | Chicago, IL

St. Luke's hosts lunch and conversation with M. C. Lohrmann, author of the new book "Ptoxocracy: An End to Christianity"
About this Event

What if the world were governed by the poor?

Join St. Luke’s Lutheran Church of Logan Square for a book event with MC Lohrmann, author of the new book . Admission is FREE.

12:00 Potluck lunch -- Please bring something to share!
12:30 Conversation and Q&A with Pastor Lohrmann
Books will be available for purchase following the event

The event will be valuable to anyone interested in Christian ethics, political theory, and everyone committed to building a more just society.

About the Book: To have a meaningful stake in the lives of the poor, argues M. C. Lohrmann, would change the ways in which governance of all types – national, local municipalities, denominations, religious judicatories, and non-profit boards – determines its focus.

Lohrmann defines ptoxocracy (derived from the Greek ptoxoi, the poorest of the poor) as “governance by the materially poor; a hybrid form of representative democracy whereby only persons of the lowest economic status are eligible for elected public office.” This model, he contends, allows us to step back from the coupling of wealth and power created by myths of meritocracy and a rich ruling class to envision a system that works for the good of the whole.

Looking to scripture, Lohrmann follows the through-line of God’s blessing of the poor in both the Hebrew and Christian canons. How might the kingdom of God appear if God’s preferential option for the poor became the lens through which we organized our lives together?

About the Author: M. C. LOHRMANN is a public theologian, writer, and pastor based in Southern California, serving Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church in La Mesa, California. He holds degrees from Valparaiso University and the University of Chicago Divinity School, where he was awarded the school’s John Grey Rhind Award.

About the Venue: St. Luke's Lutheran Church of Logan Square is a progressive, community-oriented congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, located in the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago.