When I began this blog, I assumed that if any number of people read this blog, my actual identity would eventually come out publicly. Of course, I’ve been blogging all along — some 4½ years and almost 3,000 posts ago — under the pseudonym of “Brother Maynard.” When I began blogging here, I said that “the names are being withheld to protect the innocent and show grace toward the guilty.” I thought after the first year that I would announce myself, but on the advice of a few friends, I never have. But maybe I’m no longer feeling gracious.
Several unexpected things have transpired since that first blog post, chief among them the number of people who eventually began reading here. I did not anticipate the new friendships I would make through these contacts, nor the depth of meaning that some of these have come to have. And I also did not expect that this far down the line my identity would still be, more or less, unknown or that my pseudonym would become in many ways bigger and grander than I am. Although, of course, that was never a great stretch.
On my Facebook page, I gave Brother Maynard the face of Sean Connery rather than that of Eric Idle as I did on the “Who is Brother Maynard?” page on this blog. Since then, my real image has appeared here and elsewhere around the Internet… but it’s not like I get stopped in the street or stalked by paparazzi or anything. Perhaps if I looked more like Sean Connery and less like the real me.
As time went on, I established a certain “trigger” which would cause me to reveal my identity online in these pages: publishing. Still, when I self-published my first book, That You Might Believe: Praying Advent with the Gospel of John, I published it under my Pseudonym, but displayed the copyright in the book under my own name. Either nobody noticed, or nobody said anything. Same as when I registered the domain name for this site… I registered it under my own name and did not select the privacy options. I wondered how long it would be before someone did a ‘whois’ search to find out, but again, either nobody noticed, or nobody said anything. As a result, I’ve been somewhat reticent to say anything more overtly. After all, people have said such nice things about me when they don’t know who I am.
As of this week though, a book I edited together with Len Hjalmarson will be shipping from Allelon Publishing and Resonate. 
And yes, it’s true… the book that Len has mentioned on his blog is now available on Amazon.com. I threw together a site which we have up at fresh-refresh.com and, you guessed it, it’s got my real name splattered on it. So I guess the cat’s out of the bag now. The guy who writes the current blog looks a lot like the guy who writes 
this other blog. So I guess that’s it… another emerging/missional mystery solved. Think anyone will notice?
Stay tuned for more information on the new book as well as a few other tidbits I can say now that there’s no secret identity that I need to don in the nearest telephone booth.
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June 30th, 2009 at 12:57 am
Still left a little puzzled as to the secrecy. Given the pseudonym I’d wondered if you were a pastor at a more traditional church or something like that, something which could get you fired. This seems anticlimactic by comparrison. In any case, interesting to read the bio and see you’re a secular worker like me.
June 30th, 2009 at 7:12 am
Anticlimatic? Interesting. :)
You made “coming out” seem easy.
June 30th, 2009 at 7:39 am
I was wondering who “the other guy” was.
can i get you to sign my copy? :)
June 30th, 2009 at 8:51 am
Matt, Sorry for the anticlimax ;^) I was a “lay-” leader in a large local church (with more formal Bible training than most of the staff, mind you) and part of a church planting team until I left the ol’ CLB. When I started the blog I figured I’d rant a lot more specifically than I ended up doing and decided to go it anonymously so my voice wouldn’t be hindered. I don’t feel that way so much anymore, though I’m still given to the occasional rant. The anonymity makes (made) more sense in my local context, but the event that brought to a head all the issues leading to my exodus was almost five years ago now. Seems almost like ancient history.
And yes, “Grace”, it wasn’t that hard… I was going to do it long ago except that for some people my anonymity had become a kind of “thing” that was fun to speculate about. I don’t know, maybe kind of like Fake Steve Jobs, but only to about 15 people. Or something like that.
Sure David, I’ll sign your copy… which name would you like? ;^) I thought you’d gotten the connection from Len when you designed the cover for the book — guess he kept it secret too! Nice job on the cover, btw.
