Richard Ackerman (born 2002 or 2003), known online as Redeemed Zoomer, is an American Presbyterian activist and YouTuber. He founded Operation Reconquista in 2023.[3] He runs the YouTube channel Redeemed Zoomer, which has over 590,000 subscribers as of August 2025.
| Redeemed Zoomer | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||||||
| Born | Richard Ackerman 2002 or 2003 (age 22–23)[1] New York, U.S. | ||||||
| Education | Southern Methodist University (BA, BS) | ||||||
| Spouse |
Anna Marburger (m. 2024) | ||||||
| Website | redeemedzoomer | ||||||
| YouTube information | |||||||
| Channel | |||||||
| Years active | 2020–present | ||||||
| Genre | Christian theology | ||||||
| Subscribers | 590,000+[2] | ||||||
| Views | 82 million[2] | ||||||
| Associated acts | Creating Operation Reconquista | ||||||
| |||||||
Last updated: August 9, 2025 | |||||||
Biography
editRichard Ackerman grew up irreligious in a family of Jewish and Italian[‡ 1] heritage.[1] He converted to Christianity at age 14 after attending a Presbyterian Church (USA) music camp when he was entering high school.[3] He lived in New York City until he began attending university in Texas.[4] Ackerman began uploading to the Redeemed Zoomer YouTube channel in 2022.[‡ 2]
In May 2025, Zoomer graduated from Southern Methodist University with a B.A. in music and a B.S. in pure mathematics, having originally intended to become a math professor.[‡ 3]
In June 2025, he announced he would pursue a Master of Arts in reformed theology at Dubuque Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa.[5]
YouTube channel
editRedeemed Zoomer made videos using three different YouTube channels and an Instagram account before finding viral success with Redeemed Zoomer in 2022.[1] He is primarily known for his paint explainer videos, which use simple drawing software to explain various Christian topics. His most-viewed video is "All Christian denominations explained in 12 minutes" with 13 million views as of June 2025, which briefly explains the main varieties of Christianity.[1]
Ackerman is also known for producing gameplay commentary videos, which feature him playing Minecraft while discussing topics like theology and history. He also holds weekly or semi-weekly YouTube livestreams in which he interacts with his fanbase.[3] He has faced criticism for a video answering arguments for atheism, which drew responses from several atheist YouTubers who offered rebuttals. Notably, Alex O'Connor (formerly known online as Cosmic Skeptic) made a video rebutting Ackerman.[‡ 4][non-primary source needed]
Operation Reconquista
editAckerman is the founder of and an activist for Operation Reconquista, an organization aimed at preserving theologically conservative congregations within mainline Protestant Christian denominations, with the eventual goal of becoming the majority within the denominations.[‡ 5] He also co-founded "Presbyterians for the Kingdom", a nonprofit seeking to advance theological conservatism in the PCUSA. The organization sent representatives to the 2024 PCUSA General Assembly.[1]
Ackerman maintains a Discord server with more than 1,000 members to organize Gen Z members of mainline churches, including the United Methodist Church, the Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Anglican Church of Canada, and the Church of England.[6] At least four Episcopal priests who participated in the Operation Reconquista Discord groups, including one who had signed up as a "chaplain-adviser" to the server, faced disciplinary charges on the grounds of safeguarding risks since youth as young as 15 participated in the server. However, The Living Church performed an investigation and found no suspicious or secretive behavior on the server.[7]
Views
editAckerman is a member of the Presbyterian Church (USA), and supports traditional Protestantism, particularly in worship practices, church architecture, and theological doctrine. He is critical of modern evangelical and non-denominational Christianity, characterizing them as "pop-Christianity" driven by televangelists and celebrity preachers, and instead advocates a renewed engagement with Reformation-era theology.[8] He believes that the federal government of the United States should be "secular with Christian values".[‡ 6][non-primary source needed]
Although being of Jewish descent, Ackerman has denounced Judaism[9] and expressed support for supersessionism. He has also stated that he is no longer a Zionist.[‡ 7][non-primary source needed]
Ackerman is critical of both right-wing politics and left-wing politics, especially of social progressivism. He is opposed to abortion, and advocates for implementing laws criminalizing abortion.[‡ 8][non-primary source needed] Ackerman opposes same-sex marriage and homosexuality: he has described conversion therapy as "the only healthy form of therapy".[10] He has stated that "Uganda is doing nothing wrong regarding LGBT".[‡ 9][non-primary source needed]
Ackerman is critical of the Republican Party. He has described himself as a "never-Trumper" due to perceiving Trump as "too pro-gay and pro-abortion".[‡ 10][non-primary source needed]. He has also condemned right-wing "extremist internet circles".[‡ 11][non-primary source needed]
Personal life
editAfter starting university, Ackerman met his future spouse, Anna Marburger, for the first time in July 2020. Ackerman married Marburger in August 2024.[‡ 2]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e Murphy, Fiona (August 2, 2024). "Meet Gen Z's proselytizing Presbyterian reformer". Religion News Service. Retrieved June 5, 2025.
