25 nominees for the ‘Top 200 Church Blogs’ list

The latest update of the widely read “Top 200 Church Blogs” list from ChurchRelevance includes some terrific sites.

I’m happy to see Scot McKnight, Rachel Held Evans, Tony Jones, Peter Enns, James McGrath, Matthew Paul Turner, Nadia Bolz-Weber, Kurt Willems, Christian Piatt, Darrell Dow, Jamie Wright, Bruce Reyes-Chow, J.R. Daniel Kirk, kathy escobar, Joy Bennett and Zack Hunt all included on that list.

That’s a bunch of people whose names I’m always pleased to see popping up in my Google Reader. But there are plenty of other great “church blogs” I read that haven’t been included on this “Top 200” list.

Granted, the parameters for what does and does not constitute a “church blog” are a bit fuzzy. ChurchRelevance describes the blogs it selected:

Some focus exclusively on ministry, while others are more like theology or news blogs. Regardless of how you label them, these are the world’s most popular church blogs written by many of today’s most influential church leaders, journalists, theologians, and Christ followers.

That doesn’t quite explain some of the inclusions and omissions on the list, but it narrows things down enough that I can confidently recommend the following list of blogs for consideration next time they update this list.

These are some terrific sites that meet the standard described above. Some have large readerships, some only a niche audience — so far. But if including them in future editions of this “Top 200 Church Blogs” list would increase the number of people reading these — inside and outside the church — then I hope all of these make the list:

• Adventus
• Against the Stream
• Alise Write
• Are Women Human?
• Bilgrimage
• The Burner
• Burnside Writers Collective
• Confessions of a Funeral Director
• Crumbs from the Communion Table
• Dianna E. Anderson
• Disoriented. Reoriented
• Experimental Theology
• Faith Permeating Life
• Friends of Justice
• Homebrewed Christianity
• Jo Hilder
• John Shore
• Natalie’s Narrative
• Sarah Bessey
• Sarah Over the Moon
• Shawn Smucker
• Walk On
• Warren Throckmorton*
• The Way of Improvement Leads Home

* Dr. Throckmorton is recovering from a minor heart attack a week ago, which led to triple bypass surgery on Tuesday. An update on his site says, “he came though surgery wonderfully.”

At Box Turtle Bulletin, Timothy Kincaid explains why many of us have come to admire Throckmorton and his writing.

I very much hope he makes a full recovery and is soon able to get back out there pushing his book: Getting Jefferson Right: Fact-Checking Claims About Our Third President.  Those who pray, please join me in praying for his recovery.