So yeah… this is hardly earth-shattering, and as such maybe it was just time. Sure, I’m Googleable, but so what? It only means anything to those who find some connection to both identities. Scroll down the search results and you’ll find me Slashdotted, quoted in some telecom trade publications, and other fun stuff.
Maybe I should say that I don’t plan to suddenly duplicate my Facebook profiles and LinkedIn profile and whatnot… under my real title I’ll network with people in my personal/professional capacity, and under the Brother Maynard moniker I’ll keep networking with the emerging/missional conversation. But now you’ll know who’s behind the mask.
June 30th, 2009 at 10:53 am
I can’t tell you how glad I am that the cat is out of the bag. You know how many times I almost let this slip? And, believe it or not, once in the company of some of the very people you’d have least wanted to know.
At any rate, I hope this means even more and deeper relationships with your readers. I know I have appreciated your friendship a great deal.
June 30th, 2009 at 11:36 am
A year or two ago, if I recall, someone who was at that missional gathering/conference (can’t think of what it was called) put your real name on some images they posted from it. I’ve known since then, but figured you used an alias for a reason. And in any case, it doesn’t change who you are.
But now to convince Grace….
June 30th, 2009 at 6:27 pm
Congratulations, Brent! I’m with Jamie … no need to watch what I call you any more…. ;^)
And Erin … good luck with convincing Grace….
June 30th, 2009 at 7:17 pm
Hey!
June 30th, 2009 at 8:45 pm
LOL! Grace, there are days I get your real name and pseudonym(s) mixed up!
July 1st, 2009 at 1:58 am
Well sounds you’re more like me than I realized. Similarly I have more missional knowledge and experience and motivation than most clergy I know and started blogging with a few axes to grind. Dealt with the problem by speaking about the church rather than specific churches, as after all the problems are endemic. As time has gone on I focus much more on the future than the past.
July 1st, 2009 at 11:00 am
Brent, congrats to you and Len on the new book.
July 2nd, 2009 at 8:43 am
hahaha … I never know what to call “Grace” anymore because her pseudonym seems more fitting (in my mind) than her real name. But I’m trying to retrain myself … so I’m confused.
Same with Br…. ent. LOL … j/k. I think it’s funny that Brent and Brother Maynard begin with the same consonant combination.
As with Jamie, I’m glad this is out now …
July 2nd, 2009 at 9:17 am
Glad to meet you Brent. Younger than I had imagined :) Funny thing is that it matters not whether or not you are Brent or Bro May. Same soul. Same spirit. Thanks for who you are.
July 3rd, 2009 at 11:14 pm
since i met you in your IRL name/persona at Seabeck before i even knew there was a Brother Maynard, it’s kind of trippy that now i finally get to call you by the first name i knew you as instead of a pseudonymonious saying.
and so, harooh! hoorah! hooray! single-ganger at last!
and congrats to you and Len on the book. and, in the famous words of My Big Fat [Koine] Greek Wedding – “… and there you go!
Brad aka futuristguy aka CamoClashMan aka SuperHero Sidekick aka The Bradster aka The Bradmeister aka etc.
July 3rd, 2009 at 11:17 pm
ummm … p.s. – just curious, since you used Sean Connery from The Name of the Rose, does this mean that Brother Maynard was your palimpsest? sort of an echo of Eco? just wond’rin’ …
July 8th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
[...] To be clear, I’m talking about the publishing world. Pseudonymous writing still exists in the blog world–although even there it seem to be diminishing [...]
January 1st, 2010 at 12:01 pm
Whadda year! In a year where half of my time was eaten by illness, yours was one of the few blog voices I tried to read on any kind of regular basis. I appreciate what you have contributed to the ongoing attempts to blog the journey of whatever it is that we are calling the movement(s) whose waves we’ve been riding. Thanks for your efforts … and I’m looking forward to your thoughts on virtual community in this new year.
This comment was originally posted on Subversive Influence