- ^ a b "About Redeemed Zoomer". YouTube.
- ^ a b c Miller, Patrick (November 8, 2023). "Meet the Zoomers' Martin Luther". Christianity Today. Retrieved July 9, 2024.
- ^ "Reconquering Mainline Protestantism?". Juicy Ecumenism. March 21, 2024. Retrieved July 9, 2024.
- ^ Redeemed Zoomer (June 6, 2025). I got into a PCUSA seminary! (school announcement) - KingdomCraft. Retrieved June 25, 2025 – via YouTube.
- ^ Dell, Jacob (July 27, 2023). "Return of the Exiles: A How-to Guide for Restoring Faithfulness to Mainline Churches". The Living Church. Retrieved June 5, 2025.
- ^ Petersen, Kirk (April 16, 2024). "'Weaponizing' Clergy Disciplinary Canons for Ideological Purposes". The Living Church. Retrieved June 5, 2025.
- ^ Ackerman, Richard (December 19, 2024). "Restoring Protestant glory: A new generation's mission for Christian revival". Blaze Media. Retrieved July 11, 2025.
- ^ Ackerman, Richard [@redeemed_zoomer] (July 10, 2024). "them constantly insulting my Jewish ethnicity even though I've repeatedly denounced Judaism" (Tweet). Archived from the original on August 25, 2024. Retrieved July 11, 2025 – via Twitter.
- ^ Ackerman, Richard [@redeemed_zoomer] (October 24, 2023). "Gay conversion therapy is the only healthy form of therapy" (Tweet). Archived from the original on October 29, 2024. Retrieved July 11, 2025 – via Twitter.
Primary sources
In the text, these references are preceded by a double dagger (‡):
- ^ Ackerman, Richard [@redeemed_zoomer] (April 17, 2025). "No, just part Italian and part Jewish" (Tweet). Retrieved July 11, 2025 – via Twitter.[non-primary source needed]
- ^ a b "Anna & Richard". TheKnot.com. Anna and Richard Wedding. Archived from the original on June 10, 2025.[non-primary source needed]
- ^ Ackerman, Richard [@redeemed_zoomer] (May 15, 2025). "RZ's graduation" (Tweet) – via Twitter.[non-primary source needed]
- ^ O’ Connor, Alex (February 17, 2024). "Every Argument For Atheism". YouTube.com.
- ^ "Operation Reconquista About Us". Operation Reconquista. Retrieved July 9, 2024.[non-primary source needed]
- ^ Ackerman, Richard [@redeemed_zoomer] (July 3, 2024). "The American government should be secular with christian values" (Tweet). Archived from the original on July 21, 2025. Retrieved July 21, 2025 – via Twitter.
- ^ Ackerman, Richard [@redeemed_zoomer] (May 16, 2024). "I'm ethnically Jewish. I used to be a Zionist cuz I idolized my heritage as many New Testament Jewish Christians did. It was a hard pill to swallow to realize the Jews aren't the chosen people, but I had to admit it's Biblical. Israel is in rebellion against God" (Tweet). Archived from the original on August 25, 2024. Retrieved July 11, 2025 – via Twitter.
- ^ Ackerman, Richard [@redeemed_zoomer] (April 26, 2024). "Women who get abortions are murderers and must be legally treated as such" (Tweet). Archived from the original on October 29, 2024. Retrieved July 11, 2025 – via Twitter.
- ^ Ackerman, Richard [@redeemed_zoomer] (December 20, 2023). "What's your most conservative and most liberal take? I'll start: / Liberal: climate change is real and it's a problem / Conservative: Uganda is doing nothing wrong regarding LGBT" (Tweet). Archived from the original on August 25, 2024 – via Twitter.
- ^ Ackerman, Richard [@redeemed_zoomer] (February 13, 2024). "I've said many times I'm a never-Trumper. Trump is WAY too pro-gay and pro-abortion for me" (Tweet). Archived from the original on October 29, 2024. Retrieved July 11, 2025 – via Twitter.
- ^ Ackerman, Richard [@redeemed_zoomer] (July 21, 2025). "I had an edgy rightwing stage a few years ago but got over it after seeing the rotten fruits of those extremist internet circles" (Tweet). Archived from the original on July 21, 2025. Retrieved July 21, 2025 – via Twitter.