BIOGRAPHY

     Brian D. McLaren is an author, speaker, pastor, and networker among innovative Christian leaders, thinkers, and activists.
Born in 1956, he graduated from University of Maryland with degrees in English (BA, summa cum laude, 1978, and MA, in 1981). In 2004, he was awarded a Doctor of Divinity Degree (honoris causa) from Carey Theological Seminary in Vancouver, BC, Canada. 
     From 1978 to 1986, McLaren taught college English, and in 1982, he helped form Cedar Ridge Community Church (crcc.org). He left higher education in 1986 to serve as the church's founding pastor and served in that capacity until 2006.
Brian has been active in networking and mentoring church planters and pastors since the mid 1980's, and has assisted in the development of several new churches. He is a popular conference speaker and a frequent guest lecturer at seminaries and denominational gatherings,nationally and internationally. His public speaking covers a broad range of topics including postmodern thought and culture, Biblical studies, Christian leadership, global mission, evangelism and spiritual formation, worship, inter-religious dialogue, and the relation of faith to ecology, public policy, social justice, and global crises.
     A musician and songwriter, he has produced several collections of original music, most recently, Songs for a Revolution of Hope.  He is actively involved in emergent, a growing generative friendship among missional Christian leaders (www.emergentvillage.com). He serves as a board chair for Sojourners (sojo.net), and is a founding member of Red Letter Christians. He formerly served on the boards of International Teams (www.iteams.org), Mars Hill Graduate School (mhgs.edu), and Off The Map (off-the-map.org).  He has appeared on many radio and TV broadcasts including Larry King Live, Religion and Ethics Newsweekly, and Nightline. His work has also been covered in Time (where he was listed as one of American's 25 most influential evangelicals), Christianity Today, Christian Century, the Washington Post, and many other print media.  Brian is married to Grace, and they live outside of Washington, DC. They have four young adult children. Brian travels extensively, and his personal interests include ecology, fishing, hiking, music, art, and literature.
 

CEDAR RIDGE COMMUNITY CHURCH

Sunday Morning Service Times
We gather as a community each Sunday morning. 
•First service: 9:00 AM (There are no Middle or High School groups during the 9:00 AM service.)
•Second service: 11:00 AM

What happens during a Sunday morning service?
After some singing, a welcome, and prayer, you’ll hear a message followed by communion. If you would like to express your faith and commitment to Christ, you are welcome to participate. You may come forward to the tables at the front or go to the servers at the middle of the room. During the worship time that follows communion, you may participate in a variety of ways. Around the room, you’ll find stations where you may light a candle, write a prayer, or make a financial offering. Prayer Servants, identified by the badges hanging around their necks, are available in the back corner of this room to minister to you in prayer for any need. After the service you are welcome to visit the Connecting Space in the Commons next to the welcome desk, where you can meet someone and ask any questions

Our Mission is our purpose (the reason we exist), which is to be and make disciples. Our hope is that everyone at Cedar Ridge will engage in the process of actively following Jesus and help others do the same.
Our Vision is what we dare to imagine our future could be like if we passionately and seriously pursue our mission of following Jesus together as his disciples.
Our Strategy is how we will go about pursuing our vision. We see three core ways in which we will do this:
•Growth: growing in our understanding and experience of God (how we relate to God)
•Community: developing enriching relationships with one another (how we relate to one another)
•Servanthood: serving and caring for the world around us (how we relate to the world)

At Cedar Ridge we are all invited to ask three simple questions:
•Am I engaged in a process that is helping me grow spiritually?
•Am I connected to others in meaningful, life-giving relationships?
•Am I serving others?
Being part of Cedar Ridge means making progress in these three areas, each at our own speed, each in our own unique way

What kinds of things do we want to do?
•We want to create an inviting culture of discipleship that permeates all we do; where people can get practical help and support on their journey of transformation; where people can grow and become healthier in every way.
•We want to devote our property to our vision. We want to intentionally develop this incredible resource so that it can be used to serve the world in life changing ways. We want it to be a haven of environmental health and a place of refuge for people in need.
•We want to develop and nurture an abundance of disciple-making communities all over this metropolitan area; small communities of people who care for one another, help each other grow and reach out to others.
•We want to be catalysts of change where we live, in our neighborhoods and workplaces. We want to be citizens who make life better for others, who serve by leading creative initiatives to make the world in which we live a better place, without seeking credit for ourselves or our church.
•We want to start a long term sustainable project in a developing country where we partner with local people, develop mutually enriching relationships and empower the poor. We want this to be a project in which we can all participate in some way, where many of us can visit and whose people have a consistent visible presence in our church life.
•We want to develop a ministry area specifically focused on helping people with emotional, psychological and developmental struggles. We want be a place of healing and recovery where we can offer rest, support and hope to even the most despairing.
•We want to pursue diversity where people from all kinds of different cultures and backgrounds can come together and enjoy life together offering love and peace to our fractured and divided culture

