Brian D. McLaren is an author, speaker, pastor, and, most notably, an Emergent Church Leader. His groundbreaking books include A New Kind of Christianity, A Generous Orthodoxy, The Secret Message of Jesus, and Everything Must Change.
Named by Time magazine as one of America’s top twenty-five evangelicals in the emergent church movement, McLaren has appeared on Nightline and Larry King Live, and has been covered by The Washington Post and the New York Times.
Recently, I talked with Brian regarding his soon-to-be-released book, We Make the Road by Walking: A Year-Long Quest for Spiritual Formation, Reorientation, and Activation.
Organized around the traditional church year, with the fifty-two readings providing an overview of the whole Bible, the book takes an individual or a group of friends through a year of rich study, interactive learning, and personal growth.
If you’re seeking a fresh way to experience and practice your faith, if you’re a long-term Christian seeking new vitality, or if you feel out of place in traditional church circles, Brian’s new book will be sure to inspire and activate you in your spiritual journey.
In my own opinion, Brian ranks highest among the truly respected emergent church leaders.
In this 19-minute interview, Brian speaks briefly to many of my readers who rank themselves as among “the spiritual but not religious.” Then, he shares the content, as well as his hopes, for his newest book.
Here’s some additional biographical information on the emergent church leader, Brian McLaren. You can visit his website, too, for resources and a schedule of his upcoming appearances.
Born in 1956, he graduated from University of Maryland with degrees in English (BA, summa cum laude, 1978, and MA, in 1981). His academic interests included Medieval drama, Romantic poets, modern philosophical literature, and the novels of Dr. Walker Percy. In 2004, he was awarded a Doctor of Divinity Degree (honoris causa) from Carey Theological Seminary in Vancouver, BC, Canada, and in 2010, he received a second honorary doctorate, this one from Virginia Theological Seminary (Episcopal).
From 1978 to 1986, McLaren taught college English, and in 1982, he helped form Cedar Ridge Community Church, an innovative, nondenominational church in the Baltimore-Washington region (crcc.org). He left higher education in 1986 to serve as the church’s founding pastor and served in that capacity until 2006. During that time, Cedar Ridge earned a reputation as a leader among emerging missional congregations.
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 for denominational and ecumenical leadership gatherings – across the US and Canada, Latin America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. His public speaking covers a broad range of topics including postmodern thought and culture, Biblical studies, evangelism, leadership, global mission, spiritual formation, worship, pastoral survival and burnout, inter-religious dialogue, ecology, and social justice.
Here are the names of a few others, but there are many, including myself: Marcus Borg Doug Pagitt Rob Bell
