My first visit to a Southern Baptist church occurred in 1971, when I was 15 years old. My family had just moved from Alamogordo, N.M., to my parent’s hometown of Muskogee, Okla. On my first Sunday in town, my aunt,…
The Toxic Evangelical Variant
It’s not an exaggeration to say the evangelical church saved me in every way a person can be saved. They introduced me to Jesus. They became the family my childhood family could not be. They loved and affirmed me. They…
Praying in a time of war
The intense polarization around the Israel-Hamas war reminds me of a story from another polarizing Middle East war that occurred 20 years ago. In the spring of 2003, soon after United States launched the Iraq war, a retired Army officer…
‘Do you think I am still a Christian?’
My work with Doubter’s Parish puts me in correspondence with large numbers of people. Many of them ask interesting questions about God, Jesus, faith, theology and church. For example, a few months ago a reader who no longer believes in…
The 1 percent church
Last week, I shared my story about serving as a megachurch pastor. This week, I’d like to tell you about my experience leading a small-membership rural church. The two pastorates could not be more different. Most of my 40-year ministerial…
My brief life as a megachurch pastor
For two brief years, I served as senior pastor of a megachurch. Then quickly, unexpectedly, and mercifully, it was over. This article tells my story. Months before being appointed to the church, my bishop indicated it might happen. Their pastor,…
A brief introduction to progressive Christianity
The majority religious worldview in Putnam County, Tenn., is by far conservative evangelicalism, often called “the religious right.” However, other religious perspectives also exist in our community, including “progressive Christianity.” Although it represents a minority view in our area, progressive…
Why some retired clergy lose faith and leave church
“Be merciful to those who doubt.” — Jude 22 I belong to a support group of seven retired Mainline clergypersons. Six of the seven no longer affirm historic, creedal, orthodox, traditional theology. The same six members of the group…
The real religious crisis in America
In a recent NPR interview, Russell Moore, author of Losing Our Religion, told a story about a pastor who preached a message from Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount. During his message, the pastor quoted Jesus saying things like “Turn the…