Our History
One Sunday morning, eleven friends, mostly in their twenties, gathered in a living room in a little house not far from the University of Maryland. The group consisted of men and women from nearly eleven Christian backgrounds—Catholic, Protestant, non-charismatic, charismatic, denominational, nondenominational. They shared a common desire—to become an exciting, effective church that would welcome and embrace spiritual seekers of all kinds---Christians from many traditions and also those who had no-prior experience or knowledge of Christianity. It was April, 1982.
Several weeks before, Brian McLaren, a college English instructor, had called an old friend, Bill Duncan, to see if Bill had an interest in helping launch this new venture, and they, along with their spouses, Grace and Shobha, decided to call the new church “Community Church.” Soon there were twenty people, then thirty. Some families from those early days are still actively involved in the church today. Eventually Brian was asked to lead the church as its full-time pastor.
The church grew over the next 15 years, moving from place to place to accommodate its increasing size, until in 1996, after an outpouring of sacrificial giving, Cedar Ridge became owners of a beautiful 63 acre historic property in Burtonsville, Maryland.
At about the same time, Brian McLaren began writing books, and soon became an increasingly significant participant in networks of emerging leaders and churches around the world. Seeking to utilize his unique gifts as an influential thinker, writer and speaker, Brian left pastoral ministry to respond to his call to the public arena full-time. After a prayerful and extensive search for a new Senior Pastor, the Cedar Ridge community appointed Matthew Dyer as Senior Pastor, to whom Brian passed the baton of leadership in January 2006. Matthew had been a pastor in the Vineyard denomination of churches since 1995 in both the US and UK (his native country). Prior to that he had practiced as a medical doctor in the UK and worked in Latin America in the 80’s and 90’s developing Mother and Child Health programs in poor and marginalized communities. Matthew moved to Maryland from England with his wife, Lisa, and four children: Megan, Lois, George and Oliver.
At the time of this transition of pastoral leadership, Cedar Ridge had grown to include several hundred people and was supporting many activities, ministries and programs that were difficult to sustain in terms of resources and staff, and there was an increasing recognition that a central, unifying focus was needed. Seeking greater clarity and purpose for the future, yet desiring at the same time to maintain its underlying values and beliefs, the people of Cedar Ridge engaged together in an intense year of “re-envisioning the church”. This time was both difficult and rewarding. It meant profound change as old systems and programs were released to make way for something new, and also provided opportunity for personal transformation as participants engaged in discernment, fasting, sacrifice and prayer.
Through this extensive process that included church-wide discussion and collaboration, a clear, comprehensive vision was formed and in September 2007 our church community embarked on its quest to serve God, one another and the world in a unique and focused way.
We all share a genuine sense of excitement about being part of the unfolding story, a journey of faith and love and hope and mission. We invite you to join us in our next leg of the trip, and help write the next chapters of the Cedar Ridge story. Join us on the journey!
 

Cedar Ridge Community Church
Labyrinth and Prayer Walk and Barn

The Cedar Ridge Labyrinth
Located along the prayer walk on 63 acres of pastoral meadows and woods, the labyrinth at Cedar Ridge is a sacred place of beauty and peace where people come to draw closer to God. All are welcome to walk the winding path of the labyrinth --an ancient spiritual practice dating back thousands of years
Spiritual seekers throughout the ages have traveled to sacred places bathed in beauty, power, and mystery in order to seek the Presence of God. Through this quest that is both a spiritual and physical pilgrimage, growth and healing happen not in the arriving, but in the moving -- in the journey itself.
Jesus offered a unique and radically different message about Divine Presence. Jesus taught that the dwelling of the Living God is not primarily in a shrine, a building, or any external place, but in each human heart. The journey toward Divine Presence for a follower of Jesus is in many ways an inward journey—not toward some physical destination, but to the deepest center of the soul.

A labyrinth is an ancient prayer tool that symbolizes for many people of faith this mysterious journey to the center of the self where the Divine Light dwells.

WHY WALK THE LABYRINTH?
Seekers bring many different yearnings and needs to a labyrinth. Some seek healing for hurts of the past, and some bring questions about life choices. Others seek comfort for a loss, courage for a challenge, or renewed passion for their vocation or a relationship. Many seek to calm a spiritual restlessness and a longing to uncover hidden gifts or to hear and follow a new calling. Each experience of the labyrinth is its own journey and will be unique.
Meditatively following the labyrinth’s one continuous path to the center guides the seeker into stillness and peace, especially as the mind is joined with the intuition, beyond thoughts and words. Walking the labyrinth allows thoughts to quiet and the deep longings of the heart to be heard. Both movement and vision help to aid concentration in the one goal of seeking God – with each step forward, there may be a letting go of self-centered programs for satisfaction and success, and a receptivity to moving God-ward—collecting scattered thoughts, aligning external senses with internal desire, and ushering the body, mind and spirit into prayer.
“… Imagine a community of peace and safety where it’s possible to shelter from the frenzied pace of life, in order to slow down and explore the mystery and meaning of our existence, were we can take time to address the roots of our anxieties and pain, a place of hope where we can find help and healing and the power to change, no matter how desperate our situation…”


