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Wes Granberg-Michaelson      

Global Ecumenical Leader; Author of "Without Oars"

Rev. Wesley Granberg-Michaelson is a global ecumenical leader whose work has highlighted the intersection of faith with public life.

He was legislative assistant to Senator Mark O. Hatfield, Director of Church and Society for the World Council of Churches, and served for 17 years as General Secretary of the Reformed Church in America.

He chairs the board of Sojourners, an advocacy ministry linking faith and social justice. He also serves on the boards of Church Innovations Institute and the Global Christian Forum. And this year, he’s dedicating time to Faith2020, connecting people of faith with the values of progressive candidates for the 2020 election.

Speech Topics

“Journey Inward, Journey Outward” Grounding our work for God’s justice in the journey of our souls.

Wes speaks out of his own deep experience. For decades he’s devoted himself to crusades for God’s justice, peace, and integrity of creation. But he has discovered that the inward journey is indispensable to make any of those efforts sustainable. If we’re not attentive to our whole selves, we’ll project our burdens and illusions onto others, undermining what God might do through us. We can discover the practices which integrate together our search for wholeness with our deep engagement in God’s desires for this world.

“Changing Congregational Culture” The Pathways for missional transformation in congregations anxious about their future

It’s said that “culture eats strategy for lunch.” That’s particularly true for congregations. A majority of congregations in the U.S. confront numerical and demographic decline. But pathways for renewal can be opened if we learn how missional imagination and sustained spiritual practices can transform congregational culture. Wes has dealt with these issues for decades and shared wisdom in How Churches Change: A Hanbook for Church Innovation.

“De-Americanizing the Gospel” The trends in global Christianity that will shape the future of faith

As world Christianity has accelerated in the global South, while receding in the secularized North, Christianity is emerging as a non-Western religion. New relationships are being formed between the individual and community, the material and spiritual worlds, and connections with God’s creation. These can transform how faith is understood and practiced in America. Wes explored such trends in Future Faith: Ten Trends Reshaping Christianity in the 21st Century.

“Beyond Belief” How embodied spiritual practices like pilgrimage instill a deeply rooted faith

Many of us are accustomed to thinking our way into faith. But we must learn to walk our way into faith through embodied practices. We can embark on journeys where we relinquish normal control and embrace what unfolds before us. These themes are explored in Without Oars: Casting Off into a Life of Pilgrimage, which was informed by Wes’ experience on the Camino de Santiago in Spain and pilgrimages to other holy places.

“The Refiner’s Fire” Movements in spirituality that reveal our true essence

Pathways of spirituality get caught between images of fire which consume, judge, and destroy, and pictures of belonging which unite, invite and embrace. How do we chart a path that connects our innermost self to the outpouring power of God’s love? Can we move from self-sufficiency to emptiness, and from emptiness to belonging? From grandiosity to humility, and humility to authenticity?

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