The Institute for the Theology of Culture: New Wine, New Wineskins

New Wine, New Wineskins’ relationship with Dharma Rain Zen Center goes back to 2003, when Dr. Paul Louis Metzger began working with Abbot Kyogen Carlson on civic and religious concerns pertaining to the common good. Although Abbot Carlson passed away in 2014, that relationship continues today through our monthly dialogue sessions over potluck meals. Our aim in these dialogues is to seek to understand one another with charity, while holding firmly to our respective convictions as Buddhists and Christians, in pursuit of building beloved community in our society today.

You can learn more about our work by reading Metzger's book Evangelical Zen: A Christian's Spiritual Travels with a Buddhist Friend (Patheos Press, 2015), watching the video below, and by reading the article "Beloved Community" by Sallie Jiko Tisdale which appeared in the Fall 2006 issue of Tricycle. 

You can also download Paul Metzger's paper "Table Fellowship with our Buddhist Neighbors for Beloved Community," a piece for the Association of Theological Schools, through the link below.