Hi, I’m Adam Brooks Webber, the Merry Mystic.  I help skeptical Christians as they seek to walk a spiritual path without giving up their intellectual integrity. I give them a message of validation and hope: yes, it is a challenging path to walk; yes, you can find friendship and laughter on the way; and yes yes yes, it is a walk well worth taking.

I do this in a number of ways:

  • As a blogger — obviously!  I produce “The Merry Mystic,” a weekly video confection.  The Merry Mystic offers original music, ideas, spiritual practices, and other kinds of food for the spiritual journey.  It emphasizes the three qualities of Merry Mystics everywhere: an irreverent sense of humor, an interest in spiritual experience, and a cheerful questioning of authority.
  • As an author: my book The Inn of God’s Forgiveness and Other Hymns for the Progressive Church is a collection of essays on progressive Christianity, each one culminating in a new hymn.  A sequel, not yet named, is in the works.
  • As a composer: I write songs, some for solo performance and some for group singing.  My new hymns are available for free on this web site; they carry a Creative Commons license that allows them to be copied for free, for non-commercial use.
  • As a speaker and entertainer: I travel to bring my message and music to live audiences. I give performances of my original music, including a balance of funny, irreverent songs and serious, thoughtfully spiritual songs. (If you’re interested in booking me for an event, please visit my speaker page.)
  • As a recording artist: I record my original music. I currently have two CDs of this music available: Smackdown and As a Deer Longs.
  • As a pastor: I am an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ, serving as the pastor of the Open Prairie United Church of Christ in Princeton, Illinois.  Stop by if you’re in town.

I’m a pastor and teacher, husband and father, computer scientist, singer and songwriter, poet and essayist, retreat leader, progressive Christian mystic, and martial artist.  If you’re really interested in Renshi the Reverend Doctor Adam Brooks Webber, you can read more about my background on my LinkedIn profile, and more about my computer science publications on my other web site.

But maybe what you’re really looking for is my chocolate frog card:

Mada