Contributors
Who We Are
Living the Questions 2.0
Nancy Ammerman
Professor of Sociology of Religion at Boston University School of Theology and author of Congregation and Community and Sacred Stories, Spiritual Tribes: Finding Religion in Everyday Life. (Photo by Jackie Ricciardi for Boston University Photography)
John Bell
Born in Kilmarnock, Scotland. He matriculated in both Arts and Theology at Glasgow University where he was elected President of the Students' Representative Council and Lord Rector of the University. Ordained by the Presbytery of Glasgow in 1978, his first appointments were in youth work. Since 1987 he has been employed by the Iona Community as a resource worker in the areas of spirituality, liturgy and social justice. With his colleagues in the Wild Goose Resource Group he has published over thirty volumes of hymns, anthems and liturgical material. He lectures and teaches across the globe and is the recipient of a number of honorary awards including two fellowships and a doctorate.
Marcus Borg
(1942–2015) was among the most widely known and influential voices in progressive Christianity. He was the Hundere Distinguished Professor of Religion and Culture at Oregon State University and canon theologian at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Portland. His books have sold over a million copies, including the bestselling Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time, Reading the Bible Again for the First Time, Jesus, The Heart of Christianity, Evolution of the Word, Speaking Christian, and Convictions. His work has been translated into eleven languages. The Marcus J. Borg Foundation marcusjborg.org is a repository of his work and the continuing conversation he so deeply engaged.
Rita Nakashima Brock
Founding Co-Director of Faith Voices for the Common Good (www.faithvoices.org), an organization dedicated to creating a nationwide community of conscience and a visiting scholar at Starr King School for the Ministry at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. She is the author of the award-winning Journeys by Heart: A Christology of Erotic Power and co-author of Proverbs of Ashes: Violence, Redemptive Suffering, and The Search for What Saves Us.
Walter Brueggemann
William Marcellus McPheeters Professor Emeritus of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary. An ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, Brueggemann has authored hundreds of articles, several biblical commentaries and more than 50 books, including A Gospel of Hope, Interrupting Silence: God's Command to Speak Out , Sabbath as Resistance, The Prophetic Imagination, Genesis: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, Finally Comes the Poet, and Theology of the Old Testament.
Ron Buford
Pastor of the Congregational Church of Sunnyvale, UCC, Sunnyvale, California. Ron is the visionary behind the United Church of Christ's "God is still speaking" campaign and recently launched Racists Anonymous, a 12-step program aimed at ending racism, sexism, classism and more. He served as the coordinator and spokesman of the initiative until mid-2006 and consults with UCC conferences and churches across the nation. He is a writer, speaker, preacher, and consultant. Ron speaks and conducts workshops regularly on a national level.
Diana Butler Bass
An independent commentator on American religion and culture and a leader in progressive Christianity. Diana holds a Ph.D. in religious studies from Duke University and is the award-winning author of ten books, including Grateful: The Transformative Power of Giving Thanks, Grounded: Finding God in the World —A Spiritual Revolution, Christianity After Religion: The End of Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening, and Christianity for the Rest of Us: How the Neighborhood Church is Transforming the Faith. She regularly speaks at conferences, consults with religious organizations, leads educational events, and teaches and preaches in a variety of venues in the United States and internationally. Her bylines include The Washington Post, The New York Times Syndicate, and The Huffington Post. She has commented widely on religion, politics, and culture widely in the media including USA TODAY, Time, Newsweek, CBS, CNN, FOX, PBS, NPR, Sirius XM, and CBC.
Minerva Carcaño
Having served as an organizer of various cooperative ministries and a pastor in churches from Texas to California, Bishop Carcaño is the first Hispanic woman to be elected to the Episcopacy in the United Methodist Church. Former Director of the Mexican-American Program of Hispanic Studies at Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University, she is currently serving as the Bishop of the Desert Southwest Conference.
John Cobb
Emeritus Professor at the Claremont School of Theology and Graduate School and Founding Co-Director of the Center for Process Theology. Recipient of the Grawemeyer Award of Ideas Improving World Order, his many writings include Christ in a Pluralistic Age, God and the World, For the Common Good, and Reclaiming the Church.
John Dominic Crossan
Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies at De Paul University, John Dominic Crossan is generally acknowledged to be the premier historical Jesus scholar in the world. He has written twenty books including Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography, Who Killed Jesus? and The Birth of Christianity. A Roman Catholic monk for nineteen years and a priest for twelve years, Crossan is a former co-chair of The Jesus Seminar and chair of the Historical Jesus Section of the Society of Biblical Literature.
Yvette Flunder
Senior Pastor of City of Refuge Community Church UCC in San Francisco and Residing Bishop, Refuge Ministries/Fellowship 2000 – a multi-denominational fellowship of 50+ primarily African American Christian leaders and laity representing churches and faith-based organizations from all parts of the country and Africa. Rev. Flunder serves as Executive Director of the Ark of Refuge, Inc., and a consultant to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Congressional Black Caucus Health Brain Trust and the Department of Health and Human Services. She also serves as chair of the Social Justice Commission for the World Bishop's Council and as a member of the Board of Directors of the Justice and Witness Ministry of the United Church of Christ.
James Forbes
Senior Minister Emeritus of Riverside Church in NYC, President of the Healing of the Nations Foundation, and host of "The Time Is Now" on Air America Radio. Newsweek magazine recognized Forbes as one of the 12 "most effective preachers" in the English-speaking world (03/04/96). An ordained minister in the American Baptist Churches and the Original United Holy Church of America, he is the first African American to serve as Senior Minister of one of the largest multicultural congregations in the nation.
