A few years ago, not long after my wife and I were married, we received an invitation to join with some good friends from high school and a few of their friends for dinner and beverages. Excited about the prospect of a night out and the opportunity to meet some new people, we eagerly accepted the invitation. After arriving at the restaurant and after a few minutes of catching up with the friends we already knew well, Debra and I... Read more
There are any number of texts in the Bible that depict God as a punishing God, and God’s punishments, according to these texts, can be quite severe. I have noticed that some evangelicals who emphasize God’s love tend to ignore these texts, while others seem to take delight in a punitive God. Some progressives are not sure what to do with these texts either. There is no need to be afraid of these texts. We don’t have to ignore them... Read more
“My journey has been a path toward discovering the fullness of my self—body and spirit. I hope that my story will resonate with anyone who has tried to make sense of his or her body, whatever his or her physical condition.” — Ragan Sutterfield, author, This Is My Body A brand new book by author and blogger Ragan Sutterfield delivers an honest and powerful story of one man’s long and rocky relationship with his body. This Is My Body: From Obesity to Ironman, My... Read more
I don’t always allow my daughter, who is seven, to read during church service. Technically, it’s Mass, as we are Roman Catholic. But I grew up in an Evangelical charismatic church, and sometimes it still feels funny to use the “M” word. Mass is a one-hour period each week during which I want my daughter, who loves all things horses and Harry Potter, to concentrate on the components of worship: confession, creed, hymns, Scripture readings, homily, Eucharist. It’s a survivable... Read more
No one was more surprised than I was to find myself in a new member class after less than a year at my local church. Perhaps it was a result of growing up Catholic that the idea of membership held little appeal; the only benefits appeared to be (1) eligibility for church governing committees and (2) getting to vote for leaders of said governing committees. It’s not that I didn’t consider myself a member of the body of Christ. It... Read more
I’ve been spending a lot of time with professed atheists lately. In particular, this week I found myself engaged in a rich email dialogue with Gretta Vosper, pastor of West Hills United, a congregation of the United Church of Canada. She describes herself as an atheist. Few openly atheist pastors of Christian churches are seen in the US, but there are many in Canada, Britain, Australia, and New Zealand, including some who were part of this email exchange. The atheists on the... Read more
Belonging to a different church than my husband seemed hardly subversive in the beginning. After all, he worked fourteen-hour days on Sundays as a pastor in a neighboring town and took our one and only car to get there. I, on the other hand, rode my bike to a nearby congregation that I was starting to warm up to. Although at times it felt like a liability to appear single in this coupled community, I pushed through the awkwardness my first... Read more
There is an old joke… There was a man who fell in a hole and couldn’t get out. He had a friend walk by above and he called out for help, but the friend kept walking. After some time he saw a second man he knew and called up. The second man looked down into the hole, made eye contact, then checked his watch and kept walking. Then, the man in the hole, looked up and saw John. “John, its... Read more
By Timothy Villareal Discussing the Catholic Church’s prohibition on artificial contraception and its promotion of Natural Family Planning (NFP) on his return flight from the Phillipines, Pope Francis told reporters, “Some people think — excuse me for saying this — that to be good Catholics we have to be like rabbits.” Well, I have an extended Catholic family, some from small families and others from large – meaning 6 to 10 children. Having grown up with these families, I can say... Read more
When I graduated from divinity school, I was homeless. Not in a literal kind of way but a spiritual one. I had been living in the same city for two years without a church to call my own. Sure, I had dated a few congregations on and off but nothing serious developed. The only names I remembered were the ones printed in the bulletin and if anyone remembered mine, well, I didn’t give them a lot of chances to prove... Read more
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