User:Connie Barlow

From Evolutionary Spirituality

CONNIE BARLOW is the author of four popular science books that explore the intersection of evolutionary and ecological sciences with philosophy and religion:

The Ghosts of Evolution (2001, Basic Books)

Green Space, Green Time: The Way of Science (1997, Copernicus)

Evolution Extended: Biological Debates on the Meaning of Life (1994, MIT Press)

From Gaia to Selfish Genes (1991, MIT Press).

Connie was a correspondent for Wild Earth magazine. She has also written for Natural History, Teilhard Perspective, Science & Spirit, UU World, The Humanist, and EarthLight magazines, along with technical science journals. She is a founding member of the Epic of Evolution Society and served as editor of its newsletter for three years. She has served on the board of the American Teilhard Association and is widely regarded as a leader in furthering the work of Thomas Berry and Brian Swimme in telling the Great Story.

A warm and unpretentious speaker, Connie crafts presentations that feature listener involvement. She has addressed public and technical audiences at the American Museum of Natural History, the Smithsonian Institution, the National Zoo, the New York Botanical Garden, various colleges and universities, and many environmental and spiritual retreat centers. She has brought the Great Story to children in K-12 settings in public and private schools, and has taught the Epic of Evolution to Montessori teachers at national and regional gatherings. A religious naturalist in the tradition of Loren Eiseley, Julian Huxley, Aldo Leopold, and Ursula Goodenough, her chosen faith is Unitarian Universalism. Since she and her husband, Michael Dowd, an evolutionary theologian, launched their on-the-road mission of teaching the Great Story, she has provided sermons, "stories for all ages," and religious education programs for children and adults in more than 75 Unitarian and Universalist churches.

Connie's great joy in life is sharing ways in which an understanding of the evolutionary and ecological sciences can enhance our communion with the natural world and with one another.

Connie and Michael live permanently on the road, teaching and preaching "the marriage of science and religion for personal and planetary wellbeing" in churches and living rooms as well as in public and private schools all across North America. Their website: The Great Story, a leading site in the evolutionary spirituality, conscious evolution, and sustainability movements, consistently generates nearly a half million hits per month. It is an excellent resource for those working to heal the rift between science and religion, and for those envisioning a just, healthy, beautiful, and sustainably lifegiving world for future generations of all species.

For descriptions and video clips of some of Connie's best and most popular programs, see here and here.

The Unitarian Universalist Association’s national membership publication (UU World) just published a FABULOUS lead article on the Great Story, the emerging evolutionary spirituality movement, and Connie and Michael's itinerant teaching and preaching ministry. Here’s the link to the cover article: The Wonder of Evolution.

Another excellent article written on Connie and Michael's ministry and message appeared in "What is Enlightenment?" magazine: Preachers of a New Pentecost.

For links to Connie's numerous articles, essays, and evolutionary-based experiential ritual scripts, click here.