Matthew Fox
Founder of the University of Creation Spirituality in Oakland, California (1996), which became Wisdom University in 2005. He was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1967. Due to his controversial teachings, he was silenced (forbidden to teach) by Cardinal Ratzinger of the Holy See in 1988, and in 1992 was dismissed from the Dominican order. In 1994 he was received as an Episcopal priest. He is the author of Original Blessing, Creation Spirituality, and The Coming of the Cosmic Christ.
Lloyd Geering
holds Honours degrees in Mathematics and Old Testament Language and Literature. Ordained as a Presbyterian minister, he served in Kurow, Dunedin and Wellington. He held Chairs of Old Testament Studies at theological colleges in Brisbane and Dunedin before being appointed as the foundation Professor of Religious Studies at Victoria University of Wellington. From this he retired in 1984. His major publications include God in the New World, Resurrection - a Symbol of Hope, Faith’s New Age, In the World Today, Tomorrow’s God, The World to Come, Christianity without God, Wrestling with God, Coming back to Earth, Such is Life!, From the Big Bang to God, Reimagining God, On Me Bike, Portholes to the Past, and Witness to Change.
Hans Küng
President of the Foundation for a Global Ethic and internationally known Roman Catholic theologian. He is the author of On Being a Christian. In the late 1960s Küng became the first major Roman Catholic theologian after the late 19th century Old Catholic Church schism to reject the doctrine of papal infallibility. This resulted in Küng's license to teach as a Roman Catholic theologian to be revoked but he carried on teaching as a tenured professor of ecumenical theology at the University of Tübingen until his retirement in 1996.
Cynthia Langston Kirk
After serving many years in parish ministry and then writing, leading retreats, fabric art and more, Cynthia retired from the United Methodist Church. Her writings have included the poetry and other spiritual writings included in Living the Questions 2, Rhythm and Fire, and more. She continues her work through Piecing Stories by writing and by creating stoles for clergy from Arizona to Alaska and United Methodist bishops from Illinois to Africa.
Amy-Jill Levine
E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of New Testament Studies at Vanderbilt University Divinity School. She has held office in the Society of Biblical Literature, the Catholic Biblical Association, and the Association for Jewish Studies. Her most recent publications include The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus, the edited collection, The Historical Jesus in Context, and the fourteen-volume series, Feminist Companions to the New Testament and Early Christian Writings.
Megan McKenna
An internationally known author, theologian, storyteller and lecturer, she teaches at several colleges and universities and does retreats, workshops and parish missions. She has graduate degrees in Scripture, Adult Education and Literacy from the Graduate Theological Union and the University of California, Berkeley, and a Masters in Systematic Theology from Catholic University. She has authored more than 25 books, including Praying the Rosary, The New Stations of the Cross and The Bible Diary. She resides in Albuquerque, NM.
Brian McLaren
Speaker, pastor, and networker among innovative Christian leaders, thinkers, and activists. Author of several books including A Generous Orthodoxy, Everything Must Change and A New Kind of Christianity. He is a frequent guest on television, radio, and news media programs.
Pat McMahon
An award winning talk-show host, editorial commentator, and host of the "The McMahon Group" and "The God Show" both on KTAR radio (Phoenix, AZ). Pat's professional and personal contributions have been recognized with seven Emmys, major national and international radio awards, numerous civic, educational, religious and humanitarian awards. He is a recipient of an Honorary Doctorate from Ottawa University, the Arizona Broadcasters Lifetime Achievement Award, and is the only two-time Hall of Fame recipient of the Arizona Broadcasters Association.
Robin Meyers
An ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, a tenured professor in the philosophy department at Oklahoma City University, a syndicated columnist, an award-winning commentator for NPR and author of several books, including Saving Jesus from the Church. Senior Minister of Mayflower Congregational UCC church of Oklahoma City.
Culver "Bill" Nelson
Founding Pastor Emeritus of the Church of the Beatitudes in Phoenix (which grew into the largest church in the United Church of Christ under his leadership). A founding member of The Jesus Seminar, he serves as the editor of the Westar Institute's magazine, "The Fourth R", and is a much sought-after lecturer and speaker.
Siyoung Park
Dr. Siyoung Park is one of the core faculty members of the Center for Korean Studies at Western Illinois University and Professor of Geography. Recipient of Fulbright, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Science Foundation and numerous other grants and awards, Dr. Park's teaching and research focus on Human and Historical Geography.
Rebecca Ann Parker
Seminary President, Professor of Theology of Starr King School. She is an ordained United Methodist minister in dual fellowship with the Unitarian Universalist Association. She serves on the board of Faith Voices for the Common Good, an interfaith think-tank focused on progressive religion and politics, and is co-author of Proverbs of Ashes: Violence, Redemptive Suffering, and the Search for What Saves Us and author of a book of collected essays Blessing the World: What Can Save Us Now.
Stephen Patterson
A professor focusing on New Testament and Christian origins at Missouri's Eden Theological Seminary, he is the author of The God of Jesus: the Historical Jesus and the Search for Meaning and Beyond the Passion. He is currently working on a commentary on the Gospel of Thomas. Dr. Patterson is also a fellow of The Jesus Seminar and a contributing editor of Bible Review.
Helen Prejean
Roman Catholic Sister and leading American advocate for the abolition of the death penalty. She has ministered to numerous inmates on death row, and has authored two books based on her experiences with several inmates on death row, Dead Man Walking and The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions. Prejean bases her work at the Death Penalty Discourse Center in New Orleans.
Barbara Rossing
Professor of New Testament at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. Her publications include The Rapture Exposed: The Message of Hope in the Book of Revelation, a critique of fundamentalist "Left Behind" theology; The Choice Between Two Cities: Whore, Bride and Empire in the Apocalypse; two volumes of the New Proclamation commentary for preachers and articles and book chapters on the Apocalypse and ecology. She serves on the executive committee and council of the Lutheran World Federation, where she also chairs the Lutheran World Federation's theology and studies committee.