The Cedar Ridge Prayer Walk
gives you an opportunity to integrate prayer and reflection with a forty to fifty-minute walk around the 63 acre property. You can do the prayer in silence, or you can do it conversationally with a friend or two or three. A prayer walk guide is sitting in a mailbox at the gazebo adjacent to the barn where prayer station #1 is located. Take the guide with you along the path.
In this prayer walk, you are invited to notice elements of God’s creation around you, and let them stimulate you to prayer and consideration about a variety of topics. Suggested responses are arranged in 4 tracks, and marked with a box () in the guide book. We recommend that you follow one track through on your first prayer walk, and then try another track on a second walk, and so on. Don’t be in a hurry, and be sure to notice things that aren’t mentioned in this guide. The most rewarding moments in your walk may come from surprises that this guide could never anticipate. Eventually, as your practice prayerful walking, you won’t need a guide at all. That’s the goal.
You will find white posts numbered 1 through 17 throughout the property that is connected by a maintained 5 foot wide mowed pathway. The map included in the guide should help you find each stop.
We hope you’ll check out the prayer walk. The following are the titles of each station and a description of their locations:
1.Gazebo Garden area: Is adjacent to our historic barn and offers a restful view of hills, labyrinth and meadows.
2.Labyrinth: This stop is far enough way from traffic and noise but close enough to access easily. Walk along the dam of the storm water management pond to enter the labyrinth area. See the Labyrinth page for more information.
3.Bluebird Houses along fence row: A quit stop east of the labyrinth, this station is on the edge of our property along the fence.
4.Second Valley/White Pine: You have to go down and up some hills but peaks out on a beautiful view of the property.
5.Corner Fence Post: Located at the turn of our fence line and property.
6.Woodlands: Just a step into the forest, this station now begins the steep walk in the woods.
7.Watch Your Step: As you head down the steep slope toward the stream, it is a narrow but beautiful walk in all seasons.
8.Brook: Station #8 is at the end of the slope that brings you to a bench by the stream.
9.Rocks & Ferns: This is a few steps west along the stream and is a lovely area with green ferns and white rocks.
10.Silence: The last station before the climb back up the terrain to exit the woods.
11.Climb: A bench under a tree is in the middle of walk out of the woods. If you continue to the top of the hill, to the point where you are just out of the forest and back into the fields.
12.Re-entry: You are officially out of the woods and have a long walk to station #13. Proceed to your right along the tree line, going down and then turning right along a path up the hill to a wooden flag pole and fire circle.
13.Fire Circle: You’ll notice a fire circle in an open area where people sometimes go camping.
14.Open Fields: This station is at one our property peaks in the middle of our meadow. Continue to the right side of the church building, crossing the parking lots, and stop at the old brick silo in the center of the roundabout.
15.Parking Lots/Silo: A weird stop for prayer but at our historic silo is station #15
16.Front Porch of the Farmhouse: Enjoy a swing ride or just a rest before approaching last station.
17.Next to the Dairy Barn: The last prayer walk station is next to the dairy barn. Just a few steps off the farmhouse porch and to the left is our renovated barn.
We suggest you wear outdoor walking shoes as there are steep slopes and uneven terrain, bring a bottle of water for hydration and check in at the church or bring your cell phone along with you to ensure a safe walk.


The Barn
This 1910 wood structure was renovated in 2001 and again adding more structural security in 2008. The Historic Structure was built when the land was owned by William Spencer. It is a 2-story structure that was used as a dairy barn- stalls on the first floor, hay storage on the second. Since those farming days, the barn now functions as meeting space for the Cedar Ridge community. Youth activities are held there on Sundays. The milkhouse is original and historic as well but the silo [stairwell] and lobby with deck were modern features added to connect the barn and milkhouse and provide practical enclosed space during the renovation. Both floors total approximately 4,000 sqft with an architectural delight of 28 foot trusses supporting the roof from the second floor to the vast ceiling

