PROGRESSIVE CHRISTIAN CALENDAR – 2014

Evolution Sunday: Sunday, Feb 9, 2014 – an opportunity for serious discussion and reflection in worship on the compatibility of religion and science.

My book, BIRDLIKE AND BARNLESS: Meditations, Prayers, and Songs for Progressive Christians, is a “book of common prayer” for progressive Christians. These “Sundays” are described more fully in it:

Blessing of the Taxes: Sunday, April 13, 2014 – a time in worship to consecrate our tax payments for the work of the common good, and to pray for wisdom and action as citizens to make sure our taxes are spent in the interests of compassion, justice, and peace.

Pluralism Sunday: Sunday, May 4, 2014 – a time to celebrate religious pluralism in churches around the world by including speakers and elements from other religions in worship, to manifest Christianity without claiming that our religion is superior to others. Souljourn is a project associated with my new novel of the same name, urging people to explore the world’s religions in their own back-yards, and encouraging congregations to announce themselves as welcoming to “souljourners” who come to visit for that purpose: you can indicate this for your congregation on its webpage with the attached graphic.

St Buddha’s Day: Tues Aug 26, 2014 – celebrate on Sun, Aug 24 – Long ago, Christianity accidentally made Buddha into one of its saints. For a while in the Middle Ages, an apocryphal story about Ioasaph, a philosophically-minded Indian prince who converted to Christianity, circulated widely in Europe. The Eastern Orthodox Church gave him a “saint’s day” on its calendar. Historians believe that Ioasaph was Bodhisattva, the Buddha. St. Buddha’s Day is an opportunity for churches to honor the contributions of Buddhism to global spirituality.