Tex Sample
Former Academic Dean and Emeritus Professor of Church and Society at the Saint Paul School of Theology, Sample is a freelance lecturer, workshop leader, consultant. His books include Ministry in an Oral Culture: Living with Will Rogers, Uncle Remus, and Minnie Pearl, and co-editor of The Loyal Opposition: Struggling with the Church on Homosexuality. He is currently the coordinator of the Network for the Study of U.S. Lifestyles.
Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza
Krister Stendahl Professor of Divinity at Harvard Divinity School. Her work focuses on questions of biblical, theological, and feminist epistemology, hermeneutics, rhetoric, the politics of religious/scriptural interpretation, and on issues of theological education, radical equality, and democracy. She is the co-founder and editor of the Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion and is a co-editor of Concilium. She was the first woman elected as president of the Society of Biblical Literature and has served on the editorial boards of many biblical journals and societies. Publications include Jesus and the Politics of Interpretation and Wisdom Ways: Introducing Feminist Biblical Interpretation.
Bernard Brandon Scott
Darbeth Distinguished Professor of New Testament at the Phillips Theological Seminary, University of Tulsa, OK. He is a charter member of The Jesus Seminar, co-chair of the Bible in Ancient and Modern Media Section of the Society of Biblical Literature, and a consultant to the American Bible Society experimental film translations. He is the author of several books, including Re-Imagine the World and Hear Then the Parable.
John Shelby Spong
The retired Bishop of Newark, New Jersey, Spong is a columnist and author of over fourteen books including Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism and Why Christianity Must Change or Die. Lecturer at Harvard, Humanist of the Year, and a guest on numerous national television broadcasts including The Today Show, Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher, and Larry King Live, Bishop Spong lectures around the world.
Emilie Townes
Andrew W. Mellon Professor of African American Religion and Theology at Yale Divinity in New Haven, CT. Focusing on Christian ethics, womanist ethics, critical social theory, cultural theory and studies, as well as on postmodernism and social postmodernism, she is the author of such books as Womanist Justice, Womanist Hope, and Breaking the Fine Rain of Death. Professor Townes is an ordained American Baptist clergywoman.
Rick Ufford-Chase
A border mission worker from the Southside Presbyterian Church in Tucson, Arizona. He was elected Moderator of the General Assembly of the 216th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) on June 26, 2004. Ufford-Chase was 40 years old at the time, the youngest PC (USA) moderator in recent history. Ufford-Chase founded BorderLinks, a bi-national organization that tries to connect and educate people of faith on both sides of the U.S./Mexico border. He has served BorderLinks for 17 years prior to being elected as the Presbyterian Church's moderator.
Winnie Varghese
Director of Justice and Reconciliation at Trinity Wall Street in New York. She is a blogger for the Huffington Post; author of Church Meets World; editor of What We Shall Become; and author of numerous articles and chapters on social justice and the church.
Mel White
The President and Co-Founder of Soulforce, an ecumenical network of staff and volunteers committed to teaching and applying the principles of nonviolence on behalf of sexual minorities. In 1997, he was awarded the ACLU's National Civil Liberties Award for his efforts to apply the "soul force" principles of Gandhi and King to the struggle for justice for sexual minorities. Mel is a former ghostwriter for fellow evangelicals, including Billy Graham, Pat Robertson, Jim Bakker, and Jerry Falwell. He is the author of over 16 books, including Stranger at the Gate: To Be Gay and Christian in America and Religion Gone Bad: The Hidden Dangers of the Christian Right.
Painting the Stars
Philip Clayton
Dean of Claremont School of Theology, process theologian, and author of 14 books including Adventures in the Spirit and Religion and Science: The Basics.
Michael Dowd
is a bestselling eco-theologian and pro-science, pro-future 'evangelist' whose work has been featured in The New York Times, LA Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Newsweek, Discover, and on television nationally. His book, Thank God for Evolution, was endorsed by 6 Nobel Prize-winning scientists, noted skeptics, and by religious leaders across the spectrum. Michael has delivered two TEDx talks and a program at the United Nations. He and his wife, science writer and climate activist, Connie Barlow, have spoken to some 2,500 groups across North America since 2002, including nearly 500 UU churches. Rev. Dowd has also conducted two acclaimed online conversation series: "Evolutionary Christianity" and "The Future Is Calling Us to Greatness."
Rachel Held Evans
American Christian columnist, blogger and author of Evolving in Monkeytown, A Year of Biblical Womanhood: How a Liberated Woman Found Herself Sitting on Her Roof, Covering Her Head, and Calling Her Husband Master, Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church, Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again. (Photo by Maki Garcia Evans)
Matthew Fox
Episcopal priest, early and influential exponent of Creation Spirituality, and author of many works including Original Blessing, Creation Spirituality, and The Coming of the Cosmic Christ.
Catherine Keller
George T. Cobb Professor of Constructive Theology in the Graduate Division of Religion, Drew University. Her books include From a Broken Web: Separation, Sexism and Self, Apocalypse Now & Then, God & Power, Face of the Deep: A Theology of Becoming, On the Mystery: Discerning God in Process, Cloud of the Impossible: Negative Theology and Planetary Entanglement, Intercarnations: Exercises in Theological Possibility, and Political Theology of the Earth: Our Planetary Emergency and the Struggle for a New Public. She has co-edited several volumes of the Drew Transdisciplinary Theological Colloquium, including Postcolonial Theologies, Ecospirit, Apophatic Bodies, Polydoxy, Common Good/s: Ecology, Economy and Political Theology, and Entangled Worlds: Religion, Science and the New Materialism.
Megan McKenna
An internationally known author, theologian, storyteller and lecturer. She teaches on a circuit of colleges and universities and leads retreats, workshops and parish missions.
