User:MBDowd
From Evolutionary Spirituality
The following formal bio is cut and pasted from my website. More important than all that stuff, however, is the fact that I'm the father of three utterly amazing and wonderful children: Sheena (22), Shane (20), and Miriam (15). I have a deep and abiding trust in Time, a passionate love affair with Reality (on it's own terms), and am intensely curious about evolutionary spirituality in all its emerging forms. Nothing is more important to me than evolutionary integrity. I love meaningful conversations (I am the originator of Evolutionary salons), and for one-on-one or small group conversations, I much prefer phone or in-person meetings to email.
And IMHO, this wiki is just about the coolest thing I've ever seen or experienced!
THE REV. MICHAEL DOWD, a charismatic preacher, teacher, and evolutionary theologian, has been called "America's evolutionary evangelist." His 1991 book, EarthSpirit: A Handbook for Nurturing an Ecological Christianity, was one of the earliest attempts to look appreciatively at New Testament faith from the perspective of a modern cosmology. During the 1980s and 90s, Michael pastored three United Church of Christ congregations, worked with Jewish, Roman Catholic, Protestant, Evangelical, Unitarian Universalist, and New Thought leaders across America on environmental, peace, and justice issues, and managed government funded Sustainable Lifestyle Campaigns on both coasts. His great joy in life is telling the history of everyone and everything in ways that touch, move, and inspire people of all ages and theological orientations.
At home in both conservative and liberal settings, and uniquely gifted at building bridges between theists and atheists, spiritual seekers and humanists, Michael is passionate about sharing the 14 billion year epic of evolution in ways that uplift and expand heart, mind, and soul.
Michael and his wife Connie Barlow, a popular science writer, live permanently on the road, teaching and preaching "the marriage of science and religion for personal and planetary wellbeing" in churches and living rooms as well as in public and private schools all across North America. Their website: The Great Story one of the best community empowerment tools in the evolutionary spirituality movement, consistently generates nearly a half million hits per month. It is an excellent resource for those working to heal the rift between science and religion, and for those envisioning a just, healthy, beautiful, and sustainably lifegiving world for future generations of all species.
The Unitarian Universalist Association’s national membership publication (UU World) just published a FABULOUS lead article on the Great Story, the emerging evolutionary spirituality movement, and Michael and Connie's itinerant teaching and preaching ministry. Here’s the link to the cover article: The Wonder of Evolution.
Another excellent article written on Michael and Connie's ministry and message appeared in "What is Enlightenment?" magazine: Preachers of a New Pentecost.
Further background -
Michael graduated summa cum laude both from Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri (affiliated with the Assemblies of God), where he received a B.A. in biblical studies and philosophy, and from Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (affiliated with the American Baptist Church), where he earned his Master of Divinity degree. Rev. Dowd served as a congregational minister for nine years, pastoring churches in Massachusetts, Ohio, and Michigan.
In 1995 Rev. Dowd began working with the religious leadership of the United States on social and environmental issues that were coming up for a vote in Congress, as Religious Organizer for the Washington D.C. based National Environmental Trust. From 1997 to 2000 he headed the first government-funded program designed to produce large-scale citizen behavioral change along stewardship lines in the United States: The Portland Sustainable Lifestyle Campaign, in Portland, Oregon. In 2000 and 2001 he served as Campaign Manager of Global Action Plan's EcoTeam and Livable Neighborhood Programs in Rockland County, New York. Both programs helped neighbors build trust and a greater sense of community by supporting each other in living more stewardship-based lifestyles and creating healthier, friendlier, safer neighborhoods. Rev. Dowd has addressed more than 1000 religious and secular groups over the past 25 years. He has served on the board of directors of the North American Conference on Christianity and Ecology; the Ohio Conference UCC Integrity of Creation, Justice, and Peace task force; and the Hudson Valley Sustainable Communities Network. He has also served on the steering committees of the International Network of Biblical Storytellers and the UCC Network for Environmental and Economic Responsibility.
For descriptions and video clips of some of Michael's best and most popular programs, see here and here.
Click here to see PHOTOS of Michael and his wife, popular science writer Connie Barlow.
To see Michael and Connie's acclaimed evolutionary spirituality website, which generates nearly a half million hits per month, click: The Great Story website.
Articles by Michael (all can be accessed here):
"Let's Stop Trivializing God, the Universe, and Our Role in Evolution" (2005)
"Giving God Glory in Evolution" (2004)
"Biblical Christianity and the Great Story" (2002)
"A Great Story Perspective on the UCC Statement of Faith" (1990)
"Ecozoic Activism" - PDF (2001, EarthLight)
"The Gospel of Evolution" - PDF (2001)
"The Big Picture: The Larger Context for All Human Activity" (1992)
"Earth or "the earth": What's in a Name?" (1991)
Michael also has a companion website: Evolutionary Christianity. "Evolutionary Christianity" is an integral vision of Christian faith that honors biblical and traditional understandings, conservative and liberal, while enthusiastically embracing an evolutionary worldview. It sees the entire history of the Universe and emergent complexity of matter, consciousness, culture, and technology in a sacred, God-glorifying way.
Email address: Michael@TheGreatStory.org