It suddenly dawned on me last Sunday: Prayer is not media-friendly. In this past year, I’ve visited over forty different types of churches, writing up my experiences for a regional newspaper. I then post the columns on this blog and write a more thorough analysis of what I saw and experienced. Many of the places I visited are quite large, often multi-site. Messages come from the lead pastor, nearly always a charismatic and photogenic younger man. Most are live-streamed, using... Read more
Note: I have been doing “Mystery Worships” for the past year. I write these up for the Denton Record-Chronicle as their weekly religion column. While it has been fun and educational, it has also been a deeply troubling experience. The last couple of months have been particularly rough on me. I’ve told several people that if I were not well-grounded in my faith, I would have completely lost it by now. I had seen too many male ego-driven, female-ridden, prayerless... Read more
Did you know that the Lord’s Prayer can be read as “Hey, Jesus, can teach us to pray that way you do so we can get the same stuff from God that you do?” This, among other things, is what I learned when visiting a church in Frisco in June of 2015. The newspaper article ran in the Friday, June 12, 2015. edition of the Denton Record-Chronicle is in italics below. I’ve inserted my editorial comments here, things I can’t say in... Read more
We sat by the pool side by side, my companion and I. We watched the sun set, sipped on a glass of wine and talked quietly for hour and a half about the events of the day. Periodically we would briefly touch hands or exchange a quick glance. Rich dialogue emerged from questions and clarifications, from free exploration of ideas and possibilities, from active listening and unforced flow of thought. We ended the conversation, both changed, both relaxed, both savoring the... Read more
Why am I still a Christian when people like the Duggars sacrifice their daughters on the altar of TV fame? Because I know that today, a woman in her early 50’s who was sexually abused by her adoptive father in such a horrific way that it churns the stomach to think about it formally adopted her five-year-old grandson and thus redeemed the whole nature of adoption. She has also been able to walk through a forgiveness process none of us... Read more
[Note: since this article was written, Matt Chandler has met with Karen Hinkley face-to-face. His apology was offered and received by her. She offered forgiveness in return and now considers the matter closed. However, this still does not deal with the underlying theology that gives women no voice and no place at the table and thus opens the door to further abuse.] I attended the media-battered Northway Campus of The Village Church this morning (Sunday, May 31, 2015). After the usual... Read more
Quick recap: The Village Church, led by the evangelical superstar Matt Chandler, put the wife of an admitted pedophile under church discipline when she arranged for the annulment of her unquestionably invalid marriage without first getting permission from the church elders. By the virtue of the membership covenant, members of that church do indeed give the church elders, all male, full authority to make decisions about intimate husband/wife decisions including whether they may or may not divorce and under what... Read more
The blasting open of the news that members of the immensely popular and rapidly growing The Village Church cannot freely leave the church without approval from the all male, all self-selected elders has stunned a lot of people. I’ve written some about it here. A thorough time-line can be found here. Blogger Amy Smith is especially to be commended here for bringing all this to light with the accompanying documentation. So now the question is being raised in the minds of many:... Read more
I’m in a state of shock. I cannot believe that in this day and time a church can get away with this. But the male ego and the need for authority over others has no bounds, particularly in a church where no female voices may be heard at decision making levels. A quick summary: The Village Church is a large, multi-site church pastored by the increasingly famous Matt Chandler. Matt, along with equally infamous Mark Driscoll, founded the Acts 29... Read more
About a year ago, I wrote of the resignation of the cult leader, Bill Gothard, whose theology and practices have greatly influenced the now-destroyed Duggar family. According to news reports, the many girls violated by young Josh Duggar’s sexual experimentation were given “counseling.” Well, it is important to understand the kind of “counseling” they were given. Bill Gothard had created a theology that opens the door for men to systematically abuse women and children and then blame those very women and... Read more
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