Michael Morwood
Well-known throughout Australia, the USA and Canada for his involvement with the Progressive Christian network, Morwood is a former Catholic priest and author of Praying a New Story and Prayers For Progressive Christians.
Jan Phillips
Evolutionary thinker, mystic and author of No Ordinary Time: The Rise of Spiritual Intelligence and Evolutionary Creativity.
Barbara Rossing
Professor of New Testament at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. Her publications include The Rapture Exposed: The Message of Hope in the Book of Revelation.
Bruce Sanguin
United Church of Canada minister and author of popular books on Evolutionary Christianity including If Darwin Prayed and Darwin, Divinity, and the Dance of the Cosmos.
Bernard Brandon Scott
New Testament Professor at the Phillips Theological Seminary and author of several books including Hear Then the Parable and Re-Imagine the World.
John Shelby Spong
Retired Bishop of Newark, New Jersey, columnist, and author of twenty books including Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism and Why Christianity Must Change or Die.
Gretta Vosper
United Church of Canada minister, founder of the Canadian Centre for Progressive Christianity, and author of With or Without God: Why the Way We Live is More Important Than What We Believe and Amen: What Prayer Can Mean in a World Beyond Belief.
The Jesus Fatwah
Naser Ahmad
Naser Ahmad is the President of Ommana Foundation & CEO of NOMA Group of Companies. Ommana Foundation is a US-based Public Charity working internationally through its Community Uplift Centers with the goal of providing clean water, early childhood education, and vocational training for women. NOMA Group consists of companies that provide IT Consulting, Construction, Remodeling, Property Management & Real Estate Services.
Muna Ali
Muna Ali is a Ph.D. candidate in sociocultural anthropology at Arizona State University. Her research focuses on Islam in America and on issues of identity, intra-community relations, and civic engagement among Muslim Americans.
Sonya Brown
Sonya Brown is currently a curate in the St Philip’s parish, Leicester and was ordained deacon in July 2010. Previously to beginning training for ordination she worked as a Development Worker for the Southwark diocesan organisation Welcare. She enjoys living and learning in the very multifaith context of Leicester.
Ben Daniel
Ben Daniel is a Presbyterian minister in Oakland, California. He is a Huffington Post blogger and the author of Neighbor: Christian Encounters with “Illegal” Immigration and The Search for Truth About Islam.
Mohammad H. Fadel
Mohammad H. Fadel is Associate Professor at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. He wrote his Ph.D. dissertation on legal process in medieval Islamic law while at the University of Chicago.
Aysha Hidayatullah
Aysha Hidayatullah is Assistant Professor of Islamic studies at the University of San Francisco. Her research interests include feminist exegesis of the Qur'an; representations of women in early Islamic history; feminist methodologies in the study of Islam; and the pedagogy of Islamic studies.
Azra Hussain
is the founder and president of the Islamic Speakers Bureau of Arizona, a non-profit, apolitical, educational organization founded in 1999. As a speaker, she presents mainly on beliefs and practices, gender roles in Islam and conducts Cultural Sensitivity Training for police departments, hospital personnel, educators and corporations. Azra serves on the steering committees for the Interfaith Network of Scottsdale as well as the tri-faith Salaam Chai Paradise. Azra is one of the founders and a past Board member of the Islamic Center of the Northeast Valley. She has been recognized with the “Veora E. Johnson Spirit of Unity Award” from the East Valley Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Committee and the “FBI Director’s Community Leadership Award” from the Phoenix division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Hans Küng
Hans Küng is a Swiss Catholic priest, theologian, and author. Since 1995 he has been President of the Foundation for a Global Ethic. He is author of many books, including On Being a Christian and Islam: Past, Present and Future.
Brian McLaren
Brian McLaren is a prominent Christian pastor, author, activist and speaker and leading figure in the emerging church movement. He is author of many books, including Why Did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road? Christian Identity in a Multi-Faith World and A New Kind of Christianity.
Zarinah Nadir
Zarinah Nadir is an attorney in private practice and serves on the board of the Islamic Social Services Association-USA. For over fifteen years, she has been a dedicated grassroots community organizer particularly concerned with cultural sensitivity, youth empowerment, and women’s rights.
Rami Nashashibi
Rami Nashashibi has served as the Executive Directhor of the Inner-City Muslim Action Network (IMAN) since its incorporation as a nonprofit in January 1997. He has a PhD in Sociology from the University of Chicago and has lectured across the United States, Europe, and Asia on a range of topics related to American Muslim identity, community activism and social justice issues, and is a recipient of several prestigious community service and organizing honors. His work with IMAN have been featured on many national and international media outlets including the BBC, PBS and the Chicago Tribune.
Eboo Patel
Named by US News & World Report as one of America’s Best Leaders of 2009, Eboo Patel is the founder and Executive Director of Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC), a Chicago-based institution building the global interfaith youth movement. Author of the award-winning book Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, he is also a regular contributor to the Washington Post, National Public Radio and CNN. He holds a doctorate in the sociology of religion from Oxford University.
Stephen Prothero
Stephen Prothero is a professor in the Department of Religion at Boston University and the author of numerous books, including God is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World--and Why Their Differences Matter and the New York Times bestseller Religious Literacy: What Americans Need to Know. He has commented on religion on dozens of National Public Radio programs, and on television on CNN, NBC, MSNBC, FOX, and PBS. He was also a guest on "The Daily Show" with Jon Stewart, "The Colbert Report," and "The Oprah Winfrey Show."
Alan Race
Alan Race is dean of postgraduate studies at St. Philip's Centre and priest of St. Philip's Church, Leicester. He is author of Interfaith Encounter.
Feisal Abdul Rauf
Feisal Abdul Rauf is an American Sufi imam, author, activist and public intellectual whose stated goal is to improve relations between the Muslim world and the West. Author of What's Right with Islam Is What's Right with America, Imam Rauf received national attention for his plans to build Park51, an Islamic Community Center, two blocks from Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan.