BOOKS

Everything Must Change This book in many ways is a sequel to The Secret Message of Jesus, although people can begin with either book. It asks two essential questions: What are the world's top crises, and what do the life and message of Jesus say to those global crises? I spent a few years researching the global crisis literature and tried to synthesize the best thinking on the subject. I developed a metaphor to help people understand global crises - a machine with four moving parts, corresponding to the four critical crises that create so much human suffering. Meanwhile, I was studying the gospels in a concentrated way, seeking to understand how Jesus' original hearers would have heard and understood his message of the kingdom of God. The two pursuits enriched each other in ways that I will probably never fully be able to communicate. This book is by far my most ambitious project yet, and I can't imagine ever writing anything that is more important and urgent.	A Generous Orthodoxy This book, released in late August 04, has elicited a lot of response already. The book turned out to be a confession - as in a confession of faith, not of sin (although some might think ...). The title is elucidated in a wonderful foreword by Dr. John Franke of Biblical Theological Seminary (thanks, John), and the overly long subtitle gives the table of contents of the book: Why I am a missional, evangelical, post/protestant, liberal/conservative, mystical/poetic, biblical, charismatic/contemplative, fundamentalist/calvinist, anabaptist/anglican, methodist, catholic, green, incarnational, depressed-yet-hopeful, emergent, unfinished Christian.
Finding Our Way Again This book was a pleasure to write, and I hope it will be of help to a wide range of readers. [It] Shines a practical light on the spiritual disciplines that have been in use since the time of Abraham. In a sense, every day of our lives is labor. It is questionable if you can ever be exactly the same person waking up on two consecutive days. How are spiritual sojourners to cope with the constant change? Many are beginning to explore the ancient Christian spiritual practices that have been in use for centuries, everything from fixed-hour prayer to fasting to sincere observance of the Sabbath. What is causing this hunger for deeper spirituality? Brian McLaren guides us on this quest for an explanation of these spiritual practices, many of which go all the way back to Abraham and the establishment of Israel. In the midst of contemporary Christianity, we discover the beauty of these ancient disciplines and the transformation through Christ that each can provide. Why have certain spiritual disciplines been in use for centuries and why is it important? It is questionable if one can ever be exactly the same person waking up on two consecutive days. How are spiritual sojourners to cope with the constant change? Many are beginning to explore the ancient Christian spiritual practices, such as fixed-hour prayer, fasting and sincere observance of the Sabbath. What is causing this hunger for deeper spirituality? Brian McLaren guides us on this quest for an explanation of these spiritual practices, many of which go all the way back to Abraham and the establishment of Israel. In the midst of contemporary Christianity, we discover the beauty of these disciplines and the transformation through Christ that each can provide.	A New Kind of Christian   I started this book as a totally nonfiction treatise on Christianity and postmodernity, but after I got about 100 pages into it, I realized the book was on the road to becoming 500 pages of abstraction - and no one would read it. So, I started over, taking the advice of a perceptive reviewer of "The Church on the Other Side." If McLaren is serious about what he's saying, the reviewer said, he should be writing fiction. So, I began rewriting using a fictional dialogue as framework for the book. The book has made a few people angry, as you can discover by doing a search at Christianity Today (or reading comments at Amazon). But the negative comments have, so far at least, been negligible compared to the affirming ones. I set the book up so that it could be the first of a trilogy.
The Secret Message of Jesus In many ways, all of my previous books are a preparation for this one. It is aimed at a broad audience - including "spiritual but not religious" seekers, members of nonChristian religions, and Christian leaders and thoughtful Christians. It is an exploration of the real "passion of Christ," which is the message of the kingdom of God.
The Voice of Luke Remember when I sent you out with no money, no pack, not even sandals? Did you lack anything? (Luke 22:35) From the same writing team of The Dust Off Their Feet comes a fresh exploration of the life of Jesus with retelling of the timeless narrative found in The Gospel of Luke. Not Even Sandals recovers the passion, grit, humor, and beauty have been lost in our translations of Luke. This stands alone among narratives as a supernatural action-adventure. Brian McLaren recaptures what was lost as he retells this spiritual adventure with power and grace to read like a screenplay. Brian, as only he can do, provides an overlay of historical and theological observations to enrich the story. McLaren and Seay are two of the driving forces in the reinvigorate worship found in the newer churches.	The Voice of Acts: The Dust Off Their Feet In the entire Book of Acts of The Voice Scripture project, the Jerusalem church is forced to expand against its will. This book applies their story to the emerging church of today. It features a retelling of Acts by Brian McLaren and commentary by Chris Seay.
The Last Word and the Word After That. This book completes the trilogy and extends the story of Dan Poole and Neo into some new "hot" territory. Dan struggles with the idea of hell, and does some research to learn about the origins of the idea. He also connects with a faith community that Neo is part of and gains a deeper understanding of the gospel, justice, and Jesus' message of the kingdom of God.	The Story We Find Ourselves In This is the sequel to A New Kind of Christian, second in the trilogy. It is the most important book I've written so far, I think. It's an attempt to tell the Biblical story. One of the most surprising responses I have received about the book is from men who tell me the book brought them to tears. I hope someday to come back to the "seven episodes" explored in this book: if I ever write a "theology," I think it would emerge from this telling of the Biblical story
Church in Emerging Culture; Five Perspectives I had the idea for this book - on the relationship of church to culture, and especially emerging postmodern culture - and proposed it to Emergent/YS. I think it will be an important book - helping turn potentially divisive issues into shared concerns.	Adventures in Missing the Point This was a book I had been thinking about writing for a couple of years. When I brought it to EmergentYS, they suggested Tony Campolo as a coauthor. We divvied up the chapters, and then each of us wrote a response to the other's chapters. Tony disagrees with me on several points, which is part of what makes the book interesting and fun, I think. We've gotten really positive response on this book, especially from people in "the Christian subculture" who feel it kicks some doors down and opens some windows for needed fresh air.
A is For Abductive This book, coauthored with Len Sweet and Jerry Haselmayer, is set up like a dictionary: A is for ... B is for ... It's not heavy reading, but attempts to deliver some important content in short chunks of intense (and sometimes light-hearted) prose. Several entries (like "Deconstruction") tackle difficult terms and seek to show their relevance for life and ministry in the emerging culture. It was a blast to work with Len on the content, with Jerry focusing on "epictivities" for groups.	More Ready Than You Realize This is a book about sharing your faith. It's based on a series of emails exchanged between a bright and sincere young seeker and me, and its goal is to help people learn how/to be "spiritual friends" to others who are searching for a faith that is real.
Finding Faith: A Search For What Makes Sense This book updates and re-presents the first half of my book Finding Faith. It focuses on the intellectual side of the search for God. It addresses questions like these: Does it really matter what I believe? What is the relationship between faith and knowledge? Can I believe in atheism? Is "I don't know" enough to know? If there is one God, why are there so many religions? Do you seriously expect me to believe in God as an Old Man with a Long White Beard? Don't all paths lead to the same God?	A Search for What is Real: Finding Faith This book updates and re-presents the second half of my book Finding Faith. It focuses on ways that sincere spiritual seekers can experience God. It addresses questions like these: How might I experience God? Can I experience God through doubt? How do church and the Bible fit into my spiritual search? What if I lose interest? How can nature and Jesus help me in my spiritual search?
Finding Faith I wrote this book for my friends who are searching for God, but find traditional Christian "apologetics" more an obstacle than a bridge. Many Christians, including quite a few pastors, have told me it has helped them too. I think it's some of my best writing, and may still be the book that I care most about.	The Church on the Other Side This was my first book (originally entitled - against my recommendation - "Reinventing Your Church"). This book introduces all the topics I explore in my other books, and many churches have used it for group study, finding it a helpful (and gentle) introduction to the conversation about Christian faith-life-mission and the emerging postmodern culture.

