Who we are.
We are a community of faith dedicated to sharing our beliefs and experiences with anyone seeking answers to spiritual questions. Launched in 1999, explorefaith.org is a non-profit organization with a growing list of Partner Churches that support its mission and development. Explorefaith.org and its associates are deeply committed to ongoing spiritual formation for people of all ages and all backgrounds, living in countries around the world.
What we believe.
We believe in an embracing, forgiving and merciful God whose chief characteristic is love. We believe God is constantly reaching out to us and that we can experience the heart of God through Jesus Christ. We believe that Christ bridges the chasms that separate us from God, and we seek to follow Christ's teachings in faith and action.
Why are we doing this?
Our sole reason for being is to provide an open, non-judgmental, private place for ANYONE interested in exploring spiritual issues. Our simple goal is to help you move along your journey in faith by providing rich and varied material about God, faith and spirituality. We celebrate diversity and respect the insights that can be gained through the wisdom of different denominations and religious traditions. Modeled upon the Episcopal approach to Christianity (open, experiential, ecumenical, emphasizing grace, forgiveness, and God's love), Explorefaith.org displays an openness to, and appreciation of a broad range of ideas, and a concurrent belief that through Jesus Christ we can experience the heart of God.
Most importantly, explorefaith.org was conceived and is dedicated to the glory of God. Following the model of Christ's ministry, we hope to engage you where you
are in your own distinct and separate yearnings for God, without barriers, pre-conditions or exclusions. We strive to be companions on your journey, offering food for thought and a community of fellow seekers. We hope that explorefaith.org will, in some measure, help you experience God's love for all humanity.
What do we want from you?
If you like what you experience on our Web site, please pass it on to a friend, through e-mail or word of mouth. Also please bookmark us and come back again. We will constantly be adding information and exploring additional spiritual issues.
Finally, if anything you experience here stimulates or interests you, e-mail us your thoughts. Though we do not have the resources to respond personally, we appreciate your input.
Thank you for visiting explorefaith.org.
Explorefaith.org is dedicated to providing information, thoughts and insights about God, faith and spirituality. We are not equipped to handle crisis intervention. If you are experiencing a crisis in your life, please contact your local church and/or crisis intervention service for counseling and assistance.
explorefaith.org Editorial Board
Michael Battle
Michael
Battle is Vice President, Associate Dean of Academic
Studies and Associate Professor of Theology at Virginia Theological
Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia. He has also served on the
faculty of Duke University and the University
of the South’s
School of Theology and as vice chairman of the
board of the Ghandi
Institute.
In addition to his roles as seminary administrator and
professor, Battle is a priest, writer, speaker and retreat
leader, focusing on Christian non-violence, human spirituality, and
African Church studies. He has worked as an inner-city chaplain
with Tony Campolo Ministries, and in Uganda and Kenya with
Plowshares Institute. A participant and worship committee member
of the Seventh Assembly of the World Council of Churches, he
has served on its central committee in Geneva and Johannesburg.
In 1993-94, Battle lived in residence with Archbishop Desmond
Tutu in South Africa and was ordained by Tutu in Cape Town, South
Africa. He holds certification in spiritual direction from
the Shalem Institute.
From his experience, Battle
has authored
such books as Reconciliation:
The Ubuntu Theology of Desmond Tutu; The
Wisdom of Desmond Tutu; and Blessed Are
The Peacemakers: A Christian Spirituality of Nonviolence. His
latest book, co-written
with Tony Campolo, is The Church Enslaved: A Spirituality
of Racial Reconciliation.
Visit Michael
Battle's Web site.
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Marcus Borg
A
renowned Jesus scholar with the highest of national and international
credits and praise, Dr. Borg has written many books including
his widely known Meeting
Jesus Again for the First Time and Reading
the Bible Again for the First Time
.
His most recent works are: The
Heart of Christianity, The
Last Week (co-authored with John Dominic Crossan), and
Jesus:
Uncovering the Life, Teaching and Relevance of a Religious Revolutionary
His work has been translated into nine languages; he lectures
extensively throughout North America and overseas.
