Jeanne C. DeFazio 
Berkeley Street Theatre 
How Improvisation and Street Theater Emerged as a Christian Outreach to the Culture of the Time

Berkeley Street Theatre chronicles Christian World Liberation Front’s 1969-1975 ministry to the counterculture. Founded by Jack Sparks, CWLF was featured in the June 1971 Time Magazine’s epic ‘Jesus Revolution’ edition. Reverend Billy Graham sponsored the CWLF outreach and referred to CWLF as a highly effective outreach to the counterculture. The book included a foreword by David W. Gill, former CWLF leader, scholar, and author, contributing chapters from BST’s members: Gene Burkett, Charlie Lehman, Susan Dockery Andrews, Father James Bernstein, and Jeanne De Fazio, editor of the book. Part Two of this work outlines Christian Guerilla theater following the timeline of BST with contributing chapters from: JMD Myers, Joanne Petronella, Jozy Pollock, Olga Soler, and Sheri Pedigo. William David Spencer’s afterword details the cultural contributions of the Jesus movement. This book will appeal to the baby boom generation as well as millennials. It is a resource work for anyone interested in religious history, Christian theater and the arts, and in how baby boomers embraced the Jesus Movement. The photos of BST’s Sproul Plaza performances will charm all readers.

About the author

William David Spencer (Th D, Boston University School of Theology) is Ranked Adjunct Professor of Theology and the Arts at the Boston Campus of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He is the author of Mysterium and Mystery: The Clerical Crime Novel, Dread Jesus, Name in the Papers: An Urban Adventure Novel, and coeditor of Chanting Down Babylon: The Rastafari Reader.