Pickett's Dream

Carlisle, Christopher: - Christopher Carlisle is an Episcopal priest who takes 'heretic' literally: from the original Greek, 'hairetikos' meaning someone who is 'able to choose.' As one who never liked going to church, and who loves the secular world, his writing explores the romantic affair between God and humankind. Perpetually at odds with the hierarchy, he was turned out onto the street, where he created two outdoor communities in the renegade spirit of Jesus.

Amid street lights and burbling Harley-Davidsons, Carlisle launched Cathedral in the Night, an outdoor gathering of the homed and homeless around community, prayers, and a meal. So inspired his first novel, For Theirs Is the Kingdom, suggesting a radical reimagination of the institutional church. Carlisle earned his undergraduate degree from Columbia University, and graduate theological degrees from Harvard and Yale. A regular commentator on New England Public Radio, he is married with four children and lives in western Massachusetts.