The Gospel According to Roddenberry: AI, Star Trek, and the Road Beyond Scarcity By +Brian Ernest Brown, CWC I’ve loved Star Trek since I was a young child. It wasn’t merely entertainment to me. It offered a vision of what humanity might become if we could outgrow some of our…
Category: Reflections, Musings & Meanderings
Reflections and musings from my meanderings in these here Ozark Mountains: life, love, loss, laughter, and the long practice of grace.
Reflections, Musings & Meanderings
Read more
A Crown or a Servant’s Mark: Two Ways of Being Church
A Crown or a Servant’s Mark: Two Ways of Being Church By +Brian Ernest Brown, CWC Church folks have been arguing about haircuts for a mighty long time. That may sound foolish until we remember that human beings have always used outward signs to tell the world who they are,…
Christ Catholic Church
Read more
The Thorns Are Our Refuge
The Thorns Are Our Refuge By +Brian Ernest Brown, CWC My personal ecclesial crest is more than a collection of church symbols dressed up in heraldry. It’s something of a spiritual autobiography. It tells the story of where I’ve been, what has shaped me, and the kind of ministry I’ve…
Reflections, Musings & Meanderings
Read more
Tools of the Devil
Every generation seems convinced it is witnessing the invention that will finally undo civilization. Today, of course, that invention is artificial intelligence. Spend a few minutes on social media and you’ll quickly discover two competing camps. One insists AI will save the world. The other is equally convinced it will…
Reflections, Musings & Meanderings
Read more
Under the Cloak and In the Hand
Every priest carries certain saints with them through life. Some are chosen consciously. Others seem to choose us. For me, two saints have stood quietly at the edges of my ministry for many years: Saint Melangell and Saint Kevin of Glendalough. I was ordained to the priesthood on the Feast…
Reflections, Musings & Meanderings
Read more
A Consecration I Didn’t Seek, and the Grace I Found
On the Feast of St. Kevin of Glendalough, twenty years ago, June 3, 2006, I was consecrated to the episcopacy and made a bishop within the Free Catholic tradition. It was a day marked by equal measures of challenge and grace, shadow and blessing. The truth is, the day itself…
Reflections, Musings & Meanderings
Read more
The Barefoot Bishop
I suppose there are worse things to be remembered for than bare feet. Over the years, I have worn many titles, some received with humility, some endured with a sigh, and some that never fit quite right no matter how carefully they were polished. Bishop. Archbishop. Abbot. Founder. Successor. Wanderer….
Reflections, Musings & Meanderings
Read more
Twenty-One Years at the Altar: A Priesthood Under the Care of Saint Melangell
A blessed Feast of Saint Melangell to you and yours in this year of our Lord two thousand and twenty-six. Today is a tender and meaningful day for me. Twenty-one years ago, on May 27, 2005, the Feast of Saint Melangell, I was ordained to the Holy Priesthood within the…
Reflections, Musings & Meanderings
Read more
The Narrow Path: A Reflection on Christian Minimalism and the Prosperity Gospel
In the modern landscape of faith, two diametrically opposed visions of “the good life” compete for the soul’s attention. One is the ancient, rugged path of minimalism, a way of life rooted in the self-denying teachings of Christ and the ascetic wisdom of the Church Fathers. The other is the…
Reflections, Musings & Meanderings
Read more
Titles, Traditions, and Denominations and Living in the Center: Being a Christ Catholic
In this reflection, I wrestle with a question many of us quietly carry: What does it really mean to be Christian? We live in a world of labels: Roman Catholic, Old Catholic, Independent Catholic, Anglican, Orthodox, Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, Lutheran. Each tradition carries history, beauty, and meaning. But somewhere…