Dear fellow evolutionary,

I recently interviewed 38 Christian luminaries from nearly every denomination—including Nobel laureates and Templeton Prize-winners. My quest? To learn how they are personally and professionally inspired by what God is revealing today—through science. What quickly became apparent was that, regardless of theological or liturgical differences . . .

  • we all see no conflict between faith & reason, head & heart, Jesus & Darwin
  • we all value scientific and historic evidence as divine communication
  • we all share a commitment to a just and healthy future

    • I am excited to make this breakthrough series available in a way that makes it easy to facilitate individual reflection and group discussion—whether you choose to use only a few of the 38 audio interviews (with transcripts) or many.

    Co-evolutionary grace and blessings,
    ~ Rev. Michael Dowd
     

    		     

    		    


       
     
    Nobel Prize Winning Scientists  
    Charles H. Townes, William D. Phillips

    Templeton Prize-Winners
    Ian Barbour, John Polkinghorne

    Roman Catholics
    Joan Chittister, John F. Haught, Richard Rohr,
    Ursula King, Kenneth R. Miller, Ilia Delio,
    Diarmuid O'Murchu, Gail Worcelo,
    Gloria Schaab, Mary Southard, Linda Gibler

    Mainline Protestants
    John Shelby Spong, Matthew Fox,
    John Cobb, Philip Clayton, Joan Roughgarden

    Evangelicals
    Karl W. Giberson, Denis Lamoureux,
    Owen Gingerich, Edward B. (Ted) Davis

                Emergent / Postmodern Evangelicals           
    Brian McLaren, Doug Pagitt,
    Spencer Burke, Sally Morgenthaler

    Progressive / Integral Christians
    Gretta Vosper, Tom Thresher,
    Ross Hostetter, Jim Burklo, Paul Smith

    Evidential Mystics
    Kevin Kelly, Michael Morwood,
    Bruce Sanguin, Ian Lawton, Michael Dowd
     

    		    
    		     What Is Evolutionary Christianity?

    EVOLUTIONARY CHRISTIANITY reflects all forms of Christian faith practiced by those who not only accept but cherish the scientific evidence of a cosmos and Earth billions of years old, in which life forms evolved via natural processes. The thought leaders in the Evolutionary Christianity movement share deep-time eyes and a global heart. All embrace scientific discoveries in meaningful, faith-enriching, life-enhancing ways. In their quest to bridge or integrate traditional wisdom with scientific revelation, Christian evolutionaries place immense value on nurturing fresh and inspiring interpretations of scripture and doctrines that arose in pre-scientific times.

    Recommended Uses

  • CLASSROOMS - religious studies in colleges and seminaries

  • DISCUSSION GROUPS - churches, book clubs, continuing education

  • LIVING ROOM GATHERINGS - of friends and family

    Selecting the Optimal Episodes for Participants

    Decide HOW MANY EPISODES to use, then choose by consulting:

  • Editor's Picks by topics of interest (pp 14-16 of Leaders Manual)
  • Summaries of the 38 Episodes (38 pages in PDF)
  • Topical Index to Study Guide Questions (13 pages in PDF)
    		•           


    Sample audio excerpts of 10 of the 38 conversations
    . . . or stream/DOWNLOAD ALL as a single audio (58 minutes)

     

    Denis Lamoureux

    		   

    Joan Chittister

    		   

    Bruce Sanguin

    		   

    Kenneth Miller

    		   

    Gail Worcelo

    		  

     

    Ross Hostetter

    		  

    Brian McLaren

    		  

    Philip Clayton

    		  

    Gretta Vosper

    		   

    John Spong

    		  

                           
           

     

    		    SCROLL DOWN AT LEFT . . .

    "This series helped change the direction of my spirituality. I will forever be grateful for the talks that took me to a much bigger view of God. Listening to these audios, while doing supplementary reading, gave me the confidence to go with my heart on this part of my journey, and I'm doing it with joy!" — Sheila Conner



    		     

          
     

    Directions for Course Leaders


     
    • Core Material: interviews with 38 Evolutionary Christian thought leaders

    • Formats: all 38 episodes can be listened to (audio mp3) and read (pdf transcript)

    • Time: each interview is between 40 and 75 minutes in length

    • Audio Quality: each interview was professionally edited for cogency and listener ease

    • Audio Downloads: an access code allows group leaders and learners to download episode audios onto their own computers and mp3 devices

    • Transcript Downloads: the carefully edited and keyword-hotlinked transcripts (in pdf) are unsecured so that teachers and students in classroom situations may highlight and paste entire paragraphs into their own digital documents for use in test questions and student essays
    		      

          
     

    Sample Study Guide


     

    		  

    • Flexibility: each episode is paired with its own study guide. The unsecured pdf format enables clergy, teachers, and other group leaders to highlight and paste into their own documents precisely those questions they wish to use, in whatever order they choose, and with the freedom to alter the template language

    • Assistance in Selecting Episodes: a primary focus of this study guide overview is to assist classroom teachers and discussion group leaders in selecting an optimal menu of episodes — given the time constraints, the context, and the goals of the institution or group facilitator

    • Transformative Education: the study guide questions (which are offered episode-by-episode) are carefully written to respect the beliefs and perspectives that participants may bring to their learning experience; nevertheless, both the interview process and question preparation were undertaken with the goal of becoming resources for gentle forms of self inquiry into one's life story and the experiential basis for one's values and beliefs.
    		      