Samir Selmanovic
Samir Selmanovic is a Christian minister who is known particularly for his work in interfaith dialogue. He is the founder of "Faith House Manhattan,” an interfaith community of Christians, Muslims, Jews and humanists/atheists. He also leads a Christian community named "Citylights," and serves on the Interfaith Relations Commission of the United States National Council on Churches. He is author of It's Really All About God: Reflections of a Muslim Atheist Jewish Christian.
Mark Toulouse
Mark Toulouse is Professor of the History of Christianity and Principal of Emmanuel College, Toronto, where he developed a Muslim Studies program. He completed his PhD at the University of Chicago.
Saving Jesus
Diana Butler Bass
An independent commentator on American religion and culture and a leader in progressive Christianity. Diana holds a Ph.D. in religious studies from Duke University and is the award-winning author of ten books, including Grateful: The Transformative Power of Giving Thanks, Grounded: Finding God in the World —A Spiritual Revolution, Christianity After Religion: The End of Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening, and Christianity for the Rest of Us: How the Neighborhood Church is Transforming the Faith. She regularly speaks at conferences, consults with religious organizations, leads educational events, and teaches and preaches in a variety of venues in the United States and internationally. Her bylines include The Washington Post, The New York Times Syndicate, and The Huffington Post. She has commented widely on religion, politics, and culture widely in the media including USA TODAY, Time, Newsweek, CBS, CNN, FOX, PBS, NPR, Sirius XM, and CBC.
Marcus Borg
(1942–2015) was among the most widely known and influential voices in progressive Christianity. He was the Hundere Distinguished Professor of Religion and Culture at Oregon State University and canon theologian at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Portland. His books have sold over a million copies, including the bestselling Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time, Reading the Bible Again for the First Time, Jesus, The Heart of Christianity, Evolution of the Word, Speaking Christian, and Convictions. His work has been translated into eleven languages. The Marcus J. Borg Foundation marcusjborg.org is a repository of his work and the continuing conversation he so deeply engaged.
Rita Nakashima Brock
Founding Co-Director of Faith Voices for the Common Good (www.faithvoices.org), an organization dedicated to creating a nationwide community of conscience and a visiting scholar at Starr King School for the Ministry at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. She is the author of the award-winning Journeys by Heart: A Christology of Erotic Power and co-author of Proverbs of Ashes: Violence, Redemptive Suffering, and The Search for What Saves Us.
Walter Brueggemann
William Marcellus McPheeters Professor Emeritus of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary. An ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, Brueggemann has authored hundreds of articles, several biblical commentaries and more than 50 books, including A Gospel of Hope, Interrupting Silence: God's Command to Speak Out , Sabbath as Resistance, The Prophetic Imagination, Genesis: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, Finally Comes the Poet, and Theology of the Old Testament.
Ron Buford
Pastor of the Congregational Church of Sunnyvale, UCC, Sunnyvale, California. Ron is the visionary behind the United Church of Christ's "God is still speaking" campaign and recently launched Racists Anonymous, a 12-step program aimed at ending racism, sexism, classism and more. He served as the coordinator and spokesman of the initiative until mid-2006 and consults with UCC conferences and churches across the nation. He is a writer, speaker, preacher, and consultant. Ron speaks and conducts workshops regularly on a national level.
Minerva Carcaño
Having served as an organizer of various cooperative ministries and a pastor in churches from Texas to California, Bishop Carcaño is the first Hispanic woman to be elected to the Episcopacy in the United Methodist Church. Former Director of the Mexican-American Program of Hispanic Studies at Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University, she is currently serving as the Bishop of the Desert Southwest Conference.
John Cobb
Emeritus Professor at the Claremont School of Theology and Graduate School and Founding Co-Director of the Center for Process Theology. Recipient of the Grawemeyer Award of Ideas Improving World Order, his many writings include Christ in a Pluralistic Age, God and the World, For the Common Good, and Reclaiming the Church.
John Dominic Crossan
Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies at De Paul University, John Dominic Crossan is generally acknowledged to be the premier historical Jesus scholar in the world. He has written twenty books including Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography, Who Killed Jesus? and The Birth of Christianity. A Roman Catholic monk for nineteen years and a priest for twelve years, Crossan is a former co-chair of The Jesus Seminar and chair of the Historical Jesus Section of the Society of Biblical Literature.
Yvette Flunder
Senior Pastor of City of Refuge Community Church UCC in San Francisco and Residing Bishop, Refuge Ministries/Fellowship 2000 – a multi-denominational fellowship of 50+ primarily African American Christian leaders and laity representing churches and faith-based organizations from all parts of the country and Africa. Rev. Flunder serves as Executive Director of the Ark of Refuge, Inc., and a consultant to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Congressional Black Caucus Health Brain Trust and the Department of Health and Human Services. She also serves as chair of the Social Justice Commission for the World Bishop's Council and as a member of the Board of Directors of the Justice and Witness Ministry of the United Church of Christ.
James Forbes
Senior Minister Emeritus of Riverside Church in NYC, President of the Healing of the Nations Foundation, and host of "The Time Is Now" on Air America Radio. Newsweek magazine recognized Forbes as one of the 12 "most effective preachers" in the English-speaking world (03/04/96). An ordained minister in the American Baptist Churches and the Original United Holy Church of America, he is the first African American to serve as Senior Minister of one of the largest multicultural congregations in the nation.
Matthew Fox
Founder of the University of Creation Spirituality in Oakland, California (1996), which became Wisdom University in 2005. He was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1967. Due to his controversial teachings, he was silenced (forbidden to teach) by Cardinal Ratzinger of the Holy See in 1988, and in 1992 was dismissed from the Dominican order. In 1994 he was received as an Episcopal priest. He is the author of Original Blessing, Creation Spirituality, and The Coming of the Cosmic Christ.