QUOTES
 

 All these questions may sound too religious for your taste already. If you have no religious commitment and even if you have a strong anti-religious commitment, I certainly sympathize. Those of us who are deeply involved in the religious community see abundant reasons to be cynical about religion. Though we see many signs of hope, goodness, and resurrection, the truth is that we often keep faith in spite of religion, not because of it. But whatever your background, I think you’ll agree on the most pragmatic level: if [our global] problems are as big as they seem to be, we’ll need all the help we can muster to address them, including the help of the religious community. (pp. 12-13) Everything Must Change

 How do “I” know the Bible is always right? And if “I” am sophisticated enough to realize that I know nothing of the Bible without my own involvement via interpretation, I’ll also ask how I know which school, method, or technique of biblical interpretation is right. What makes a “good” interpretation good? And if an appeal is made to a written standard (book, doctrinal statement, etc.) or to common sense or to “scholarly principles of interpretation,” the same pesky “I” who liberated us from the authority of the church will ask, “Who sets the standard? Whose common sense? Which scholars and why? Don’t all these appeals to authorities and principles outside the Bible actually undermine the claim of ultimate biblical authority? Aren’t they just the new pope? (p.133.)
McLaren compares the five points of Calvinism to “cigarettes, the use of which often leads to a hard-to-break Protestant habit that is hazardous to spiritual health (and that makes the breath smell bad)” (A Generous Orthodoxy, (p. 195),
The belief that truth is best understood by reducing it to a few fundamentals or a single ‘sola’ insight is, to me, at least questionable if not downright dangerous” (p. 198)
“I don’t believe making disciples must equal making adherents to the Christian religion. It may be advisable in many (not all?) circumstances to help people become followers of Jesus and remain within their Buddhist, Hindu, or Jewish contexts” (McLaren, A Generous Orthodoxy, p. 260).
Brian McClaren wants us to learn more about “ meditative practices, about which Zen Buddhism has said much. To talk about different things is not to contradict one another; it is, rather, to have much to offer one another” (A Generous Orthodoxy, p. 255.)
Those who believe the Bible presents clear propositional truth statements, which can be believed and defended with certainty, are negatively described as those who “claim (overtly, covertly, or unconsciously) to have final orthodoxy nailed down, freeze-dried, and shrink-wrapped forever” (p. 286)
We see modernity with its absolutism's and colonialism's and totalitarianism as a kind of static dream, a desire to abide in timeless abstractions and extract humanity from the ongoing flow of history and emergence, a naïve hope to make now the end of history (which actually sounds either like a kind of death wish or millennialism). In Christian theology, this anti-emergent thinking is expressed in systematic theologies that claim (overtly, covertly, or unconsciously) to have final orthodoxy nailed down, freeze-dried, and shrink-wrapped forever." (p 286)
Ask me if Christianity (my version of it, yours, the Pope’s, whoever’s) is orthodox, meaning true, and here’s my honest answer: a little, but not yet. Assuming by Christianity you mean the Christian understanding of the world and God, Christian opinions on soul, text, and culture…I’d have to say that we probably have a couple of things right, but a lot of things wrong, and even more spreads before us unseen and unimagined. But at least our eyes are open! To be a Christian in a generously orthodox way is not to claim to have the truth captured, stuffed, and mounted on the wall.”  (p.293)

Those who believe the Bible presents clear propositional truth statements, which can be believed and defended with certainty, are negatively described as those who  and who “claim to have the truth captured, stuffed, and mounted on the wall” (p. 293). A Generous Orthodoxy

 "We need to move beyond our deadlock, our polarization, our binary, either/or thinking regarding faith and reason, religion and science, matter and spirit ... We need a fusion of the sacred and the secular" (pp. 4-5).
And during his lifetime, Abraham—like Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad—had an encounter with God that distinguished him from his contemporaries and propelled him into a mission, introducing a new way of life that changed the world… How appropriate that the three Abrahamic religions begin with a journey into the unknown.
(pp. 22- 23)
"We discover practices for our own faith in an encounter with someone of another faith" (p. 25).
McLaren believes in a literal global kingdom of God on earth before Christ returns that will incorporate all the world's religions and all creation, a "world yet to be born" that "desperately" needs "these spiritual practices." He also relates: "These practices" have "enlivened the three Abrahamic faiths" (Christianity, Judaism, Islam) and should not be "allowed to go extinct" (p. 29).
Then he makes reference to a woman named Anne Lamott when she says, "I am at heart a Jesus-y person" (p. 31). Lamott is a perfect example of someone who "likes Jesus" but rejects biblical Christianity. Lamott illustrates this by her recent back cover endorsement of the best-selling book, Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. Gilbert's book is heavily promoted by Oprah and has been at the top of the New York Times best-seller list for over a year. Gilbert was a disillusioned young woman who traveled to an India ashram where she learned to meditate and find oneness with God. During her time at the ashram, Gilbert had a meditative experience where she says "the scales fell from my eyes and the openings of the universe were shown to me."
The purpose of the via purgativa [the practices] is to prepare us for the via illuminativa [the awakening], and the purpose of the via illuminativa is to prepare us for the via unitiva [all is one], the union of our nature with the nature of God" (pp. 171-172).  Finding Our Way Again

