Redeemed Zoomer

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)​ [citation needed]
Website	redeemedzoomer.com
YouTube information
Channel	Redeemed Zoomer
Years active	2020–present
Genre	Christian theology
Subscribers	590,000+[2]
Views	82 million[2]
Associated acts	Creating Operation Reconquista
Creator Awards 100,000 subscribers 2023
Last updated: August 9, 2025

Biography

Richard 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

Redeemed 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

Ackerman 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

Ackerman 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 stated that "Jews aren't the chosen people". He formerly identified as a Zionist, but no longer supports Israel.^{[‡ 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

After starting university, Ackerman met his future spouse, Anna Marburger, for the first time in July 2020. Ackerman married Marburger in August 2024.^{[‡ 2]}