ORT Shorts

In this episode, Dr. Oord re-engages with the new book from Michael Rose entitled, Made By Love, For Love: Reimagining God, Power, and Faith in Light of Relentless Love.

Made by Love, for Love invites readers to reimagine Christianity—not as a drama of sin and obligatory appeasing sacrifice, but as a cosmic love story still unfolding.

Drawing from the evolutionary vision of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and the Open and Relational theology of Thomas Jay Oord, this book reveals a God whose very nature is Love—noncoercive, relational, persistent, and ripe with creative potential.

In this episode Dr. Oord re-engages with Steve Watson's new book entitled All Flesh Shalom: Larger, Freer, More Loving Readings of the Good News of Jesus

From the book description:  So many of the forms of Christianity we have inherited have disappointed us. We’ve been offered a faith that seems to make people smaller, more rigid, and more violent. This is why James Baldwin once wrote, “If the concept of God has any validity or any use, it can only be to make us larger, freer, and more loving. If God cannot do this, then it is time we got rid of Him.”

In this groundbreaking work of constructive Christian theology, Steve Watson takes Baldwin’s challenge seriously. He dissects some of white Western Christianity’s most narrow and misguided readings of the life and teaching of Jesus. And in conversation with leading open and relational and postcolonial, liberation theologians, Steve explores ways we can engage major themes in the gospels in the service of a larger, freer, more loving faith.

In this episode, Dr. Oord engages with the new book from Michael Rose entitled, Made By Love, For Love: Reimagining God, Power, and Faith in Light of Relentless Love.

Made by Love, for Love invites readers to reimagine Christianity—not as a drama of sin and obligatory appeasing sacrifice, but as a cosmic love story still unfolding.

Drawing from the evolutionary vision of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and the Open and Relational theology of Thomas Jay Oord, this book reveals a God whose very nature is Love—noncoercive, relational, persistent, and ripe with creative potential.

In this episode Dr. Oord engages with Steve Watson's new book entitled All Flesh Shalom: Larger, Freer, More Loving Readings of the Good News of Jesus

From the book description:  So many of the forms of Christianity we have inherited have disappointed us. We’ve been offered a faith that seems to make people smaller, more rigid, and more violent. This is why James Baldwin once wrote, “If the concept of God has any validity or any use, it can only be to make us larger, freer, and more loving. If God cannot do this, then it is time we got rid of Him.”

In this groundbreaking work of constructive Christian theology, Steve Watson takes Baldwin’s challenge seriously. He dissects some of white Western Christianity’s most narrow and misguided readings of the life and teaching of Jesus. And in conversation with leading open and relational and postcolonial, liberation theologians, Steve explores ways we can engage major themes in the gospels in the service of a larger, freer, more loving faith.

Theology Beer Camp 2026 will take place Oct. 8-10 in Kansas City, MO.

Thomas Jay Oord and Jonathan Foster will facilitate a special Theology Beer Camp pregame all day on October 8 alongside theologians, authors, philosophers, and practitioners exploring topics like:

• Open and relational theology and an evolving God
• Preaching and ministry through an ORT lens
• Theology centered on love and relationship
• Whitehead, Teilhard de Chardin, and process thought
• Neuro-relational theology
• Faith, freedom, science, creativity, and the future

For full information and registration for Theology Beer Camp Pregame visit:

https://theologybeer.camp/pre-event

In this episode Dr. Oord engages with Brandon Evans book entitled The Parable of the Road.

The Parable of the Road is a fiercely funny, brutally honest, and ultimately healing post-evangelical novel about rediscovering God and recovering hope. With biting wit and deeply tender insight, it’s a redemptive story that will be cathartic for anyone searching for meaning on the other side of deconstructed faith.

In this episode Dr. Oord engages with the new book from Ulrick Dam entitled Inspire, Equip, Empower: How to Lead with Love, Inspire Your People, and Build a Thriving Church.

Author Ulrick Dam understands Church leadership is hard and can be messy, exhausting, and often lonely. Yet it can also be life-giving, transformative, and grounded in the radical way of Jesus.

Inspire, Equip, Empower offers a new path forward – one rooted in relational leadership, bold compassion, and everyday courage. This book won’t give you three magic steps. But it will give you tools, stories, and a framework to build a church that thrives on love, justice, and empowerment.

In this episode Dr. Oord engages with the new little book from Ian Todd entitled Veridical-Experiential Theology (VET): Christianity that takes 'extraordinary' evidence seriously.

In the book, author Ian Todd explores three areas of evidence are considered: near-death experiences (including out-of-body experiences), reincarnation and miraculous healings. The result is that VET is neither theologically conservative/fundamental nor ultra-liberal but is compatible with progressive theologies such as Open and Relational Theology.

In this episode Dr. Oord engages with the book from Jonathan Bentley entitled Shadowing St. Francis: A Pilgrimage of Sacred Emergence in the Age of AI.

Blending travel narrative with open and relational theology, Shadowing St. Francis follows Jonathan Bentley from Florence to Assisi to Rome, walking the ancient path of a man who still has something to say — to those exhausted by certainty, wounded by the church, and wondering what faith looks like in a world of algorithms and anxiety.

In this episode Dr. Oord continues to engage with the book Renewing Faith: Reigniting Faith and Ministry through Process and Open and Relational Theologies, a compilation of essays written for pastors, spiritual leaders and seekers ready to reimagine Christianity for today's world.

Dr. Oord reads a portion of one of the essays entitled A Faith Adventure, by Carlton Larsen who recounts the ways in which process theology has reinvigorated his faith.