Last weekend I enjoyed the incredible delight of rich female friendship as about 15 other women in my general age group and I spent the night at the home of an incredibly hospitable friend at her house on Lake Moss in North Texas. I had never met any of these women until just over a year ago, but for some of them, friendships go back over 30 years. Several years ago, some of them began meeting weekly for a glass... Read more
Dear Thoughtful Pastor, I consider myself a Christian and I am totally confused with some who seem to feel God commanded them to take on the world if the world does not see Christian values the way they do. Did God order us to work actively to attack others with slightly different ideas and tolerance levels than our own? ~Confused Dear Confused, Have you ever known two people who absolutely agreed on everything? Of course not. One of the joys... Read more
Apparently we have a Muslim woman who has been suspended from her job as a flight attendant for refusing to serve alcohol to the passengers who ordered it. Her comment: “What this case comes down to is no one should have to choose between their career and religion and it’s incumbent upon employers to provide a safe environment where employees can feel they can practice their religion freely,” Masri told CNN. The difference between her and this silly Kim Davis... Read more
Note: These are real questions, but the name of the questioner is withheld. Questions may be edited for the sake of clarity and brevity. If you have a question for The Thoughtful Pastor, feel free to email her at [email protected] or fill out the form here. Dear Thoughtful Pastor: “What should my attitude be when there are babies and children screaming at the top of their lungs in church, and the parents won’t take them out? How does a thoughtful pastor... Read more
It’s Friday and one of my favorite blogs challenges its readers to consider the “hello/goodbye” paradigm on Fridays as a way to reflect on the week before and the time coming in front of us. So, today I began and ended the process of saying “Goodbye” to the thousands of pages of my mother’s letters that she left upon her death. You can read more about the story here. My sister joined me. We read letters, laughed, cried and tossed. And... Read more
Unlike IVF patients, who are primarily wealthy and white, women who have abortions are disproportionately poor and women of color, groups it has always been popular to condemn and regulate. This quotation from a Washington Post article on the free and uncondemned donation of embryos created by IVF for research purposes sums up the real issue: those in power get what they want essentially without repercussions. But for those without power, money and influence, then it is shame, shame and more... Read more
A Year in Summary In the last year, I attended worship services in more than 50 different places. They ranged from a Spanish Roman Catholic service in Costa Rica, to a New York City Reform Jewish service sung primarily in Hebrew, to a Dallas Greek Orthodox Church sung and spoken in a Greek/English mix to Central California holy whale watching morning and an afternoon Buddhist retreat walk, to a silent Quaker meeting in Philadelphia, PA to Good Friday walking the... Read more
One week I visited a Unitarian Universalist gathering. The next week I went to a Seventh Day Adventist church. The descriptions of the two churches are below the general comments. Further commentary may be found here. General Comments Similarities: both have seriously aging facilities, limited parking, little street visibility, mixed aged congregations, quite a few children involved and financial issues. Differences: One has essentially no doctrine or boundaries and can pretty well include everything as a “sacred” text. The other... Read more
People Want Tight Boundaries In this year of visiting churches, I have become increasingly aware that people are very much drawn to church groups with tight doctrinal standards. As many have noted, these are the ones that still show growth both in the US and overseas. The more theologically progressive mainline denominations with looser theological boundaries are indeed declining in numbers. The more rapidly growing churches rarely ordain women. Female voices are generally excluded from any top level decision-making bodies. Many are... Read more
Orthodoxy–authorized or generally accepted theory, doctrine, or practice. Many claim it for themselves. But I ask: who really gets to own this word? Timothy Tennent, President of Asbury Theological Seminary, wrote last year claiming “orthodoxy” for the conservative arm of the United Methodist Church: What we actually have is a group (however imperfectly) which is committed to historic Christianity. The second group (however imperfectly) is committed to a re-imagined church. One, however flawed, is committed to the recovery and defense of... Read more
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