Where I’ll be this fall … hope to see you!
LaCross, Wisconsin, Franciscan Spirituality Center Retreat - September 22-23 - Retreatants will be in person. I'll be Zooming in live. Information here: https://fsc.retreatportal.com/events/f?p=EVENTS:2:::::P0_EMBED,PROGRAM_ID:0,7127
Orlando, Florida, TheoEd - September 24 - In person and livestream: https://www.theoed.com/attend
Denver, Colorado, Contemplative Outreach of Colorado - In person and livestream. October 7.: https://www.centeringprayer.net/BrianMcLaren
Sacramento, CA - Bread of Life Center - online event (via Zoom), October 14: https://www.breadoflife.org/brian-mclaren
Nashville, TN - Convergence Music Project: https://www.cmpconverging.com/
Summit, NJ - Christ Church - December 10 - https://www.christchurchsummit.org/
St. Simon's Island, GA - Southern Lights! - January 12-14, 2024 - https://southernlightsconference.com/
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A Reader Writes: More Hopeful about the church than I have been in a long time …
Thank you. I’m about 2/3 of the way through your book A New Kind of Christian and deeply appreciative of how you’ve put together a lot of pieces and helped me process my increasing disconnect with our particular church and a parachurch ministry with which I serve. I’m blessed to have a husband who understood a lot of what you’re saying before I did, but you’re more gifted with the gracious side of truth telling.Your take has allowed me to pull back and see a bigger picture where I was zooming in and mostly sitting in unspoken (sinful) criticism/judgement before.
When finished, I will tuck this book in our pastor’s mailbox with no expectations- just to say I thought it was important and helpful.With no particular predictions, I’m more hopeful now about God’s Church than I have been in a long time, and that’s exciting!
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A Reader Writes: The Book I have Been Waiting for Since 1998
Hey Brian, "Everything Must Change" is the book I have waiting for since 1998 when I first became serious about following Jesus. I kept asking the question “why aren’t Christian communities teaching us to follow the teachings of Jesus?”. Every community I engaged with was fine with worshiping Jesus but when I asked questions about his teachings concerning the Sermon on the Mount, the answers were, “it’s impossible”, “he did not mean it”, "he was just showing us how sinful we are”,…etc. But I could never get on board with those answers, so I have felt like an outsider in my own community(s) Methodist, Catholic, baptist, Presbyterian, Non-Denominational. See I’ve personally encountered the Love of God through Jesus and I don’t recognize the Jesus taught in popular culture or mainstream denomination's, they all find ways to dismiss the Gospel teachings, Paul and [other parts of the Bible] seem to dominate the conversations and the pastors seem more popular that Jesus (it really disconcerting). My hunger for more teachings on Jesus led me to Richard Rohr, Rob Bell, John Pavlovitz and now you Sir. I think your book is brilliant, I have almost highlighted the entire book. It is prophetic: you call out the “powers that be”, structural and individual and then you counter the dominant narrative with the teachings of Jesus - the Jesus I recognize, the Jesus I encountered in 1998, the Jesus I have been following all these years, the Jesus who told us to build our life foundation on his teachings. Thank you.
It took me awhile to finish the book because I would have to stop and re-read certain points- and say to myself “he’s right, why don’t more people get this”. You connected a lot of dots for me, you put word to what I knew but could not articulate. After the first reading, I was perplexed as to why this book is not standard reading for all Christians, but then I realized that messages that shake up the status quo and hold up a mirror for a society blinded by power, prosperity and possessions will never be popular. I prophet is never popular in his/her own culture.
Again I just want to say thank you for letting Jesus use you like that. You book is a gift, a light in the world, salt to the earth.
Thanks for these encouraging words! It's hard to believe that Everything Must Change came out over 16 years ago ...
My next book will be a kind of sequel to Everything Must Change. It will be out in May of 2024, and is called Life After Doom: Coming Together When Worlds Fall Apart. You'll find information here: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250893277/life-after-doom
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Our New Children’s Book! Order now – ships mid-October
My coauthor Gareth Higgins and I are happy to announce that Cory and the Seventh Story will be available in October!
Here's the book's description:
A beautifully illustrated children’s book that shows us all how to find a new way forward in a world that can be scary for kids and adults alike, from the acclaimed author of Faith After Doubt and the beloved storyteller behind How Not to be Afraid.
Cory the raccoon and Cory’s best friend Owl love their happy, peaceful village and want to keep it that way. But things begin to change for the worse when some of their neighbors, including Badger, Fox, and Weasel, become fierce and angry critters who fight and bully others in the village, driving away those who they deem "dirty and bad."
It breaks Cory and Owl's hearts to see their village filled with anger, fear, and fighting -- but what can they do? A wise visitor named Switfhorse arrives and helps Cory and Owl understand six old stories that explain what is happening:
The story of power to dominate,
the story of striking back with fury and hate,
the story of running to find a safe place,
or pointing at others to shame and disgrace,
or being stuck in self-pity for the pain we’ve been through,
or of me having more Shiny Objects than you.
Finally, Cory and Owl find a way to reunite all of the villagers through a new story—the seventh story—where the story is peace and the hero is love! Children and parents alike will delight in this hope-filled tale that teaches us how we can all extend peace, love, and laughter to everyone we meet.
Many of you may have enjoyed the self-published version that came out several years ago. The new edition, from Penguin Random House, is a bit shorter and has new illustrations. We think you'll love it ... whatever your age.
