I learned one thing above everything else from my father. He taught me that what and how we believe about God, the universe, each other and our world is crucial. It is crucial because every act we perform expresses that belief. And to the extent that this belief includes life-denying notions of any kind, our actions will manifest those notions in everything we do - sometimes only as a hint or the suggestion of a flavor; sometimes as an outright three-dimensional act. What we believe about God shapes how we live on the planet. 

Yes, we deal in the world of ideas and beliefs. But the world we mean to influence is the world of action and outcome. Theologians and ethicists have only recently begun to be aware that while we have been getting our beliefs right, our theologies and moral philosophies have ignored the reality that the majority of the human population on this planet is left to live without the means to live and ultimately without the hope to make life possible.

So whatever education we do from this time forward must forever after include and underscore the unrelenting questions that question our assumptions about life, what is good for others, what life is like for others and that demand to know how we will resist the powers that be that tell us that only the powerful, the resource-rich and the fortunate-born matter. Our education must always include an indictment of the system in which we live and in which we serve.

This is what D. L. Dykes, Jr. knew and taught. It is what he taught me. The peace and prosperity for which we all long will never be possible without reconstructing a world in which every human being has enough and no one is lorded over by anyone else.

Faith is not about thinking and believing right things; it is about righting wrong things. It’s not about our being kinder, gentler people. It’s about how we will not rest until God’s world is made right. This is what D. L. Dykes intended; this is what we will do.

your colleague and friend,
David Dykes, CEO of The D. L. Dykes, Jr. Foundation

Whatever else the term “Progressive Christian” points to, all of us share the idea that dogmatism and so-called Christian doctrines can be rigidly interpreted and used to cause conflict and acrimony rather than as invitation to inclusivity and spiritual community.  Carol Wendland, one of our founders, expresses her understanding regarding the role of belief and creeds as we seek to find common purpose and common understanding about what it means to be a progressive Christian.  Carol says, “We don’t believe that everyone has to believe exactly the same things.  Still, what we believe matters, because it influences how we act, which matters even more. While creeds are deeply meaningful to many Christians, it is also possible to be deeply faithful to God without saying a creed.”