Kester Brewin certainly has a different take on the story of the prodigal! Pirate Theology is not a homiletical method that I’ve ever employed. But then pirates tend to work for themselves. Brewin’s playful pirate theology encourages us to leave our places of comfort in order to view a familiar story as a tragedy in order to grasp what he calls “radical theology” in which we take responsibility for who we are rather than defer to “the Big Other”.
Brewin is a founding member of Vaux-London, a collective of artists and faithful urban dwellers that served as an early model of fresh expressions of church in the UK.
Kester teaches Mathematics in London and works as a consultant for the BBC, as well as writing for the national educational press. He is also an acclaimed poet and has been described by Brian McLaren as ‘one of the leading public theologians for a new generation of thoughtful Christians.’
A month ago, I journeyed back to the city where I lived when I was but a child to attend Peter Rollins’ Tricks of the Light Festival. There I was privileged to explore radical theology with about fifty fellow tricksters from around the world. It was an amazing experience which took me into the realm of the Great Beyond. This merry band was collected together by glimpses of magic each of us has garnered from Pete Rollins’ work. Together we encouraged, challenged, comforted and inspired one another to step beyond ourselves, our ideas, our carefully constructed realities, so that we might see visions of the Perhaps that lives in, with, through, and beyond us all. For three amazing days and four rollicking nights we let loose our trickster-selves on the city of Belfast.
Fellow trickster, Laura Landry created the video below which captures the flavour of our experiences together. Iain Archer, who preformed a private concert on the closing night of the festival, provides the musical backdrop and you will see glimpses of the amazing tricksters who spoke at the festival including: John Caputo, Kester Brewin, Barry Taylor, Gladys Ganiel, the God-father of Punk – Terry Hooley, and the man himself – Peter Rollins. A big thank-you to Belfast’s own fearless, intrepid, trickster Adam Turkington not only for keeping Pete from leading us all astray, but for ensuring that each and every one of us enjoyed so many of the sights, sounds, pleasures, and magic of Belfast!
As for Pete, the instigator of this grand adventure, when he’s not inspiring tricksters in the flesh, he’s doing so with his work. Check out his latest book The Divine Magician: The Disappearance of Religion and the Discovery of Faith. But be warned: Pete’s work will inspire you to more than a few tricks of your own!!! As for me, I am forever changed, transformed by the tricks of the light Pete magically creates!!!
For those of you who enjoyed Kester Brewin’s playful, pirate theological take on the Prodigal this conversation will help you walk off the plank and into the sea of “radical theology. Kester Brewin, Peter Rollins, and Barry Taylor engage in conversation at Fuller Theological Seminary explore what they and others in the emergent church are calling “radical theology”. Radical theology seeks to move beyond current concerns about how we do church or express our faith in the 21st century to a movement that seeks to reject traditional notions of “God”.
Kester Brewin certainly has a different take on the story of the prodigal! Pirate Theology is not a homiletical method that I’ve ever employed. But then pirates tend to work for themselves. Brewin’s playful pirate theology encourages us to leave our places of comfort in order to view a familiar story as a tragedy in order to grasp what he calls “radical theology” in which we take responsibility for who we are rather than defer to “the Big Other”.
Brewin is a founding member of Vaux-London, a collective of artists and faithful urban dwellers that served as an early model of fresh expressions of church in the UK.
Kester teaches Mathematics in London and works as a consultant for the BBC, as well as writing for the national educational press. He is also an acclaimed poet and has been described by Brian McLaren as ‘one of the leading public theologians for a new generation of thoughtful Christians.’
Kester Brewin certainly has a different take on the story of the prodigal! Pirate Theology is not a homiletical method that I’ve ever employed. But then pirates tend to work for themselves. Brewin’s playful pirate theology encourages us to leave our places of comfort in order to view a familiar story as a tragedy in order to grasp what he calls “radical theology” in which we take responsibility for who we are rather than defer to “the Big Other”.