Here's ordering information: https://sites.prh.com/cory-and-the-seventh-story
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A Major Announcement and Request for Help
Greetings, friends ...
As I make my way through my sixties, I've been thinking (as many people my age do) about what I hope to contribute in my "third act," as Bill McKibben puts it. One of my longstanding hopes has been to contribute to the development of a progressive Christian campus ministry. Many of us were helped greatly by Evangelical campus ministries at a critical point in our lives. But most of these Evangelical groups have taken a hard right turn in recent years. Mainline Protestants and Progressive Catholics have tended to do their important work overshadowed by conservative (anti-gay and silent-on-social-injustice) Christian groups. As a result, many progressive campus ministries have been underfunded, hidden, and/or disappearing at this time when they are so greatly needed.
So over the last year or so, Jim Burklo and I have been dreaming up a new campus ministry network, one that could help deconstructing and post-Evangelicals, progressive Mainliners and Catholics, and spiritually seeking students with or without a religious background.
Amazing people, including progressive Christian college students, have come together. Progressive Christians Uniting, a California nonprofit started by Dr. John Cobb and others, have graciously welcomed us in. Creativity has flowed. So I'd like to announce that something new is being born: ZOE: PROGRESSIVE CHRISTIAN LIFE ON CAMPUS.
Here's the basic information:
ZOE is a new global network of students and campus ministry organizations supported by Progressive Christians Uniting.
Today, there is a massive exodus of young people from evangelical and fundamentalist Christianity. They are disgusted with the backward social, theological, and political orientation of their churches and campus ministries. If a viable alternative form of the faith was visible and available to them, many would be attracted to it.
Students at colleges and universities have trouble distinguishing progressive Christian organizations at colleges and universities from evangelical/fundamentalist ones. Progressive campus ministries, many connected to Protestant denominations, exist on some campuses, but they are not branded in a manner intelligible to students. Denominational identities are meaningless for most of them. They can’t spell “Presbyterian”, and they think “Methodist” might be a chiropractic treatment! And the denominational networks include both progressive and evangelical chapters.
ZOE is addressing this problem by offering progressive campus ministries increased visibility and the support they need to attract students.
ZOE is unabashedly progressive. We follow Jesus’ way of radical compassion. We cherish the Christian tradition of contemplative spirituality. We take the Bible seriously because we don’t have to take it literally. We’re fully affirming of LGBTQI+ sexuality and same-sex marriage. We’re pro-science, pro-common-sense, and engaged in the struggle for social justice -- racial, environmental and economic.
ZOE is a lively network of networks - bringing together into one community, online and in person, students and campus ministry leaders. ZOE supports ministries in denominational networks by providing a platform that extends their visibility to students around the world. And ZOE offers program resources, online groups and classes, and fellowship events for students and campus ministry leaders.
We are organizing a global online community of students – in support of existing and new campus organizations. We aim to engage students directly with lively social media and online events where they can interact with each other, giving them a sense of belonging to a global movement. Through this online student community, we intend to organize new in-person student-led ZOE “pods” and professionally-led ministries on campuses where presently there are none.
Becoming a ZOE campus ministry is simple. If a campus ministry or group fits our understanding of progressive Christianity, is willing to add/link ZOE in its public identity, and will encourage students and leaders to participate in ZOE's online community, it’s in! No dues or fees are required. Unlike evangelical ministries that have financial control of their chapters on campuses, ZOE is a “flat” organization – a voluntary confederation of self-governing ministries.
ZOE began to take shape in 2022, under the sponsorship of Progressive Christians Uniting (PCU), a nonprofit organization with nearly 25 years of activism, primarily in southern California. ZOE was initiated by Brian McLaren, noted author, speaker, teacher with the Center for Action and Contemplation, and activist, and Jim Burklo, retired Senior Associate Dean of Religious and Spiritual Life at the University of Southern California. Jim now serves as the unpaid, volunteer Executive Director of PCU. Brian serves on the PCU/ZOE board of directors.
ZOE now has over sixty affiliated campus ministries and is actively recruiting more. About 200 campus ministry leaders receive ZOE’s weekly e-news, with resources, program ideas, and sharing of best practices. ZOE’s website has a rich collection of practical resources for campus ministries – for study, activism, recruitment, and leadership. In the works now is an online “community platform” where students and campus ministers can take classes, meet together, and carry on dialogue about specific issues and concerns.
Here's how I hope you can help:
- If you know progressive Christian college students, campus ministers, and faculty, please tell them about ZOE! You can share these links with them: https://www.zoeoncampus.com/, https://www.instagram.com/zoeprogchristlife/
You can also send us their name, email, and college/university, and we'll direct them to the nearest ZOE progressive campus group: zoeprogressivechristianlife@gmail.com
NOTE FROM BRIAN:
I'm an enthusiastic financial supporter of ZOE. I hope you'll join me. Here's my ask: would you choose an amount you'd like to start donating monthly to ZOE, maybe $10, $25, $50, $100 or more? (One time donations are OK too - but monthly donations give us a lot more stability for planning.) Here's where to donate: https://www.zoeoncampus.com/donate
I'm also volunteering with ZOE. For me, it will mean creating resources and spreading the word, as I'm doing now. For you, it might mean sharing this information widely, becoming a volunteer with a ZOE campus community near you, helping with promotion online, helping develop resources for students, etc. If you'd like to donate some time, would you contact zoeprogressivechristianlife@gmail.com?
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