Eric Elnes of Darkwood Brew and Fred Plumer from ProgressiveChristianity.org discuss progressive Christianity and ideas of convergence.

The recent horrible shooting incident at a premier showing of “The Dark Knight Rises” in Colorado has focused attention, once again, on some aspects of what has gone wrong when a person takes such a violent and antisocial turn.

Well at least we can all agree that Ross Douthat got our attention with the article he wrote recently for the New York Times. His dire attack on the so called liberal churches has already stimulated several well written articles, with a plethora of responses to each of these.

Many of the criticisms were mean-spirited or partisan, continuing a decade-long internal debate about the Episcopal Church’s future. However, New York Times columnist Ross Douthat broadened the discussion, moving beyond inside-baseball ecclesial politics to ask a larger question: “Can Liberal Christianity be Saved?”

As an ordained elder in the United Methodist church I was pleased last week by President Obama’s stance against prejudice and homophobia and his support of gay marriage. At the same time I was dismayed and saddened to read …

Living the Questions 2.0 Home Edition brings together over thirty highly acclaimed scholars, theologians and other experts in a video exploration of an open, inclusive, broad-minded Christianity. Already utilized by thousands of progressive Christian communities, LtQ2 Home Edition is licensed for private home viewing and includes three DVD discs with twenty-one 20-minute episodes.

Basically, the Church was developing within a strongly partiarchal and heirarchical society…. Despite the freshness and hopefulness we see in Jesus and Paul, it is not surprising that male domination would soon assert itself and claim exclusive leadership privileges. Maybe women could lead among women, of course… no real complication or threat there.

1. We embrace the urgent task of clarifying what it means to follow a “spiritual path” or a “faith” that is Christian in some manner. With this, we know we must increase dialog and exploration between two often-warring camps divided as “conservative” and “liberal.”

An examination of Social Awakenment, History-Long Vision, Holistic Social Understanding & Strategies of Transformation as viewed by five United States citizens in 2011. Though vast changes are necessary, we believe humanity can find a vision and plan of action that is both satisfying and realistic. Our aim is to fertilize the fruitful imagination and courage it will require to walk this Road to Eco-Democracy.

In The Watchman’s Rattle, sociobiologist Rebecca Costa argues that civilizations collapse because they reach a cognitive threshold, a level of complexity that overwhelms the mental capacity of the population. A cognitive threshold occurs naturally in every society …

The conflict between an academic and a popular version of Christianity is the divide which exists between the clergy and the laity. It is his conviction that this divide threatens the “core of the church’s mission” and is a major cause of the loss of membership among the mainline Protestant churches.

“Some Christians have the ability to make you want to be a Christian just by being who they are. They make the gospel alive, real, healing, and utterly attractive. I think Spencer Burke is just one of those people. In his writings he shares himself and his vision” -Fr. Richard Rohr, Center for Action and Contemplation, Albuquerque, New Mexico