Brian McLaren

Brian D. McLaren is a prominent, controversial voice in the Emerging Church movement. He was recognized as one of Time magazine's "25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America," and is the founding pastor of Cedar Ridge Community Church in Spencerville, Maryland.

Biography

Born in 1956, Brian McLaren graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park with degrees in English (BA, summa cum laude, 1978, and MA, 1981). His academic interests include medieval drama, romantic poets, modern philosophical literature, and the novels of Dr. Walker Percy. He is also a musician and songwriter.

Something’s Going On

McLaren says "Something’s Going On" and traditional views are changing. We are in "deep shift":

What does it mean, in today’s world, to be a follower of God in the way of Jesus?

What does it mean to be a faith community engaged in the holistic, integral mission of God in our world today?

How do we, as individuals and organizations, respond faithfully to the crises facing our world?

What is our duty to God, ourselves, our families, our neighbors, our enemies, and our planet in light of Jesus’ radical message of the kingdom of God?

How can we engage in personal formation and theological reformulation for global transformation?

(©2007 deepshift.org)

After several years of teaching English and consulting in higher education, he left academia in 1986 to become the founding pastor of Cedar Ridge Community Church, a nondenominational church in the Baltimore-Washington region. The church has grown to involve several hundred people, many of whom were previously unchurched. In 2004 he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity from the Carey Theological College in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

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