The Ultimate Quest

Geeks, meet the Episcopal Church. Episcopal Church, meet the geeks. It’s the premise of “The Ultimate Quest” by Jordan Haynie Ware that you guys have a lot in common and should get to know each other better.

Ware is not only an Episcopal priest, podcaster and feminist, but she’s also a “Battlestar Galactica” aficionado and a half-orc sorcerer (when she’s playing Pathfinder.) This makes her something of an expert regarding the places where church culture and nerd culture intersect, and Ware draws convincing parallels between these two worlds that may seem, at first glance, to have little in common.

Here’s how she describes the book’s premise:

“Christians thirst for adventure, have a sense of destiny, and desire to participate in something bigger than oneself as much as any questing gamer. The geek’s obsessive need to understand how something works, to read the manual, to build a complex vocabulary ... these are traits that particularly the Episcopal tribe of Christians have in spades. We both form intense community bonds, we affect nerdy insular jargons, and we view change with suspicion.”

This is not only clever, but it’s also a timely bridge to build. While church attendance continues to fall across the board, it’s the 18-30 age group that most noticeably is absent from the pews. Millennials appear to be Ware’s primary target audience, but this book talks the right cultural language to play well to teen/confirmation groups, too, and it would make a solid educational pick.

The Ultimate Quest is more than an entertaining read. Beneath the geeky references lies a comprehensive introduction to all things Christian and, more specifically, all things Episcopalian. Ware gives a concise overview of the organizational structure of the church, the Book of Common Prayer, orders of ministry, the liturgical year, the theological underpinnings of the denomination, even General Convention.

Plus, as a bonus, she demystifies lingo and jargon. If you don’t know the difference between a purificator and a corporal, or an alb and a chasuble, you’ll soon find out — aided by Tyler Lolong’s funny, charming illustrations. My one quibble with Ware’s book is that, while she does a sterling job of presenting our hero, Jesus, she ignores the rest of the cast. Where would Frodo have been without the Fellowship? Where would Jesus have been without the disciples, or Paul? This is a purely selfish response, however; Ware’s writing was so entertaining and on-point on other topics that I would have loved to see what she made of Christianity’s supporting actors, too.

In “The Ultimate Quest,” Ware has cast her net wide, hoping to reel in the geeks, the nerds, the Trekkies, the D&D players and others not usually targeted by the church while encouraging those of us already in the pews to view our faith from a different angle. It’s creative evangelizing.

If you’re a young Episcopalian and you’re looking for a leader, a role model or a companion on the quest, you could do worse than to check out Ware’s Twitter feed and podcast. I suspect she’s a rising star in the Episcopal Church. May the Force be with her.