The Bible should be one of many authorities, such as tradition, reason, exemplary people and institutions one has come to trust, and spiritual experience (pp. 54, 55).
It is wrong and Pharisaical to look upon the Bible as “God’s encyclopedia, God’s rule book, God’s answer book” (p. 52).
People should not ask pastors questions such as, “Do you believe in inerrancy?” or “What’s your position on homosexuality?” because to make them answer such questions is to “cheapen” them and to make them sell themselves (p. 61).
It is right for Christians to use pagan practices such as the Native American sweat lodge, peace pipe, dance, dream catcher, and smoke (pp. 26, 74-78).
Unbelievers and pagans can possibly be saved without personal faith in Christ (p. 92).  A New Kind of Christian

"This is the verse that is frequently quoted to defend an idea called the “exclusivity of Christ,” namely, that all who do not consciously and decisively accept Jesus as their personal savior will burn forever in hell. That phrase raises concerns for me, because based on the Scriptures, I believe Jesus primarily came not to proclaim a way out of hell for some after death, but rather a way into a better life for all before death. His message was not about going to heaven after history, but about the kingdom of heaven coming to earth in history. His goal – made clear in word and deed, day after day during his three years of public ministry – was not to constrict but rather to expand the dimensions of who could be welcomed into the kingdom of God, of who could be accepted in the people of God." (pg. 3)
"...many Hindus are willing to consider Jesus as a legitimate manifestation of the divine... many Buddhists see Jesus as one of humanity’s most enlightened people.... A shared reappraisal of Jesus’ message could provide a unique space or common ground for urgently needed religious dialogue—and it doesn’t seem an exaggeration to say that the future of our planet may depend on such dialogue. This reappraisal of Jesus’ message may be the only project capable of saving a number of religions."[ page 7]
"Jesus seems to say, 'The kingdom of God doesn’t need to wait until something else happens. No, it is available and among you now.... Invite people of all nations, races, classes, and religions to participate in this network of dynamic, interactive relationships with God and all God’s creation!" [ page 74]
"...the kingdom of God will be radically, scandalously inclusive. As we’ve seen, Jesus enjoys table fellowship with prostitutes and drunks.... He affirms and responds to the faith of Gentiles—Romans and Syrophonecians and Samaritans."[ page 94]
"This, by the way, is what the problematic word repentance is all about. The word means to rethink—to reconsider your direction and consider a new one, to admit that you might be wrong, to give your life a second thought, to think about your thinking."[page 47]
"Instead of being about the kingdom of God coming to earth, the Christian religion has too often become preoccupied with abandoning or escaping the earth and going to heaven."[ page 78]
"...what is the goal of this suffering sacrifice, this self-giving to the point of blood to achieve the Pax Christi? It is a new and lasting reconciliation between humanity and God, and among all the at-odds individuals and groups that comprise humanity. ... Paul said it like this: 'Old distinctions like Jew and Gentile, slave and free, male and female no longer exist, for you are all one in Christ.'
"Today, he might speak of reconciliation of the war veteran with the pacifist protester. The tattooed and pierced granddaughter with her prim and proper grandmother.... Christians with Jews and Muslims and Hindus."[pages 99-100]
"A high fence that excludes everyone won’t do, nor will no fence at all. What we need is a requirement that those who wish to enter actually have a change of heart—that they don’t sneak in to accomplish their own agenda, but rather that they genuinely want to learn a new way of thinking, feeling, living, and being in 'the pastures of God.'” [ page 165]
"The kingdom of God, then, seeks a third way: not exclusiveness and rejection... but rather purposeful inclusion. In other words, the kingdom of God seeks to include all who want to participate in and contribute to its purpose, but it cannot include those who oppose its purpose."[page 167] The Secret Message of Jesus

This is why I believe that many of our current eschatologies, intoxicated by dubious interpretations of John’s Apocalypse are not only ignorant and wrong, but dangerous and immoral.” (page 144).

"The church has been preoccupied with the question, "What happens to your soul after you die?" As if the reason for Jesus coming can be summed up in, "Jesus is trying to help get more souls into heaven, as opposed to hell, after they die." I just think a fair reading of the Gospels blows that out of the water. I don't think that the entire message and life of Jesus can be boiled down to that bottom line." —Brian McLaren, from the PBS special on the Emerging Church

When we make it sound like we have all the bolts screwed down tight and all the nails hammered in, and everything's all boxed up and we've got it all figured out,  at that moment, I think we have stopped being faithful.  Brian McLaren Calls Hell and the Cross  "False Advertising for God"

"This is one of the huge problems with the traditional understanding of hell, because if the Cross is in line with Jesus' teaching, then I won't say the only and I certainly won't say ... or even the primary or a primary meaning of the Cross ... is that the Kingdom of God doesn't come like the kingdoms of this world by inflicting violence and coercing people. But that the kingdom of God comes thru suffering and willing voluntary sacrifice right? But in an ironic way the doctrine of hell basically says no, that's not really true. At the end God get's his way thru coercion and violence and intimidation and uh domination just like every other kingdom does. The Cross isn't the center then, the Cross is almost a distraction and false advertising for God."   From The Secret Message of Jesus

