TCPC Founder
Send an Email to James Rowe Adams

In 1994, I founded The Center for Progressive Christianity, a non-profit corporation that encourages churches to focus their attention on those for whom organized religion has proved to be ineffectual, irrelevant, or repressive. When I stepped down from the presidency in 2004, TCPC had a mailing list of over 3,500 people. Our online directory lists 312 affiliated congregations and organizations, representing 12 denominations as well as independent and ecumenical groups. TCPC is the U.S. branch of an international network of autonomous progressive Christianity networks that includes South Australia, New Zealand, Britain, Ireland, and Canada.

Besides serving TCPC as an honorary advisor, I am a member of the Honorary Advisory Council for the Canadian Centre for Progressive Christianity and of the Advisory Panel for the Faith Futures Foundation, which has offices in the U.S. and Australia.

Until I retired from parish ministry in 1996, I had served for nearly thirty years as rector of St. Mark’s Church on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. After being on the verge of collapse, St. Mark’s had taken a new lease on life in the mid-fifties by concentrating on the arts and adult Christian education. A flourishing congregation of over nine hundred members by the time I left, the church had attracted such a large number of people who had given up on organized religion that the Washington Post once called St. Mark’s “a citadel of enlightened Christianity”.

Before St. Mark’s, I served at St. Christopher’s Church in Lanham, Maryland — first as vicar and later as rector. My first post as an ordained person was curate at St. John’s Church, Georgetown, in Washington, D.C.

I am the author of From Literal to Literary — The Essential Reference Book for Biblical Metaphors (Rising Star Press, 2005; 2nd edition, Pilgrim Press, 2008), So You Think You’re Not Religious? A Thinking Person’s Guide to the Church (Cowley, 1989) and of So You Can’t Stand Evangelism? A Thinking Person’s Guide to Church Growth (Cowley, 1994). Verna Dozier and I wrote Sisters and Brothers: Reclaiming a Biblical Idea of Community (Cowley, 1993). I also collaborated on several study courses and books published by the Alban Institute. My first book was The Sting of Death (Seabury, 1971).

I hold a Bachelor of Arts degree from The George Washington University and a Bachelor of Sacred Theology degree from the Episcopal Theological School. My wife Ginny and I live in Cambridge, Massachusetts. We have three daughters and five grandchildren.

[weblog]

God Talk
At the forum last year, Wes Seeliger posed for us the basic issue of our day: the question of God. It is not about how you get saved, or what are the sacraments. The question is what do you mean by the term "God"? Are we ...
MORE

How Do You Know What to Believe? The Risks of Perpetuating a Hoax, Online or Off
From: Jim AdamsSent: Thursday, December 20, 2001 11:18 AM To: [everyone on his personal mailing list] Subject: Virus Warning Importance: HighI just received this message and learned that I had this virus, and chances are you have ...
MORE

Risking Art, Risking Faith
Reflections on the TCPC 1999 Forum and the intersection of religion and creativity....
MORE

In Defense of “Lord” in Liturgy
As an occasional celebrant and preacher in parish churches and in the Episcopal Divinity School chapel, I am aware that the word “Lord” offends some people whenever they encounter the term in a service of worship. For ...
MORE

In Defense of “Our God” in Liturgy
In the May 2002 issue of the TCPC newsletter, James R. Adams, our much admired former president, presented an article entitled, “In Defense of ‘Lord’ in Liturgy.” His arguments boil down to: Men have been comfortable ...
MORE

Bailey White: Theologian
From the story, "Sleep and Prayer," author and NPR commentator Bailey White observes: "I know it’s not a good idea to make generalizations about theological issues, but for some people at least, I’m pretty ...
MORE

Confessions of a Conservative
In our declarations about the Jesus whom we follow, Progressive Christians should insist that we conserve the best of what we know and what we have always known: God loves everybody. For Jim Adams, that is a conservative position....
MORE

