NEW STORY COMMUNITY

“The future for Christians is Zen and Christianity.”
Thomas Merton

Rev. Ann Ankai Wagner, Sensei, a Christian contemplative, social activist and Zen Teacher (Dharma Successor) of Roshi Paul Genki Kahn, has developed an open and welcoming congregation practicing Christian Zen, called New Story Community.

The mission of New Story Community is to provide a nurturing home for progressive Christians that encourages contemplation, participatory liturgy, gender equality, a forum for engagement in social justice, and life lived in the spirit of service.

As Director of Christian Zen, Rev. Ankai works in the tradition of Thomas Merton, integrating the teachings and practices of Jesus with the transformational methods of Zen.

We believe in a God present in all creation and transcendent as unity, whose energy lives in us, and through which we live, weaving a fabric of relationship among all creation. We follow Jesus’ example of awakening to the divine source and living in the spirit of love, peace and the struggle for social justice and liberation.

Members of New Story Community can take classes and engage in practices specific to Christian Zen, as well as participating in any other offerings at Zen Garland as they wish.

New Story Community members celebrate the common rites of Christianity, sharing responsibility for the rituals and liturgy. Our Christian Zen Ministers are guides and good friends to the congregation. They do not serve as intermediaries between practitioners and the spiritual.

“The Christian of the future will be a mystic or will not exist at all.”
Karl Rahner