Many Westerners are experiencing a transition in how we experience faith. Some very clear-cut expressions of faith that made a lot of sense to us just a few years back are not working so well now. In the last few years, some folks from all over the U.S. have started a conversation about what--adopting a phrase from the psychologist M. Scott Peck--we're calling "Stage 4 faith." This has encouraged us towards a new perspective on what we're hoping for from God--in the world at large and in our own lives. We've started small gatherings to continue this conversation--our most recent drew folks from thirteen states. We started this blog in mid-2008 to keep this conversation moving forward.
WHO WE ARE:
DAVE SCHMELZER: Dave has a background both in theology (Fuller Seminary, '87) and the arts (Stanford University, '84, and a decade as a working playwright). He leads a two-site church in the Boston area (Vineyard Christian Fellowship--Greater Boston, www.bostonvineyard.org), keeps his hand in some fiction writing, and lives just outside Boston with his wife, Grace and their five children.
E-mail: dave@notreligious.org
BRIAN HOUSMAN: While studying Political Philosophy in college, Brian ran across
Pascal’s idea that, ‘All people, without exception, seek
happiness.’ Ever since then, he’s been unashamedly seeking
happiness himself, and doing what he can to help others find it. He’s
particularly interested in seeing how faith and the Bible help us increase the
happiness of our everyday, actual lives.
Brian loves to grill meat, cook Italian food, play video games, and watch sports. He’s recently become an avid cyclist, and is prone to talking about cycling long after his listeners’ eyes glaze over.
When he’s not bicycling, writing about the Bible, or pastoring a church in Boston, Brian serves as the executive director of Not Religious, Inc.
Email: brian@notreligious.org
DAN LITTAUER: After being raised in MA on the South Shore, Dan attended Boston College and graduated in '06 with a B.A. in Philosophy and Theology. He went on to work for a seafood company for a year and a half before leaving his job as a fishmonger and moving back into Boston. As fun as it was to sell fish, Dan felt his Jesuit education was calling him elsewhere. In Boston he teamed up with Dave and several others to start the non-profit Not Religious, Inc.
When he's not philosophizing, Dan enjoys traveling, being outdoors, hiking, fishing, and sharing a frosty brew with some friends. As a joke last year, he and the rest of the groomsmen grew out mustaches to shock their friend's bride at the dress rehearsal. The results were stunning.
Email: dan@notreligious.org
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