Christopher Carlisle
Christopher Carlisle is an Episcopal priest who served briefly in a parish before becoming the Episcopal Chaplain at the University of Massachusetts, where he created an innovative sanctuary of learning, worship and the arts. Open to all, students, faculty, and local residents reimagined religious “faith” across a broad spectrum of disciplines–from biology and quantum physics, to poetry and music, to working with the homeless on the streets of New York. Convicted that for many, the institutional church has failed the adventure of Jesus, Carlisle asserts that only by breaking beyond its buildings can we embark on Christ’s life-changing journey.Carlisle earned his undergraduate degree from Columbia University, and graduate theological degrees from Harvard and Yale. Having devoted much of his life to storytelling—recently by way of the “Street Stories” media project with Visionaries, Inc. and aired on public television stations across the country—For Theirs is the Kingdom is inspired by two outdoor communities he cofounded. Carlisle is married, has four children, and lives in western Massachusetts.