          
     

    Index to Topics in Study Guide Questions

    		           
     

    "One of the wonderful things about this series is that Michael Dowd does an excellent job of tapping into the unique viewpoints and expertise of each person inter-viewed. As a result, each episode is fresh and revelatory — almost a stand-alone experience within the overall theme of the course. The more I engaged in the course, the deeper I felt a part of the "Big Story" itself." — Rev. Steve Maynard

    "Michael Dowd and his support team have done something that I would not have thought possible, namely, bringing together in one series 38 of the leading-edge thinkers in the area of Conscious Evolution / Evolutionary Spirituality. This much-needed convergence (not necessarily of specific ideas, but of general trajectory) leaves us all feeling that this really is an emerging worldview of great scope and power." — Don Smith     		      



    Single-Page Summaries of the 38 Episodes

    Click name on RIGHT for full-size summary pages:


    		       
    Ian Barbour

    Spencer Burke

    Jim Burklo

    Joan Chittister

    Philip Clayton

    John Cobb

    Ted Davis

    Ilia Delio

    Michael Dowd

    Matthew Fox

    Karl Giberson

    Linda Gibler

    Owen Gingerich

    John Haught

    Ross Hostetter

    Kevin Kelly

    Ursula King

    Denis Lamoureux

    Ian Lawton

    		         

    Brian McLaren

    Kenneth R. Miller

    Sally Morgenthaler

    Michael Morwood

    Diarmuid O'Murchu   

    Doug Pagitt

    William D. Phillips

    John Polkinghorne

    Richard Rohr

    Joan Roughgarden

    Bruce Sanguin

    Gloria Schaab

    Paul Smith

    Mary Southard

    John Spong

    Tom Thresher

    Charles Townes

    Gretta Vosper

    Gail Worcelo

     

     

     

    Pricing by Group Size for
    "The Advent of Evolutionary Christianity"

    SCROLL DOWN for INSTRUCTIONS


             ♦ LEADERS PACKAGE
           same download code may be shared by up to 3 course co-leaders
    • Leaders Manual (16 pages pdf)
    • Summaries of 38 Episodes (38 pages pdf)
    • Topical Index (13 pages pdf)
    • Guidance for Personal Reflection (15 pages pdf)
    • 38 AUDIOS (38 mp3 audios, 40-65 minutes each, 344 MB total download)
    • 38 TRANSCRIPTS (6 MB in pdf)
    • 38 STUDY GUIDES (9 MB in pdf)

    * NOTE: We want as many as possible to experience the inspirational power of these dialogues—without cost as a barrier. If $180 is too much for you or your institution, let us know and we'll provide a 50% discount. Email your request.

    		     
     

    $180 flat rate *

    Add to Cart

    See Leaders Instructions

    		        
         ♦ PARTICIPANTS PACKAGE
           each course participant purchases/downloads his or her own digital set
           (or course leader may purchase multiple copies in their behalf)
    • Guidance for Personal Reflection (15 pages pdf)
    • 38 AUDIOS (38 mp3 audios, 40-65 minutes each, 344 MB total download)
    • 38 TRANSCRIPTS (6 MB in pdf)


    		     
    $18 per participant

    See Participants Page

    		        
         ♦ OTHER COURSE OPTIONS
    • "EVOLUTIONARY CREATION" - a 10-episode subset of this series geared for Evangelicals and other theologically conservative participants

    • "EVOLUTIONARY CATHOLICS" - a 12-episode subset of this series geared for Roman Catholic participants


     LEADERS INSTRUCTIONS  

    We suggest you purchase your Leaders Package now, for the flat rate of $180. You will be given the opportunity to use Paypal or Google Checkout for your purchase (or to securely use a credit card if you lack an account with those payment intermediaries).

    Know that up to 3 course co-leaders may share the same download code that your purchase will provide. All components (pdf and mp3) of the Leaders package are easily downloadable, using the code you will purchase.

    You will then want to spend some time perusing the LEADERS PACKAGE in order to determine which of the 38 episodes to use in your course, and how to sequence them.

    When you are ready to recruit course participants and direct them to where and how to purchase/download their PARTICIPANT PACKAGE, you will:

      SEND PROSPECTIVE COURSE PARTICIPANTS to:      http://thegreatstory.org/ec-participants.html  

    Having each student go online and purchase his/her own Participant Package of downloadables is highly recommended — especially because latecomers will be able to purchase a download set and immediately begin to participate in the course.

    Alternative: If your organization prefers to directly pay for some or all participant materials, you will need to
    (a) determine the number of digital sets to purchase, and then (b) visit the participant webpage yourself and make the purchase (being sure to type in the number of sets you are purchasing). Your purchase will provide you with a single download code that you will then give to all the students.

    Begin the purchasing process . . .    OR    Contact us for more information . . .



     
    "I am an avid podcast listener, especially while exercising or doing chores. No other audio series has helped me as much as the Evolutionary Christianity series has.

    For many years I struggled on my own to understand how to integrate my Christian experience with the truth I found in science. I had already read or heard some of the guests, and so was looking forward to those episodes, but the range and caliber of all the guests is impressive. Among them are top-notch academics and leaders in spirituality discussing a topic that was deeply important to me — but almost taboo in my social circles.

    The series as a whole gave me reassurance that I wasn't alone. I encountered an abundance of ideas, perspectives, and paradigms presented in an accessible, engaging conversation. Michael Dowd's warm style and impressive knowledge gave the series a snap and sparkle difficult to match anywhere else."

    — Richard Powell

     

    "Listening to these conversations engendered in me a fuller understanding of my faith. What I learned continues to challenge me to explore more deeply both the Holy Scriptures and the depths of the natural world, i.e., the book of nature."

    — Ed Gibeau