One Weird Church

Church member Paul Delbene, whose father is an Episcopalian minister, agrees. "No one is fixed on religious categories like Judaism, Catholicism, or Buddhism," says the 26-year-old who lived in Alabama before moving to the Bay Area. "Those things don't mean anything here. If you're at St. Gregory's, you're a friend first and foremost."

But this open admissions policy should not be equated with the fuzzy, New Age concept that anything goes. Fabian and Shell investigate their faith by poring over the latest in biblical scholarship, even when the discoveries are challenging and uncomfortable. Fabian says he truly experienced the power of scholarship when he learned that descriptions of Jesus' resurrection were probably written generations after his crucifixion.

"As our knowledge of who Jesus really was changes, we have no choice but to change everything else to correspond to what we've learned," Fabian says. "Everything falls apart if we don't."

Scholars familiar with St. Gregory's point out that this intellectual rigor and spiritual honesty make St. Gregory's a model for thoughtful innovation and, quite possibly, a blueprint for the religious worship of the future. While fundamentalism and so-called "megachurches" get more press, recognizing the interconnectedness of various beliefs and combining both faith and intellect to shape religious practice is becoming increasingly common.

"I wouldn't trust every priest to do what Rick and Donald do at St. Gregory's," says Louis Weil, a professor of liturgy at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. "They aren't typical garden-variety priests who come out of seminary having read two books and thinking whatever damn thing they do is fine. They certainly push the envelope at St. Gregory's, but they know what they are doing. The church could only work in a city like San Francisco now, but I have the sense that their approach will become more and more common as time goes on."

While Fabian and Schell love to discuss the theology behind what they do, both priests understand that dry scholarship is the last thing most people are searching for in a church.

"My impression is that members of our congregation are drawn to St. Gregory's by the music, the dancing, and the chance to really participate," says Schell. "They don't come because it's so sophisticated and based on research and has this amazing interconnection between religions, and blah, blah, blah. There is careful intellectual work behind everything, but it's almost invisible. You don't have to recognize it to appreciate St. Gregory's.