Rethinking the Church in the 21st Century: Diana Butler Bass

In this far-ranging conversation, David Dault talks to Diana Butler Bass about her new book, Grounded: Finding God in the World - A Spiritual Revolution. The conversation takes us to a Quaker meeting house and a Catholic monastery in the heart of Los Angeles, as we follow Bass on this faith odyssey.

In her new book, Bass explores this cultural turn as she unpacks how people are finding new spiritual ground by discovering and embracing God everywhere in the world around us—in the soil, the water, the sky, in our homes and neighborhoods, and in the global commons.

Faith is no longer a matter of mountaintop experience or institutional practice; instead, people are connecting with God through the environment in which we live. Grounded guides readers through our contemporary spiritual habitat as it points out and pays attention to the ways in which people experience a God who animates creation and community.

Diana Butler Bass is an author, speaker, and independent scholar specializing in American religion and culture. 

She holds a Ph.D. in religious studies from Duke University and is the author of nine books, including Grounded: Finding God in the World—A Spiritual Revolution (HarperOne, 2015) and the widely influential Christianity After Religion: The End of Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening (HarperOne, 2012).

Her other books include A People’s History of Christianity: The Other Side of the Story (HarperOne, 2009), nominated for a Library of Virginia literary award, and the best-selling Christianity for the Rest of Us: How the Neighborhood Church is Transforming the Faith (2006) which was named as one of the best religion books of the year by Publishers Weekly and was featured in a cover story in USA TODAY.