Brian McLaren - A Series on "Do I Stay
Christian?" for Small Groups
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"Do I Stay Christian?" - a reading group with Brian McLaren
Brian D. McLaren giving an invite to reading his new book with him in an upcoming Homebrewed Christianity online reading group. Sign-up now and get a three-part video guide to the book & plan to spend four weeks with us going through the book. http://doistaychristian.com
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Begin Again Podcast: Brian McLaren, Author of Do I Stay Christian?
Streamed live on Apr 5, 2022
Brian McLaren (http://brianmclaren.net) is the author of an upcoming book entitled, "Do I Stay Christian?" The book is broken up into three parts: No, Yes and How. It gives an honest look at the reasons why someone might want to leave Christianity, reasons why someone might want to stay, and some perspectives on how someone might choose to stay. So here is an interview about "Do I Stay Christian?" Enjoy! John Chaffee (http://johnchaffee.com) is a NJ native with 20 years of professional ministry background and two masters degrees turned professor/writer/holy fool. You can join his weekly email list by signing up at his website.
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Do I Stay Christian?: A Guide for the Doubters,
the Disappointed, and the Disillusioned Hardcover
by Brian D. McLaren (Author)
I remember the first time I considered the possibility that I might not stay Christian. I was somewhere around twelve years old, and I realized that my church (which I had been taught was the best, most "biblical" version of Christianity on earth) did not accept the theory of evolution. Since evolution made obvious sense to me -- especially after reading several literal six-day creation books that my parents gave me -- I thought, "OK. A few more years and I'll turn 18 and I'll be done with this religion for good."
Two things got in the way of my exit from church. First, a fellow a few years older than me invited me to a Bible study group where I met young Christians who thought that Christians could believe in evolution, read philosophy, and . Second, I had a powerful spiritual experience that made it harder for me to leave.
But even so, my spiritual life has been restless. I have struggled with Christian identity constantly. Perhaps people could sense this, which would explain why so many people have "come out" to me over the years as thinking about leaving Christian identity. Significant numbers of them have been clergy; when they work "behind the curtain," they see things that make it harder and harder to stay.
In 2021, my book "Faith After Doubt" came out. I synthesized the work of a number of researchers and theorists to present a four-stage model of spiritual growth: Simplicity (dualistic, oriented around authority figures), Complexity (pragmatic, oriented around accumulating knowledge and skills), Perplexity (skeptical, relativistic, oriented around critical thinking regarding one's own in-group), and Harmony (integrating previous stages in a compassionate understanding of human development). As I developed that four-stage model, I realized that most of the people who were leaving Christianity were entering Stage Three and Stage Four (Perplexity and Harmony). I hoped I could help them by addressing their situation in Do I Stay Christian?
Tripp Fuller and I have designed this four-week course to help you engage with the book in community with other participants. There will be a recorded presentation that we encourage you to watch before each Live Session. Your questions will frame the Live Sessions. You'll also have the opportunity to engage with other students on the Facebook group for this course. All the materials will be available online for at least a year, so if you miss a session, you can catch up asynchronously.
I know we'll have some fun along the way. (How can you not have fun when you're working with Tripp Fuller?) But I also know that struggles of religious identity are sensitive and touch the deepest part of us, so we'll proceed with all due seriousness and tenderness too, along with honesty and grace. I look forward to our conversations.
PS...Do I Stay Christian? Resources for you and your small groupYou may be interested in this excerpt from the book in the Daily Meditation from the Center for Action and Contemplation, of which I am honored to be a part:You’ll also find a three-part video guide to the book and an invitation to be part of a four-week online class and community HERE:This online course and community are a partnership with the amazing Tripp Fuller of Homebrewed Christianity … one of the really significant theological resources on the interwebs today.
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Homebrewed Class Outline
with Tripp Fuller & Brian McLaren
Our goal for this class is interactive engagement. We are excited to spend our four live sessions entirely shaped by the questions you send in as you read Do I Stay Christian. In order to make that time as enriching as possible, we developed two parts to class (other than the book of course).
