Author of Embracing Our Time, chaplain, public speaker, and storyteller.
Embracing Our Time
“Lynn Cooper’s book on interfaith frienship is a warm embrace of story, theology, and practicality. Every page nourishes the reader and encourages the adventure of interfaith engagement so needed in our time. Be bold! Engage in this journey that can help nourish healing, understanding, and some new growth.”
-Sister Simone Campbell, SSS, recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom
In Embracing Our Time, university chaplain Lynn Cooper provides practical resources for interfaith engagement rooted in a Catholic perspective. Drawing on Trinitarian, sacramental, and feminist theologies, Cooper shows that interreligious collaboration is a concrete expression of the interdependence at the heart of Catholic faith. Embracing Our Time centers the lived experiences of Catholics and employs theological reflection, composite storytelling, and spiritual provocations to guide readers on an inner journey, inviting them to a deep reading of their lives and communities. Cooper empowers lay folks to be conscientious interfaith leaders within their communities and congregations, not because they are experts in their tradition, but because the Christian call to friendship across and within difference is at the heart of what it means to follow Jesus.
“Lynn Cooper is a wonderful storyteller, as she draws on her many interfaith experiences to show us vividly how interreligious values come to the fore in ordinary life amid the work we do and, above all, in the evolving friendships gifted to us and cultivated over the years. This is a fine book about friendship in interreligious dialogue, but it is more—a rich estimony of Cooper’s own life journey, a path enriched by stories of finding God amid the relationships that keep giving vitality to her life and ministry.”
-Francis X. Clooney, SJ, Parkman Professor of Divinity, Harvard University
“For any interfaith organization or clergy group, college campus, or local community seeking to connect across religious difference, "Embracing Our Time provides a spiritual grounding to sustain the work of tending to these sacred relationships.”
- Rev. Dr. Patrick Reyes, dean of Auburn Theological Seminary
Speaking Schedule
Befriend: The Interfaith Friendship Program
Lynn created and directs Be-Friend: The Interfaith Friendship Program at Tufts University. For the past five years, Tufts University Chaplaincy has offered this program to students, faculty, and staff across all four campuses (virtual and in-person options). In the next few months, a digital resource for download will be available thanks to Tufts University. Sign up for interested parties coming soon.
If you are interested in scheduling a book talk, conference presentation, or public event please be in touch.
Other Writings
Catholic Women Preach, Year C: Raising Voices, Renewing the Church
edited by Elizabeth Donnelly and Russ Petrus
Orbis Press, 2024
Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
“The Forever Understanding”
One Nation, Indivisible: Seeking Liberty and Justice from the Pulpit to the Streets
edited by Celene Ibrahim
Wipf and Stock, 2019
Media
Dean’s Lecture at Auburn Theological Seminary: Heal the World Series, April 2025