For the curious, considering, consciencious and caring: a grassroots description of the local practice of progressive Christianity.
Kickstarter launches today!
Back A Guidebook To Progressive Church!
For years people have asked me to produce a book-length introduction to progressive church. I've resisted, mostly because I've been distracted by many church-based projects (justice-focused pastor work and parenting takes a lot of time and energy), partially because I'm easily distracted from long, focused projects, and partially because I've worried about speaking "for" or on behalf of the progressive church. But then, it began to dawn on me people weren't looking for the one and only objective description of progressive church writ large, but rather the direct testimony of one community simply trying to live it.
I can do that. As a blogger, I have been doing that, and as a pastor I have been living it. I can speak from my perspective about our church and this movement I've increasingly come to call progressive church.
Over the years I've hit on various topics re: progressive church, but until now I've never assembled them into a book-length whole. This past spring, I got to work pulling all the threads together into what is now about a 160 page work on the progressive church. Organized into six sections (Invitation, Keywords, Belief, Intersections, Polis, and Praxis), chapters cover a wide range of topics, from a chapter very popular with first readers, "Why A Tarot Card Table At Church At A Queer-Friendly Halloween Party Is the Most Christian Thing Ever," to "Salvation and Control, "Queering Christianity," how "I'm (Trying) Not (To Be) Liberal," to reflections on mutual aid, disorganized religion, music, prayer, climate change, and much more.
I believe this is the perfect time for this project. All of us are looking for inspiration as we seek to move forward as people of faith in a religious climate presenting significant challenges. It isn't easy to be a progressive Christian these days. That's all the more reason to lean in. I hope this book helps.