Richard S. Kirby

Richard Stephen Kirby (born July 16, 1949, died on September 24, 2009) was a theologian and chaplain with interests in astronomy, cosmology, and futurology. His thought was in a direct line of descent from H.G. Wells, the prototypical futurist, via Olaf Stapledon, who was known as a "cosmic philosopher", to astronomer and science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke.

Kirby attended the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church (United States) as an ordinand from 1982 to 1985 and graduated with an M.Div.. He worked in various church ministries on both sides of the Atlantic for the next 10 years.

In 1988, Kirby was the prime mover in re-founding the World Network of Religious Futurists as a community of practice within the World Future Society. He became its chairman in 1993 and served in this capacity for 12 years before becoming the organization’s Chaplain in 2005.

His Ph.D. thesis at King's College London in 1992 was on The Theological Definition of Cosmic Disorder in the writings of Thomas Forsyth Torrance. From 1992 to 1994 Kirby served as the Director of Administration for Mensa International.

After finishing his Ph.D., he moved to Seattle in 1995, where for 10 years he worked developing a theological think tank, which developed into the Stuart C. Dodd Institute for Social Innovation. He was its executive director from 1997 to his death in 2009.

In 2001, he formed a chaplaincy program at World Future Society annual conferences, along with Rabbi Dr. Moshe Dror, to provide collegiality and coaching for spiritually inclined attendees.

In 2005, Kirby became the first President and Chaplain of Kepler Academy, an astronomical and theological college. In 2009 this developed into Kepler Space University.

He wrote several books and publications. His most important publications are:

• The Mission of Mysticism, London: SPCK, 1979
• The Person in Psychology, 1975 and Individual Differences, 1976 with psychologist John Radford.
• Christians and the World of Computers with Parker Rossman, Philadelphia, PA: Trinity Press, 1990
• Temples of Tomorrow: World religions and the future with Earl C. Brewer, London: Gray Seal, 1993.
• The Leadership of Civilization Building: Administrative and civilization theory, symbolic dialogue, and citizen skills for the 21st century with Richard J. Spady, and Cecil H. Bell Jr., Seattle, WA: Forum Foundation, 2002
• Nurturing Civilization Builders: Birthing The Best Schools In The World with Barbara Gilles, Seattle, WA: Ideal Profit, 2004.

External links

• World Network of Religious Futurists
• Kepler Space University
• Stuart C. Dodd Institute for Social Innovation