In the Great Commission of Matthew 28, verse 20, Jesus said, “Teach them to obey everything I commanded.” Yet far too many Christian churches and organizations ignore or even delete mention of this phrase. Project Matthew 28:20 emerged in response to the growing separation between church and Jesus. In 2025, the Dallas Area Christian Progressive Alliance became Project Matthew 28:20 with the goal of expanding DACPA’s mission and ending this separation.
An initiative of Project Matthew 28:20 is Texas Christians for Reproductive Justice, started to address both the injustice of abortion access bans and the high infant and mortality rate in the state of Texas. While we respect anyone’s deeply-held belief on this issue, a review of the Bible and history shows that the opposition to abortion is not biblical nor universal within the Christian faith.
The Dallas Area Christian Progressive Alliance (DACPA), a 501c3, was founded in 2005 by grassroots Christians with a mission to live the love, compassion and justice of Jesus and to promote these values in religious and public discourse. For 18 years, until the pandemic, DACPA sponsored a Good Friday Walk through downtown Dallas. Project Matthew 28:20 continues and expands upon DACPA’s mission.
Theologian Jim Wallis relates a story in his book, The False White Gospel, that it was only close to his death that Bill Bright, the founder of the Campus Crusade for Christ, recognized that “making disciples” involves teaching and obeying Jesus’s teachings and asked Jim, “How are the poor?”
Project Matthew 28:20 uses Matthew 25:31-46, a passage in the Bible in which Jesus reminds us that we are judged by how we treat the hungry, the sick, the stranger/immigrant, and prisoners, as a guide to fulfilling this mission.
Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me. And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:31-46)