The Christian faith is understood as a story by a postmodern generation that sees itself as part of the developing storyline, said an emergent church leader Sunday. 
Instead of breaking down the Bible and analyzing it as in the modern era, postmodern believers see the Bible stories as part of a bigger picture and larger story, explained Brian McLaren during the Washington National Cathedral’s Sunday Forum.  The author, speaker, pastor and leader in the emergent church explained that the Bible is seen by postmodern Christians as the chronological stories of God and creation, the story of Abraham, Moses, King David, the prophets, Jesus, Paul and then themselves as modern Christians.
“How we understand the faith as a story … is in some ways relatively new territory because we just haven’t practiced seeing our faith that way and then understanding how our story relates to other stories and figuring out the role that we all play in this story – because it’s not finished yet – that comes to me as a very motivating and exciting way to understand our faith.”   Brian McLaren: Postmodern Christianity Understood as Story
 

McLaren's Seven Layers of the Emergent Conversation 
The phrase  “Seeker Community Church” has been addeed to illustrate each point.
How Emergent Are You?

Islam has its five pillars. Buddhism has its eight-fold path. Evangelicalism has its four spiritual laws. And now the Emerging Church has its seven layers of conversation.

Layer 1: Style  Seeker Community Church realizes they’re ineffective at reaching the coveted 18-32 year old demographic. They send a few staff members to a conference and they come back with goatees and candles.
Layer 2: Evangelism  After trying every facial hair permutation, Seeker Community Church discovers that to actually communicate the gospel to a younger generation they’ve got to learn to speak their language. They hire a former youth pastor to start an evening worship service with an “x” in its name.
Layer 3: Culture  It gradually dawns upon Seeker Community Church that the new challenges they are encountering are not limited to the younger generation. The entire culture is shifting away from the modern presuppositions their church was built upon. Some of the language and practices of the “x” service trickle into the rest of the church.
Layer 4: Mission  The emergence of Postmodernism causes Seeker Community Church to reevaluate the effectiveness of their mission strategy. Altar calls and gospel tracks are left behind in favor of community groups and relationships. Conversion is accepted as a journey and not merely a point of decision.
Layer 5: Church  Seeker Community Church begins to wonder if a multi million-dollar building housing a theatrical production every weekend is the only way to do church. Drawing from new and ancient forms of church, they launch alternative communities—one meets in a bar on Sunday night, and the other is a liturgical gathering. The church also partners with an inner city monastic group to reach street kids.
Layer 6: Gospel  The leadership of Seeker Community Church is stunned when the senior pastor confesses, “I’m not sure I’ve really understood the gospel.” He begins to wonder why Jesus never said God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life? And why Paul never asked anyone to invite Jesus into your heart? He starts to realize that the Good News is much more than he’d ever imagined.
Layer 7: World  Maybe the mission of the church isn’t simply to become a bigger church? Maybe, like Jesus, the church is to engage the larger world to reveal that the kingdom of God has drawn near? To their amazement, Seeker Community Church discovers significant swaths of the Bible (such as the Pentateuch, prophets, gospels, and epistles) talk about justice, poverty, and compassion. The church begins to speak about social issues and participates in efforts to combat poverty, AIDS, and global injustice.
 

SHIFT
Brian Mclaren •  at Willow Creek Community Church

About Shift  Main Session 1  9:00-10:30am  Worship with Charlie Hall
 

What could change if we applied the message of Jesus—the good news of the Kingdom of God—to the world's greatest problems?
Acclaimed author and theologian Brian McLaren will inspire us to envision our world transformed through an insurgence of hope, justice, and compassion.
Brian Mclaren  www.brianmclaren.net   Brian McLaren is an author, speaker, pastor, and networker among innovative Christian leaders, whose teaching is stirring people all over the world to think in fresh ways about Christian life and faith. He has also authored numerous books, including his most recent, Everything Must Change.
SHIFT • April 9-11, 2008

Willow Creek Campus, South Barrington, IL  As the world of student ministry continues to shift and change, so do the needs of those who serve students.
Recognizing this, our team has designed an event that is unlike any other Student Ministries Conference we've ever hosted.
Shift 2008 is about innovation: Rather than highlighting one specific model of ministry, we've invited some of the most innovative thinkers and leaders we could find and asked them to shape our experiences and discussions.
Join youth leaders and students from all over the world seeking to encourage and learn from one another through conversation, interactive learning experiences, ministry training, and worship.

Published Articles  From His Website

McLaren on On Post Modernism and Relativism

ARD Ten Questions for Brian McLaren: In a nutshell, what’s your definition of postmodernism?