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Fred Borsch
A retired Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, Frederick Borsch is presently Professor of Anglican Studies at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. Educated at Princeton, Oxford and the General Theological Seminary, his Ph.D. degree is from the University of Birmingham in England. He is presently also Adjunct Professor of Religion at the University of Southern California. Contributor of essays, articles and poetry to a number of journals and newspapers, he is the author or editor of 17 books, most recently The Spirit Searches Everything. He has been a conference leader and given university and seminary lectures at a number of institutions in this country and abroad.
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Fred Burnham
The Rev. Dr. Fred Burnham is the former director of Trinity Institute, a program for the continuing theological education of Episcopal clergy and laity sponsored by the Parish of Trinity Church, New York City. He was educated at Harvard, the Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge University, England, and The Johns Hopkins University, where he received a Ph.D. in the History of Science. He also holds an honorary degree from Hobart and William Smith Colleges. He writes and lectures on the relationship between science and religion.
During his sixteen-year tenure as the third director of Trinity Institute, Dr. Burnham has broadened the Institute's audience by inaugurating The Episcopal Cathedral Teleconferencing Network, an interactive
satellite-broadcasting medium.
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Jon
M. Sweeney
Jon
is the author of many books that present key people, events, and
legends of the Middle Ages to a wide audience. Just published
is Light in the Dark Ages: The Friendship of Francis and Clare
of Assisi, a selection of the History Book Club, Book-of-the-Month
Club, as well as the One Spirit, Crossings, Reader’s Subscription,
and Quality Paperback book clubs.
Others
include Strange Heaven: The
Virgin Mary as Woman, Mother, Disciple, and Advocate,
The Lure of Saints,
The St. Francis Prayer Book, The St. Clare Prayer
Book, and his memoir, Born
Again and Again, which was named one of the “Best
Books of 2005” by Spirituality & Health magazine
and awarded an “Award of Merit” by Christianity
Today.
Jon’s
look at embodied prayer across the religious traditions, Praying
with Our Hands, was featured on PBS’s “Religion
& Ethics Newsweekly”; and his edited version of Paul
Sabatier’s classic biography of St. Francis, The Road
to Assisi, was also a selection of History Book Club and
Book-of-the-Month Club.
For
many years, Jon was the co-founder and editor-in-chief of SkyLight
Paths Publishing, a multifaith trade book publisher in Vermont.
Since 2004, he has been the associate publisher at Paraclete Press.
In
addition to his book and film reviews and interviews for Explorefaith,
Jon writes for magazines including Catholic Digest and
The Lutheran.
He
is a frequent guest speaker to groups of all denominational backgrounds
on the subjects of understanding the Virgin Mary, Christian fundamentalism,
Francis and Clare of Assisi and Franciscan spirituality, and appreciating
the Catholic imagination. He was the featured speaker at The National
Cathedral in Washington, D.C. on St. Francis’s feast day
in 2004.
Jon
lives in Vermont with his wife and their two teenage children.
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Barbara Brown Taylor
Before becoming a full-time teacher in 1997, Barbara Brown Taylor spent fifteen years in parish ministry. In 2001, she joined the faculty of Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia, as adjunct professor of Christian spirituality. An editor-at-large for The Christian Century and sometime commentator on Georgia Public Radio, she is the author of ten books, including When God Is Silent (Cowley 1998) and Speaking of Sin: The Lost Language of Salvation (Cowley 2000).
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Phyllis Tickle
Phyllis
Tickle is the former Contributing Editor in Religion to Publisher's
Weekly, the international journal of the book industry.
Frequently quoted in sources like Newsweek, Time, Life, The
New York Times, USA Today, CNN, C-SPAN, PBS, BBC,
VOA, etc., Tickle is an authority on religion in America
and a much sought after lecturer on the subject. In addition
to lectures and numerous essays, articles, and interviews,
Tickle is the author of some two dozen books, most of them
in religion and spirituality. Two of her most current books
are: Prayer is a Place: America's Religious Landscape Observed and The
Graces We Remember: Sacred Days of Ordinary Time.
Visit Phyllis Tickle's Web site.