Lloyd Geering
holds Honours degrees in Mathematics and Old Testament Language and Literature. Ordained as a Presbyterian minister, he served in Kurow, Dunedin and Wellington. He held Chairs of Old Testament Studies at theological colleges in Brisbane and Dunedin before being appointed as the foundation Professor of Religious Studies at Victoria University of Wellington. From this he retired in 1984. His major publications include God in the New World, Resurrection - a Symbol of Hope, Faith’s New Age, In the World Today, Tomorrow’s God, The World to Come, Christianity without God, Wrestling with God, Coming back to Earth, Such is Life!, From the Big Bang to God, Reimagining God, On Me Bike, Portholes to the Past, and Witness to Change.
Amy-Jill Levine
E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of New Testament Studies at Vanderbilt University Divinity School. She has held office in the Society of Biblical Literature, the Catholic Biblical Association, and the Association for Jewish Studies. Her most recent publications include The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus, the edited collection, The Historical Jesus in Context, and the fourteen-volume series, Feminist Companions to the New Testament and Early Christian Writings.
Brian McLaren
Speaker, pastor, and networker among innovative Christian leaders, thinkers, and activists. Author of several books including A Generous Orthodoxy, Everything Must Change and A New Kind of Christianity. He is a frequent guest on television, radio, and news media programs.
Robin Meyers
An ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, a tenured professor in the philosophy department at Oklahoma City University, a syndicated columnist, an award-winning commentator for NPR and author of several books, including Saving Jesus from the Church. Senior Minister of Mayflower Congregational UCC church of Oklahoma City.
Pat McMahon
An award winning talk-show host, editorial commentator, and host of the "The McMahon Group" and "The God Show" both on KTAR radio (Phoenix, AZ). Pat's professional and personal contributions have been recognized with seven Emmys, major national and international radio awards, numerous civic, educational, religious and humanitarian awards. He is a recipient of an Honorary Doctorate from Ottawa University, the Arizona Broadcasters Lifetime Achievement Award, and is the only two-time Hall of Fame recipient of the Arizona Broadcasters Association.
Culver "Bill" Nelson
Founding Pastor Emeritus of the Church of the Beatitudes in Phoenix (which grew into the largest church in the United Church of Christ under his leadership). A founding member of The Jesus Seminar, he serves as the editor of the Westar Institute's magazine, "The Fourth R", and is a much sought-after lecturer and speaker.
Rebecca Ann Parker
Seminary President, Professor of Theology of Starr King School. She is an ordained United Methodist minister in dual fellowship with the Unitarian Universalist Association. She serves on the board of Faith Voices for the Common Good, an interfaith think-tank focused on progressive religion and politics, and is co-author of Proverbs of Ashes: Violence, Redemptive Suffering, and the Search for What Saves Us and author of a book of collected essays Blessing the World: What Can Save Us Now.
Stephen Patterson
A professor focusing on New Testament and Christian origins at Missouri's Eden Theological Seminary, he is the author of The God of Jesus: the Historical Jesus and the Search for Meaning and Beyond the Passion. He is currently working on a commentary on the Gospel of Thomas. Dr. Patterson is also a fellow of The Jesus Seminar and a contributing editor of Bible Review.
Helen Prejean
Roman Catholic Sister and leading American advocate for the abolition of the death penalty. She has ministered to numerous inmates on death row, and has authored two books based on her experiences with several inmates on death row, Dead Man Walking and The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions. Prejean bases her work at the Death Penalty Discourse Center in New Orleans.
Tex Sample
Former Academic Dean and Emeritus Professor of Church and Society at the Saint Paul School of Theology, Sample is a freelance lecturer, workshop leader, consultant. His books include Ministry in an Oral Culture: Living with Will Rogers, Uncle Remus, and Minnie Pearl, and co-editor of The Loyal Opposition: Struggling with the Church on Homosexuality. He is currently the coordinator of the Network for the Study of U.S. Lifestyles.
Bernard Brandon Scott
Darbeth Distinguished Professor of New Testament at the Phillips Theological Seminary, University of Tulsa, OK. He is a charter member of The Jesus Seminar, co-chair of the Bible in Ancient and Modern Media Section of the Society of Biblical Literature, and a consultant to the American Bible Society experimental film translations. He is the author of several books, including Re-Imagine the World and Hear Then the Parable.
John Shelby Spong
The retired Bishop of Newark, New Jersey, Spong is a columnist and author of over fourteen books including Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism and Why Christianity Must Change or Die. Lecturer at Harvard, Humanist of the Year, and a guest on numerous national television broadcasts including The Today Show, Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher, and Larry King Live, Bishop Spong lectures around the world.
Dave Tomlinson
Anglican vicar of St. Lukes in North London, former leader of the House Church movement in England and author of several books, including The Post Evangelical and Re-Enchanting Christianity.
Emilie Townes
Andrew W. Mellon Professor of African American Religion and Theology at Yale Divinity in New Haven, CT. Focusing on Christian ethics, womanist ethics, critical social theory, cultural theory and studies, as well as on postmodernism and social postmodernism, she is the author of such books as Womanist Justice, Womanist Hope, and Breaking the Fine Rain of Death. Professor Townes is an ordained American Baptist clergywoman.
Winnie Varghese
Director of Justice and Reconciliation at Trinity Wall Street in New York. She is a blogger for the Huffington Post; author of Church Meets World; editor of What We Shall Become; and author of numerous articles and chapters on social justice and the church.
