Diana Butler Bass

Diana Butler Bass is an award-winning author, popular speaker, inspiring preacher, and one of America’s most trusted commentators on religion and contemporary spirituality.  Diana’s passion is sharing great ideas to change lives and the world – a passion that ranges from informing the public about spiritual trends, challenging conventional narratives about religious practice, entering the fray of social media with spiritual wisdom and smart theology, and writing books to help readers see themselves, their place in history, and God differently.

Brian McLaren

Brian D. McLaren is an author, speaker, activist, and public theologian. A former college English
teacher and pastor, he is a passionate advocate for “a new kind of Christianity” – just, generous, and working with people of all faiths for the common good. He is a faculty member of  The Living School and podcaster with Learning How to See, which are part of the Center for Action and Contemplation. He is also an Auburn Senior Fellow and works closely with the Wild Goose Festival, the Fair Food Program, Vote Common Good, and Progressive Christianity. His recent projects include an illustrated children’s book (for all ages) called Cory and the Seventh Story, Faith After Doubt, Do I Stay Christian?, and Life After Doom.

John J. Thatamanil

John J. Thatamanil teaches a wide variety of courses in the areas of comparative theology, theologies of religious diversity, Hindu-Christian dialogue, the theology of Paul Tillich, theory of religion, process theology, and ecotheology. He is committed to the work of comparative theology—theology that learns from and with a variety of traditions. A central question that drives his work is, “How can Christian communities come to see religious diversity as a promise rather than as a problem?” He is also committed to Dzogchen meditation and includes time for meditation in virtually all of his courses at Union.

John J. Thatamanil is Professor of Theology and World Religions at Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York. He is the author of Circling the Elephant: A Comparative Theology of Religious Diversity (2020) and The Immanent Divine: God, Creation, and the Human Predicament; An East-West Conversation. His areas of research include theologies of religious diversity, comparative theology, philosophical theology, and ecotheology. He is committed to seeking interreligious wisdom by learning from the practices and insights of other religious traditions. He is also a Past President of the North American Paul Tillich Society.

John is also an Anglican Priest in and Diocesan Theologian for the Diocese of Islands and Inlets. John was born in Kerala, India and migrated to the US as a child when he was just shy of 9. He traces his love for Indian religious traditions to his desire to learn more about what it means to be an Indian kid growing up in the US.

John is married to Kate Newman who is the Religious Educator at Christ Church Cathedral School and currently a PhD student at the University of Victoria. He is father to Moses Dryden and Kate Fulton-John. The “Two Kates” problem is a source of regular hilarity at home.