re-church network

We are excited to introduce a small group of speakers who will respond, on Monday afternoon, to what we’re all hearing. Our hope is that their contributions will broaded and deepen the conversation as we head into the home stretch. They come from a variety of different perspectives. They are…

Ryan Bolger
Ryan Bolger joined Fuller Theological Seminary faculty in 2002 and is associate professor of church in contemporary culture in the School of Intercultural Studies. With his research focusing on the emerging and missional church movements, he teaches classes on contemporary culture, including postmodern, postcolonial, American, and new media cultures, exploring the implications these cultures have on Christian witness.

With Fuller’s Eddie Gibbs, Bolger co-authored Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Communities in Postmodern Cultures (2005), based on research and interviews with church leaders throughout the U.S. and U.K.

For his research on pastoral leadership in the emerging church, Bolger received an award from Duke Divinity School in 1999, and in 2005, he received an award from Yale for his teaching on American culture and the gospel. He is a member of the Allelon Mission to Western Culture Project and, additionally, has been one of the founding voices in the dialogue between the emerging church and emerging synagogue.

Trisha Famisaran
Trisha Famisaran is currently enrolled in a Dual Degree program at Claremont Graduate University for a M.A. in Philosophy and a Ph.D. in Philosophy of Religion and Theology. She completed a B.A. in History and Political Science at La Sierra University and a M.A. in Theology at Claremont School of Theology. Trisha’s academic interests include ethics, postmodern thought, poststructuralist thought, process philosophy and theology, and gender studies. Her dissertation will be a constructive postmodern theology of, broadly speaking, divine action and human agency and will explore the God/world relationship while taking into account the role of language, deconstruction, and hermeneutics. She currently works at the Center for Process Studies in Claremont, California, where she is the Communications Director and Editor of the Center’s newsmagazine, Process Perspectives. Trisha occasionally teaches undergraduate courses in the Religion department at La Sierra University.

Samir Selmanovic
Samir Selmanovic, Ph.D., grew up in a European Muslim family and served as a pastor and community organizer in Manhattan during 9/11 and its aftermath. Samir represents Emergent Village on the Interfaith Relations Commission of the National Council of Churches and is a part of the Leadership Team of Re-church Network. He is the founder of Faith House Manhattan, a community led by a Priest, a Rabbi, and an Imam, seeking to interpret and live out their respective traditions in a way that blesses The Other (www.faithhousemanhattan.org). Samir writes, advocates, and speaks nationally and internationally. His book It’s Really All About God: A Journey of a Muslim Atheist Jewish Christian will be published by Jossey-Bass in 2009.

Ryan Bell
Ryan Bell is the senior pastor of the Hollywood Seventh-day Adventist Church where he has served since June 2005. He received his Master of Divinity degree from Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan and is now completing a Doctor of Ministry in Missional Leadership from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California.

For the past three and half years, he and his congregation have been active in the Hollywood community and the city of Los Angeles bearing witness to God’s reign by, in part, working for solutions to some of the most intractable social problems including homelessness, affordable housing and human trafficking through advocacy and faith-based community organizing.

The Hollywood Adventist Church is home to a growing community of artists – fine artists, photographers, filmmakers, musicians, actors, graphic designers, interior designers, writers and architects. Ryan and his family live in Los Angeles, just two miles from the church.

Ryan is also the co-founder and director of re-church: a network of emerging, missional Seventh-day Adventist congregations across North America. He has written numerous articles and contributed to several books, including The Peacemaking Remnant. He blogs at www.ryanjbell.net.