“I have doubts. I have such doubts.” Those are the closing words of Doubt, a 2008 Academy Award-winning film starring Meryl Streep, Amy Adams and the late Philip Seymour Hoffman. Those anguished words of doubt were spoken by Sister Aloysius,…
4 places to put your tithe money if you no longer attend church
You’ve tithed all your life to a church, dutifully giving that 10% “back to God” as you were taught. But then something happened. A loved one came out. Or you came out. Or Trump got elected. Or the pandemic happened….
My long farewell to traditional religion (and what remains)
If I had to summarize my religious journey with one Bible verse, I would choose Matthew 28:17, “When they (the early disciples) saw him (the risen Christ), they worshiped him; but some doubted.” For more than 50 years, since my…
Why I have empathy for Karen Swallow Prior
“I’ve been struggling with regret lately, specifically in feeling like I wasted my whole academic career (given how things have turned out),” tweeted Karen Swallow Prior three months after resigning from the faculty of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. When she announced her…
If a story is meant to evolve, then so are we
The word “story” is defined as “an account of past events in someone’s life or in the evolution of something.” I think about this a lot when I travel and speak: How does our story evolve, change and become? How…
I asked people why they’re leaving Christianity, and here’s what I heard
For some time now, Christianity has been on the decline. According to a September 2022 Pew study, people identifying as Christian have decreased from 90% of the U.S. population in 1972 to 64% in 2020. But it’s not just researchers…
What I’ve learned from Evolving Faith
October always has been my favorite month of the year. I celebrate my wedding anniversary and my only child’s birthday in this memory-filled month. During October, my spirit soars as I bask in the splendor of trees aglow with autumnal…
‘So you’ve been deconstructing, huh? What do you believe now?’
There is perhaps no greater trend in American Christianity than deconstructing the theology and ethics of white evangelicalism. Books, articles, podcasts and even music are being created daily to explore the reasons why so many people are leaving the faith…
Roger Williams, the father of American deconstruction
If Roger Williams is remembered at all, it’s as a champion of church-state separation. In addition, a steadily declining circle of progressive Baptists honor the founder of Rhode Island as the original American Baptist. Both perceptions are a bit off-target….