DreamThinkBeDo
Nancy Ammerman
Professor of Sociology of Religion at Boston University School of Theology and author of Congregation and Community and Sacred Stories, Spiritual Tribes: Finding Religion in Everyday Life. (Photo by Jackie Ricciardi for Boston University Photography)
John Bell
Born in Kilmarnock, Scotland. He matriculated in both Arts and Theology at Glasgow University where he was elected President of the Students' Representative Council and Lord Rector of the University. Ordained by the Presbytery of Glasgow in 1978, his first appointments were in youth work. Since 1987 he has been employed by the Iona Community as a resource worker in the areas of spirituality, liturgy and social justice. With his colleagues in the Wild Goose Resource Group he has published over thirty volumes of hymns, anthems and liturgical material. He lectures and teaches across the globe and is the recipient of a number of honorary awards including two fellowships and a doctorate.
Marcus Borg
(1942–2015) was among the most widely known and influential voices in progressive Christianity. He was the Hundere Distinguished Professor of Religion and Culture at Oregon State University and canon theologian at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Portland. His books have sold over a million copies, including the bestselling Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time, Reading the Bible Again for the First Time, Jesus, The Heart of Christianity, Evolution of the Word, Speaking Christian, and Convictions. His work has been translated into eleven languages. The Marcus J. Borg Foundation marcusjborg.org is a repository of his work and the continuing conversation he so deeply engaged.
Rita Nakashima Brock
Founding Co-Director of Faith Voices for the Common Good (www.faithvoices.org), an organization dedicated to creating a nationwide community of conscience and a visiting scholar at Starr King School for the Ministry at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. She is the author of the award-winning Journeys by Heart: A Christology of Erotic Power and co-author of Proverbs of Ashes: Violence, Redemptive Suffering, and The Search for What Saves Us.
Walter Brueggemann
William Marcellus McPheeters Professor Emeritus of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary. An ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, Brueggemann has authored hundreds of articles, several biblical commentaries and more than 50 books, including A Gospel of Hope, Interrupting Silence: God's Command to Speak Out , Sabbath as Resistance, The Prophetic Imagination, Genesis: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, Finally Comes the Poet, and Theology of the Old Testament.
Ron Buford
Pastor of the Congregational Church of Sunnyvale, UCC, Sunnyvale, California. Ron is the visionary behind the United Church of Christ's "God is still speaking" campaign and recently launched Racists Anonymous, a 12-step program aimed at ending racism, sexism, classism and more. He served as the coordinator and spokesman of the initiative until mid-2006 and consults with UCC conferences and churches across the nation. He is a writer, speaker, preacher, and consultant. Ron speaks and conducts workshops regularly on a national level.
Minerva Carcaño
Having served as an organizer of various cooperative ministries and a pastor in churches from Texas to California, Bishop Carcaño is the first Hispanic woman to be elected to the Episcopacy in the United Methodist Church. Former Director of the Mexican-American Program of Hispanic Studies at Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University, she is currently serving as the Bishop of the Desert Southwest Conference.
John Cobb
Emeritus Professor at the Claremont School of Theology and Graduate School and Founding Co-Director of the Center for Process Theology. Recipient of the Grawemeyer Award of Ideas Improving World Order, his many writings include Christ in a Pluralistic Age, God and the World, For the Common Good, and Reclaiming the Church.
John Dominic Crossan
Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies at De Paul University, John Dominic Crossan is generally acknowledged to be the premier historical Jesus scholar in the world. He has written twenty books including Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography, Who Killed Jesus? and The Birth of Christianity. A Roman Catholic monk for nineteen years and a priest for twelve years, Crossan is a former co-chair of The Jesus Seminar and chair of the Historical Jesus Section of the Society of Biblical Literature.
Yvette Flunder
Senior Pastor of City of Refuge Community Church UCC in San Francisco and Residing Bishop, Refuge Ministries/Fellowship 2000 – a multi-denominational fellowship of 50+ primarily African American Christian leaders and laity representing churches and faith-based organizations from all parts of the country and Africa. Rev. Flunder serves as Executive Director of the Ark of Refuge, Inc., and a consultant to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Congressional Black Caucus Health Brain Trust and the Department of Health and Human Services. She also serves as chair of the Social Justice Commission for the World Bishop's Council and as a member of the Board of Directors of the Justice and Witness Ministry of the United Church of Christ.
James Forbes
Senior Minister Emeritus of Riverside Church in NYC, President of the Healing of the Nations Foundation, and host of "The Time Is Now" on Air America Radio. Newsweek magazine recognized Forbes as one of the 12 "most effective preachers" in the English-speaking world (03/04/96). An ordained minister in the American Baptist Churches and the Original United Holy Church of America, he is the first African American to serve as Senior Minister of one of the largest multicultural congregations in the nation.
Matthew Fox
Founder of the University of Creation Spirituality in Oakland, California (1996), which became Wisdom University in 2005. He was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1967. Due to his controversial teachings, he was silenced (forbidden to teach) by Cardinal Ratzinger of the Holy See in 1988, and in 1992 was dismissed from the Dominican order. In 1994 he was received as an Episcopal priest. He is the author of Original Blessing, Creation Spirituality, and The Coming of the Cosmic Christ.
Lloyd Geering
holds Honours degrees in Mathematics and Old Testament Language and Literature. Ordained as a Presbyterian minister, he served in Kurow, Dunedin and Wellington. He held Chairs of Old Testament Studies at theological colleges in Brisbane and Dunedin before being appointed as the foundation Professor of Religious Studies at Victoria University of Wellington. From this he retired in 1984. His major publications include God in the New World, Resurrection - a Symbol of Hope, Faith’s New Age, In the World Today, Tomorrow’s God, The World to Come, Christianity without God, Wrestling with God, Coming back to Earth, Such is Life!, From the Big Bang to God, Reimagining God, On Me Bike, Portholes to the Past, and Witness to Change.