Metaphorically-Challenged
Some people have problems with metaphors. The poet John Brehm had one of these metaphorically challenged people in a freshman class that was studying Matthew Arnold’s classic nineteenth-century poem Dover Beach, which likens ...
MORE

The Story of the Magi: Biblical Origins of Anti-Semitism
"A little learning is a dang'rous thing"Alexander Pope (1688-1744)When Alexander Pope wrote about the dangers of a little learning, he might not have had the Bible in mind. In the eighteenth century, few people realized ...
MORE

The War on Terrorism
In the grip of the grief, rage, and fear that were evoked by the September 11 attack on the United States, many people turned to God. Churches, synagogues, temples, and mosques were filled with worshipers seeking comfort and meaning ...
MORE

Responding to our Critics
People objecting to positions taken by The Center for Progressive Christianity play an important role in helping us to define more clearly who and what we are. One such person and I had an E-mail exchange that began with a message ...
MORE

What’s an "Abomination?" One Progressive Christian's Perspective
All too often I have heard people attacking gays and lesbians, saying that they are an abomination to God. I wonder if such people have ever bothered to check their Bibles for the meaning of the word. I did, and this is what I found. ...
MORE

What's In a Name?
More than one person took me to task for using the adjective "reactionary" to describe the point of view I found in the newsletter United Voice.Although I thought that the description was accurate, I though I had best check ...
MORE

Why TCPC Advocates Equal Rights for Gay and Lesbian People
The Center for Progressive Christianity supports lesbians and gays in their quest for justice in the church and in society. Some of our members feel so strongly about the issue that they have declared their readiness to break ecclesiastical ...
MORE

What Can Progressive Christians Say About "Sin" and "Original Sin"?
Some of our detractors have suggested that in our attempt to include all people, we have abandoned the concept of sin. Not so. In both the Hebrew and Greek languages, the word translated "sin" is based on a metaphor taken ...
MORE

"Abba:" A fair interpretation or a putdown of the Jews?
...
MORE

Who We Are and How We Got Here
TCPC Founder, James Adams, talks about the origins of TCPC....
MORE

What Can Progressive Christians Say About Resurrection?
[An excerpt from James Adams' new book, From Literal to Literary.] Each year, when Easter roles around, many people outside the church experience a kind of wistfulness. They love the festival, but they don't think that they can maintain ...
MORE

God, Darwin, and the Church
In his review of Philip Kitcher's Living with Darwin (TPC May/June 2007), Robert Cornwall suggested that his readers pick up the challenge to "reconcile a dynamic supernaturalism with evolutionary science". I think ...
MORE

Jesus and His Friends of Little Faith
Then Je­sus says to them: "You of little faith, why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not perceive?" He appears to be irritated because the disciples fail to understand that he is speaking in metaphors ...
MORE

From Literal to Literary: The Essential Reference Book for Biblical Metaphors
TCPC Founder, James Rowe Adams's most recent book....
MORE

So You Can't Stand Evangelism? A Thinking Person's Guide to Church Growth
Offers a strategy for thoughtful evangelism that welcomes people just as they are....
MORE

So You Think You're Not Religious
"Many educated people shy away from the church because they cannot believe in these and other aspects of Christian tradition. And yet many of these same people search for what the church can offer: a caring community, supportive ...
MORE

Reflections on Creating Open and Welcoming Communities
Reflections from one of the TCPC national forums about creating welcoming churches. Poses questions for congreagations to consider....
MORE

The Empty Church: The Suicide of Liberal Christianity
MORE

Living the Questions: A Video/Discussion Course for Progressive Christians
MORE

Power and the Church: Ecclesiology in an Age of Transition
MORE

Disorganized Religion: The Evangelization of Youth and Young Adults
MORE

Preaching without Contempt: Overcoming Unintended Anti-Judaism
MORE

What Does a Progressive Christian Believe? A Guide for the Searching, the Open, and the Curious
MORE

Not God’s People: Insiders and Outsiders in the Biblical World
MORE