1. Video Guide to Do I Stay Christian?
Brian and Tripp have already recorded and posted a three video series that walks through the book on the class resource page. Whenever you join this class, we invite you to use them as you read. You can watch them on your own, use them in a book/church group, or discuss them in the class Facebook group. We hope they provoke conversation and generate some important questions for the other main element of the class...
2. Live Sunday Sessions
Each Sunday night, we will have a live stream centering on and shaped by your questions. Participants will have multiple ways and opportunities to send in questions for the discussions. We are hoping the timing will work for both individuals and book/church groups. Whether or not you join live, the audio and video of each session will be available on the resource page.
- 9/11 - SESSION 1. Why?: The Crisis of Christian Identity
- 9/18 - SESSION 2. No!: Ten reasons not to stay Christian (or to think twice at least)
- 9/25 - SESSION 3. Yes: Ten reasons and ways to stay Christian (with your eyes wide open)
- 10/2 - SESSION 4. How?: Flipping the Question to How Am I Going to Live? (or What Kind of Human Do I Want to Be?)
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Meet the Hosts of Why Stay Christian?
BRIAN MCLAREN
Author & Public Theologian
Brian D. McLaren is an author, speaker, activist, and public theologian. A former college English teacher and pastor, he is a passionate advocate for “a new kind of Christianity” – just, generous, and working with people of all faiths for the common good. He is a faculty member of The Living School and podcaster with Learning How to See, which are part of the Center for Action and Contemplation. He is also an Auburn Senior Fellow and works closely with the Wild Goose Festival, the Fair Food Program, Vote Common Good, and Progressive Christianity. His recent projects include an illustrated children’s book (for all ages) called Cory and the Seventh Story and The Galapagos Islands: A Spiritual Journey, and Faith After Doubt. His newest book is Do I Stay Christian? and we are going to read it together.
TRIPP FULLER
University of Edinburgh
Dr. Fuller is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Theology & Science at the University of Edinburgh. He recently released Divine Self-Investment: a Constructive Open and Relational Christology, the first book in the Studies in Open and Relational Theology series. For over 14 years Tripp has been doing the Homebrewed Christianity podcast (think on-demand internet radio) where he interviews different scholars about their work so you can get nerdy in traffic, on the treadmill, or doing the dishes. Last year it had over 4 million downloads. It also inspired a book series with Fortress Press called the Homebrewed Christianity Guides to... topics like God, Jesus, Spirit, Church History, etc. Tripp is a very committed and (some of his friends think overly ) engaged Lakers fan and takes Star Wars and Lord of the Rings very seriously.
Brian's Podcast - "Learning How to See"
https://cac.org/podcast/learning-how-to-see/
Brian just launched the third season of his podcast Learning How to See. This season is informed by Do I Stay Christian?, and will challenge listeners to relearn how they see Christianity by embracing exploration over-explanation and dialogue over dogma.
Do I Stay Christian? a conversation with Brian McLaren about his new book
Streamed live on May 24, 2022
Brian McLaren joins Tripp to discuss his new book & the upcoming online reading group for "Do I Stay Christian?" You can get access to a 3 session video guide to the book when you join the class now.
the Book: https://amzn.to/3wAWHptthe Class: http://doistaychristian.com
Invite to "Do I Stay Christian?" with Brian McLaren
May 27, 2022
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Next Homebrewed Class - Why Stay Christian?
Why Stay Christian? with John Cobb
Apr 26, 2022
Dr. Cobb taught theology at the Claremont School of Theology from 1958 to 1990. In 2014 he became the first theologian elected to the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences for his interdisciplinary work in ecology, economics, and biology. He has published over 30 books including the first full-length text in eco-philosophy. I am thrilled to have John Cobb joining me for a 6-week class introducing Process Theology. This open online class is donation-based (including 0), so feel the lure and come nerd out with my favorite living theologian. http://www.ChristianityInProcess.com
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ADDITIONAL VIDEOS
ReThinking Christianity | S2E9 | Brian McLaren: Do I Stay Christian?
May 18, 2022
On Todays Episode I sit down with Brian McLaren to talk about his new upcoming titled called "Do I Stay Christian?" It was a great conversation all around a question that many people find themselves asking.
