“Uniting Across Faiths, Respecting Differences” is the theme of the first meeting of the Spiritual Progressives, a new interfaith group in Brown County.  The meeting will be at the Brownwood Event Center, 601 E. Baker St. at 6 pm Thurs. Nov. 13.  This meeting is free and open to the public, and a light meal will be provided.  The featured speaker is Robert P. Sellers.

Who are Spiritual Progressives?  “If you believe in the Golden Rule, religious liberty, care for the suffering, as well as care of the natural world, and you support global justice and peace,  you may be a Spiritual Progressive,” according to retired pastor Rick McClatchy, who helped organize the group.

McClatchy, a Brown County native and Howard Payne University graduate who helped found Brownwood’s Good Samaritan Ministries decades ago, most recently served as the State Coordinator for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Texas.                                    

After retiring to his family’s ranch south of Bangs, he noticed that many people he met in this area were feeling frustrated in their faith communities, and even dropping out.

“It seemed like this would be a good time to see if there might be some interest in a group that shares the universal values we find in all religions.  I was thinking that small groups could be a safe place for support and encouragement for folks that aren’t finding a place to fit into the existing churches.  Some groups might want to get involved in service projects or public advocacy where they can put their spiritual principles into action.”

Over the past few months, Rick has recruited a Steering Committee which planned the upcoming inaugural event.

Speaker Robert P. Sellers brings a lifetime of experience to the topic of interfaith cooperation.  After decades of service as a Baptist missionary in the Philippines and Indonesia, Sellers moved to Abilene in 1998, where he taught at Logsdon Seminary at Hardin-Simmons University.  According to his biography posted by the Parliament of World Religions, “Rob has a passion for the interfaith movement and for working cooperatively with persons of multiple faith traditions.”

https://parliamentofreligions.org/speakers/dr-robert-p-sellers/

Sellers has served as President of the Abilene Interfaith Council, as a member of the Interfaith Commission of the National Council of Churches USA, as a member of the Interfaith Relations Commission of the Baptist World Alliance, and as trustee, vice-chair, and then chair of the Board of the Parliament of the World’s Religions.  He is now retired and lives in Waco.

For more information about the Spiritual Progressives, call Rick McClatchy, 325-642-4076.