One thing I’ve noticed since moving back to Florida is the large amount of liberal activist Christians that make their home in the Tampa Bay area.
Rev. Bruce Wright of the Refuge, the Unitarian Universalists and other liberal congregations make up large contingents of the peace movement. They also typically speak out on gay rights as well as issues affecting the area’s poor and homeless.
The national movement of open-minded religious folks seems to have noticed. Starting tomorrow, the “Everything Must Change Tour†gathers at the First Baptist Church (1900 Gandy Boulevard North) for two days of talks, workshops and generally uplifting socializing. The highlight of the event is a presentation by author/activist Brian McLaren, who wrote Everything Must Change (hence the name of the tour).
Says the press release:
The Tour will involve a wide range of people and communities - people who recognize that our world is in deep trouble but who have lost confidence in status-quo politics, science, business, or organized religion to come to the rescue; people of faith who are seeking ways to make a constructive, creative difference; people who identify themselves as “spiritual but not religiousâ€; people who have confidence in Jesus but feel the American church too often misses the point of Jesus’ message for the world; current or former pastors and church leaders who are wondering why things don’t seem to “work†in church today as they used to, along with creative emerging leaders with a fresh vision and hope.
For more information, and to register, visit deepshift.org or call the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church 1-800-282-8011