That's a hard question to put into a nutshell. Those who use it usually mean it as something that involves continuity and discontinuity with modernity. It’s not anti-modernism. It’s not the same thing as pre-modernism. It means people who've gone through the modern era and been changed by it, so now they argue its principles in many different ways.
I actually find a couple of related words more useful. One is Post-Enlightenment. As a friend of mine says "they (postmoderns) become Enlightened about the Enlightenment. They realize that the Enlightenment wasn't everything. It was a way of thinking to solve a set of problems in the 17th and the 18th centuries.
Another word is Post-Colonial. I think Post-Colonial is the more useful term, because what is happening is people are realizing how Colonialism affected the colonizers and the colonized. The colonizers are excessively confident in the sense they understand the way things ought to be, and they have the right to make everyone dance to their tune. It affects the colonized because they find themselves for decades or centuries dominated and oppressed and inferior and unworthy, and then they start saying, "Those are lies, and we do have the chance to think for ourselves."
The church has done exactly what it should do: it has effectively adapted to modernity. It has learned to speak modern language. It has learned to how to engage with modern media. It has learned to use modern technology and all the rest. Now when that happens it’s always likely we'll go too far — that we'll become "of and in the world" instead of "in but not of it." A lot my friends and I, when discussing postmodernity, feel that the church doesn't realize the degree to which it is over-accommodating to modernity.

The Three Postmodernisms: A short explanation

The third kind of postmodernism is what we might call “emerging postmodernism.” It can’t be fully defined yet; it may be decades away from mature definition. But it moves beyond the four characteristics described above.
1. It sees relativist pluralism (the irrational idea that all opinions or views are equally valid) as a kind of chemotherapy intended to stop the growth of modern reductionistic rationalism (the oppressive idea that all reality can be reduced to mechanisms that the mind can understand via validation by the five senses). In order to kill the malignancy, the patient has to take dangerous medicine that would prove poisonous if taken in too high doses or for too long.
Emerging postmodernism agrees that modern reductionistic rationalism needed to be stopped or “deconstructed,” and it sees that relativist pluralism “worked” as a chemotherapeutic agent, but it doesn’t mistake this dangerous short-term medical necessity as a long-term regimen for health. It seeks to move beyond relativistic pluralism, and sees “emergent thinking” and “integralism” as better alternatives to both modern reductionistic rationalism and relativist pluralism. (For more on emergent thinking and integralism, see my book “A Generous Orthodoxy,” or Ken Wilber’s “A Theory of Everything.”)
As a follower of Christ, I am less interested in articulating the ideal definition of this movement in words than I am in helping contribute to what the postmodern world becomes in reality. I am hoping that many people of faith and vision can play a formative role in what will happen beyond modernity and adolescent postmodernity: seeking to be salt and light, seeking to do good works, seeking to do justice and love mercy and walk humbly with God.

Postmodern uncertainty and Brian McLaren

A New Kind of Christian, is written as a semi-fictional dialogue, so that readers can experience the thrill of questioning old truths and discovering new truth through the dialectic process. Notice how the introduction touts the postmodern worldview while raising doubts about Biblical faith:
"I realize, as I read and reread the Bible, that many passages don't fit any of the theological systems I have inherited or adapted. Sure, they can be squeezed in, but after a while my theology looks like a high school class trip's luggage--shoestrings hanging out here, zippers splitting apart there....
"I read what other people who are having similar experiences are saying, including people writing outside of the religious context -- like this from Peter Senge: 'In any case, our Industrial Age management.... our Industrial Age way of living will not continue.... It's not sustainable in ecological terms, and it's not sustainable in human terms. It will change. The only question is how....'
"Doesn't the religious community see that the world is changing? Doesn't it have anything fresh and incisive to say? Isn't it even asking new questions? Has it nothing to offer other than the stock formulas that it has been offering? Is there no Saint Francis or Soren Kierkegaard or C.S. Lewis in the house with some fresh ideas and energy?'

"I meet people along the way who model for me, each in a different way, what a new kind of Christian might look like. They differ in many ways, but they generally agree that the old show is over, the modern jig is up, and it's time for something radically new.... You begin to wonder if maybe you're at the front edge of something -- if your tentative and anxious steps 'off the map' are actually the beginning of a new adventure into terra nova, new ground, fresh territory."[3, page xiv-xv]
"...if we have a new world, we will need a new church. We won't need a new religion per se, but a new framework for our theology. Not a new Spirit, but a new spirituality. Not a new Christ, but a new Christian."[3, page xvi] Emphasis added
 

Comments on Generous Orthodoxy - from Evangel Society of Thought

McLaren declares that his gospel is one "where Christianity and the cause of Christ might not necessarily go together." (p.21)

He states that the gospel he presents is for "spiritual seekers who are attracted to Jesus." (p. 39)

McLaren suggests that we should embrace the existence of different faiths, "willingly, not begrudgingly" (p. 256) for the "incarnation [of Christ] links his followers to all people-including people of other religions." (p. 249) What does this mean for Christianity? McLaren admits that it necessitates a transition of missions from conversion to understanding and learning from other religions. (p. 255) McLaren emphasizes that the proclamation about Christ is an important part of missions, but his "Christ" has little to do with orthodox Christianity.

I must add, though, that I don't believe making disciples must equal making adherents to the Christian religion. It may be advisable in many circumstances to help people become followers of Jesus and remain within their Buddhist, Hindu, or Jewish contexts. This will be hard, you say, and I agree. But frankly, it's not at all easy to be a follower of Jesus in many 'Christian' religious contexts, either. (p. 260)

"[W]e don't seek to root up all the bad weeds in the world's religions (including our own), but rather seek to encourage the growth of good wheat in all religions including our own, leaving it for God to sort it all out as only God can do." (p. 255)