This stunning 18 minute film does a remarkable job of capturing the magic of Burning Man.

"Ignite" A Burning Man Experience (2018 Film) from Ryan Moore on Vimeo.

For ten years now, a couple of Yoga studios have asked me to teach at their 200 and 300 Yoga teacher trainings.  Here is my November 2019 talk at Just Be Yoga's teacher training in Walnut Creek. This talks focuses on moving from judgement to love/forgiveness and from fear to hope. 

In August of 2019 I became the Priest In Charge of Christ Church in Elizabethtown, Kentucky.  I am currently recording audio of my sermons and will be posting them here:

Sermon 12/01/19

Sermon 11/17/19

Sermon 11/10/19

Sermon 10/20/19

Sermon 10/6/19

Sermon 9/29/19

Sermon 09/08/19

Sermon 8/18/19

Sermon 8/11/19

Sermon 6/30/19

"And Then Suddenly" is a great podcast that looks at turning-point events in people's lives. When Anglea asked to interview me, I wrestled with which event to speak about: Laura inviting me to Burning Man, Pilar Tumulo inviting me into the world of Buddhism and Yoga, my friendship with Maggie and Linda that led me to LGBTQ activism, or the truly most significant - my relationship with Andrea that began when we were 15. I decided to talk about my conversion to Christianity which was foundational for everything that followed. The interview flowed into the LGBTQ activism that followed my ordination.

https://andthensuddenlypodcast.com/portfolio/30-brian-baker-on-fighting-for-love/?fbclid=IwAR3PqnNymylyLbEgO4HFJhPojbTEIr7z36ef9_m33Kq0oQnmm1eRt_EVeU4

In May I partnered with Buddhist Brandy Davis and Yogi Liani Moore to lead a retreat on daily spiritual practice. For the retreat I compiled some of my favorite prayers. Here's the handout I created:

I had a great chat with Matt Sandoval about Camp Religious AF and Burning Man. Our conversation is episode 24 of the Practice Makes Presence podcast: https://www.practicemakespresence.com/blog/ep-24-religious-af-with-brian-baker

For 30 years I've struggled with maintaining a daily spiritual practice. I know how important it is to ground oneself in prayer and meditation. I just have a problem doing it and sticking with it. Over the years I have developed ways of praying, meditating, studying and doing yoga that I can fit into my daily busyness. 

Now that I've left full-time church leadership, I've the time to work on some of my other passions, like leading retreats. I've asked two of my friends, Buddhist Brandy Davis and yogi/musician Liani Moore to join me in leading a retreat that can teach practical, simple ways of working spiritual practices into our scattered, busy lives. The retreat will include examples of prayers, mantras and chants you can take home with you. You can sign up here.

I have found Christmas and Easter to be the most difficult times to preach.  There are, of course, the external factors: the intensity of the season and number of services, the many visitors who have not been a part of the ongoing preaching conversation, the heightened expectations. But for me, the challenge is more than this. There is so much meaning, so much mystery in these feasts it is overwhelming. It is one thing to preach on a facet of the gospel, or a single story, like the Parable of the Good Samaritan. It is another thing altogether to preach on the meaning of the resurrection in 15 minutes.  There is also the challenge of preaching on the same topic year after year - wondering if I've said something too many times already.

After 12 years of ministry in the same congregation, last July I began a one-year-long position as an interim priest. I have enjoyed beginning a new preaching conversation with a congregation. It has been an opportunity to focus and restate my theology and use my best images, without wondering if I've said it all before.  I felt this was particularly true with my Easter sermon. I felt like after 28 years of wrestling with it, I finally not only had something to say, but was able to say it well.

When I first became a Christian in the early 80's, I was taught that Jesus died on the cross to atone from our sinfulness and only those who accepted Jesus as their savior would be spared God's eternal wrath.  The more I read scripture, prayed and worshiped, the greater the dissonance I experienced between this view of God and the God of love I saw in Jesus. For the past decades I have been wrestling with how to understand, and articulate, an alternative understanding of the Cross of Christ and its role in our salvation. This sermon uses the the Transfiguration story as a starting point for understanding the Crucifixion. 

One of my great joys is speaking with students learning how to be yoga instructors. I believe we can change the world with the power of love. In fact, I believe that ultimately that's the only thing that will change the world for good. And yoga teachers can be a vehicle of that love. In this talk I offer practical strategies for living with more joy, hope and peace - strategies that are particularly important in this time when everything is bat-shit crazy. And I invite the students to join the work of loving the world into wholeness.