Background
Claiborne grew up in east Tennessee. His father, who was a Vietnam War veteran, died when Shane was 9 years old.
Claiborne grew up in east Tennessee. His father, who was a Vietnam War veteran, died when Shane was 9 years old.
A graduate of Eastern University, where he studied sociology and youth ministry, Claiborne did his final academic work for Eastern University at Wheaton College in Illinois.
Claiborne is also a social activist, advocating for nonviolence and service to the poor. He is the author of the book, The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical. While at Wheaton, Claiborne did an internship at Willow Creek Community Church.
He has done some graduate work at Princeton Theological Seminary, but took a leave of absence, and now is a part of The Alternative Seminary in Philadelphia.
Claiborne worked alongside Mother Teresa during a 10-week term in Calcutta. He spent 3 weeks in Baghdad with the Iraq Peace Team (IPT), a project of Voices in the Wilderness and Christian Peacemaker Teams.
He was witness to the military bombardment of Baghdad as well as the militarized areas between Baghdad and Amman. He also continues to serve as a board member for the nationwide Christian Community Development Association which was founded by the authors and community developers, John Perkins and Wayne Gordon.
On June 20, 2007, a seven-alarm fire at the abandoned warehouse across the street destroyed The Simple Way Community Center where Claiborne lived.
He lost all of his possessions in the fire. The Simple Way immediately set up funds to accept donations to help those who lost their homes in the fire. Claiborne is featured in the documentary The Ordinary Radicals, and co-directed the three volume Another World is Possible Digital Video Disc series.
Claiborne wrote the foreword to Ben Lowe"s 2009 book Green Revolution: Coming Together to Care for Creation.
Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals, with Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove and Enuma Okoro (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010)
"What If Jesus Meant All That Stuff?" (Esquire Magazine, November 18, 2009)
Follow Maine To Freedom: Leading and Following as an Ordinary Radical, with John Perkins (Regal Books, 2009)
Jesus for President: Politics for Ordinary Radicals, with Chris Haw (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008)
Becoming the Answer to Our Prayers: Prayer for Ordinary Radicals, with Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove (InterVarsity, 2008)
The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006)
Iraq Journal 2003 (Doulos Christou, 2006).
As a member of IPT, Claiborne took daily trips to sites where there had been bombings, visited hospitals and families, and attended worship services during the war.