Amy-Jill Levine
E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of New Testament Studies at Vanderbilt University Divinity School. She has held office in the Society of Biblical Literature, the Catholic Biblical Association, and the Association for Jewish Studies. Her most recent publications include The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus, the edited collection, The Historical Jesus in Context, and the fourteen-volume series, Feminist Companions to the New Testament and Early Christian Writings.
Megan McKenna
An internationally known author, theologian, storyteller and lecturer, she teaches at several colleges and universities and does retreats, workshops and parish missions. She has graduate degrees in Scripture, Adult Education and Literacy from the Graduate Theological Union and the University of California, Berkeley, and a Masters in Systematic Theology from Catholic University. She has authored more than 25 books, including Praying the Rosary, The New Stations of the Cross and The Bible Diary. She resides in Albuquerque, NM.
Pat McMahon
An award winning talk-show host, editorial commentator, and host of the "The McMahon Group" and "The God Show" both on KTAR radio (Phoenix, AZ). Pat's professional and personal contributions have been recognized with seven Emmys, major national and international radio awards, numerous civic, educational, religious and humanitarian awards. He is a recipient of an Honorary Doctorate from Ottawa University, the Arizona Broadcasters Lifetime Achievement Award, and is the only two-time Hall of Fame recipient of the Arizona Broadcasters Association.
Culver "Bill" Nelson
Founding Pastor Emeritus of the Church of the Beatitudes in Phoenix (which grew into the largest church in the United Church of Christ under his leadership). A founding member of The Jesus Seminar, he serves as the editor of the Westar Institute's magazine, "The Fourth R", and is a much sought-after lecturer and speaker.
Rebecca Ann Parker
Seminary President, Professor of Theology of Starr King School. She is an ordained United Methodist minister in dual fellowship with the Unitarian Universalist Association. She serves on the board of Faith Voices for the Common Good, an interfaith think-tank focused on progressive religion and politics, and is co-author of Proverbs of Ashes: Violence, Redemptive Suffering, and the Search for What Saves Us and author of a book of collected essays Blessing the World: What Can Save Us Now.
Stephen Patterson
A professor focusing on New Testament and Christian origins at Missouri's Eden Theological Seminary, he is the author of The God of Jesus: the Historical Jesus and the Search for Meaning and Beyond the Passion. He is currently working on a commentary on the Gospel of Thomas. Dr. Patterson is also a fellow of The Jesus Seminar and a contributing editor of Bible Review.
Helen Prejean
Roman Catholic Sister and leading American advocate for the abolition of the death penalty. She has ministered to numerous inmates on death row, and has authored two books based on her experiences with several inmates on death row, Dead Man Walking and The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions. Prejean bases her work at the Death Penalty Discourse Center in New Orleans.
Barbara Rossing
Professor of New Testament at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. Her publications include The Rapture Exposed: The Message of Hope in the Book of Revelation, a critique of fundamentalist "Left Behind" theology; The Choice Between Two Cities: Whore, Bride and Empire in the Apocalypse; two volumes of the New Proclamation commentary for preachers and articles and book chapters on the Apocalypse and ecology. She serves on the executive committee and council of the Lutheran World Federation, where she also chairs the Lutheran World Federation's theology and studies committee.
Tex Sample
Former Academic Dean and Emeritus Professor of Church and Society at the Saint Paul School of Theology, Sample is a freelance lecturer, workshop leader, consultant. His books include Ministry in an Oral Culture: Living with Will Rogers, Uncle Remus, and Minnie Pearl, and co-editor of The Loyal Opposition: Struggling with the Church on Homosexuality. He is currently the coordinator of the Network for the Study of U.S. Lifestyles.
Bernard Brandon Scott
Darbeth Distinguished Professor of New Testament at the Phillips Theological Seminary, University of Tulsa, OK. He is a charter member of The Jesus Seminar, co-chair of the Bible in Ancient and Modern Media Section of the Society of Biblical Literature, and a consultant to the American Bible Society experimental film translations. He is the author of several books, including Re-Imagine the World and Hear Then the Parable.
John Shelby Spong
The retired Bishop of Newark, New Jersey, Spong is a columnist and author of over fourteen books including Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism and Why Christianity Must Change or Die. Lecturer at Harvard, Humanist of the Year, and a guest on numerous national television broadcasts including The Today Show, Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher, and Larry King Live, Bishop Spong lectures around the world.
Emilie Townes
Andrew W. Mellon Professor of African American Religion and Theology at Yale Divinity in New Haven, CT. Focusing on Christian ethics, womanist ethics, critical social theory, cultural theory and studies, as well as on postmodernism and social postmodernism, she is the author of such books as Womanist Justice, Womanist Hope, and Breaking the Fine Rain of Death. Professor Townes is an ordained American Baptist clergywoman.
Rick Ufford-Chase
A border mission worker from the Southside Presbyterian Church in Tucson, Arizona. He was elected Moderator of the General Assembly of the 216th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) on June 26, 2004. Ufford-Chase was 40 years old at the time, the youngest PC (USA) moderator in recent history. Ufford-Chase founded BorderLinks, a bi-national organization that tries to connect and educate people of faith on both sides of the U.S./Mexico border. He has served BorderLinks for 17 years prior to being elected as the Presbyterian Church's moderator.
Mel White
The President and Co-Founder of Soulforce, an ecumenical network of staff and volunteers committed to teaching and applying the principles of nonviolence on behalf of sexual minorities. In 1997, he was awarded the ACLU's National Civil Liberties Award for his efforts to apply the "soul force" principles of Gandhi and King to the struggle for justice for sexual minorities. Mel is a former ghostwriter for fellow evangelicals, including Billy Graham, Pat Robertson, Jim Bakker, and Jerry Falwell. He is the author of over 16 books, including Stranger at the Gate: To Be Gay and Christian in America and Religion Gone Bad: The Hidden Dangers of the Christian Right.