Sunday Worship, March 12, 2023
“Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission: to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no one has gone before!”
The opening monologue of many, though not all, Star Trek franchises is nearly as famous as Star Trek’s contributions to representation, culture, politics and economics. With the resurgence of Star Trek in our popular culture, let us boldly go where few have gone before – into the world of religion in Star Trek! Whether it be the influence of atheism and secular humanism on Gene Roddenberry’s vision for Star Trek, the representations of Jewish mysticism in Leonard Nemoy’s portrayal of Spock, or discerning the difference between wormhole aliens and gods – the imagination and creativity of Star Trek is fertile ground for helping us find and describe aspects of our faith (whether you are into Star Trek or not!). Our captain for this continuing mission will be Laci Lee Adams, Director of Lifespan Faith Development!