A Call to Action
Hi, my name is Tom O’Donnell, and I’m a nobody. (Actually, I’m a very special, unique human being, a beloved child of God, just as we all are, but you know what I mean.) I am an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ serving Plymouth Bethesda U.C.C. in Utica, New York.
Set forth below is a Statement of Purpose for this website. It is an aggressive purpose, a purpose not without risk, but in my judgment, an absolutely necessary purpose to pursue -- to encourage, challenge, demand moderate and liberal Christians alike to join in the fray of public conversations concerning social and theological issues that the evangelical Christian right is currently dominating. In so doing, together we can reclaim Jesus.
Necessarily, this is a Bottom Up Movement. It can’t be Top Down since the leadership of virtually all Christian denominations is too busy trying to be all things to all its members – both far right and far left. For the Movement to work, I am convinced we must come together to discuss fundamental scientific, epistemological, and theological issues such as the role of “worldviews;” the meaning of “truth,” “faith,” “reality;” the relationship of Science and Religion; the “sacred” nature of scripture and how it is to be interpreted; the Great Commandment, the Great Commission, and how this all fits together in a multi-cultural, interfaith world.
So, again, welcome. Please take some time to familiarize yourself with how the website “works.” You will find a complete set of the 95 Theses for the 21st Century as the heart and soul of the website. In addition to recommended readings and websites, we will be posting blogs and inviting comments on a wide range of theological and social issues facing Christianity today.
Also available are podcasts (audio presentations) of my weekly messages. Finally, please take a moment to learn more about "Mainlining Christianity," my book. It is my sincere hope that you will find this website beneficial, both practically and spiritually, and that you will become an active participant in what goes on here. This is, of course, the only way a Bottom Up movement can work.
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