Part of healing from fundamentalism is staring straight in the face the kinds of things I used to say to other people as an obnoxious evangelical. It’s not the easiest of tasks. Actually, it’s more like trying to cleanse an open, blistering sunburn with rubbing alcohol. The sting is excruciating in the midst of being exposed over and over again…
Category: religion
40 Lifelong Gifts — Part I
Part of my Lenten practice this year was to think of one genuine gift each of the forty days that the world of evangelicalism gave me. It’s not an earth-shattering practice or one that will herald any second comings of Jesus or anything. I really only wanted to find beauty and meaning in a past that has done damage. It’s…
Thoughts on “Shameless: A Sexual Reformation”
I feel a rather satisfied sense of irony that my post about Nadia Bolz-Weber’s new book “Shameless: A Sexual Revolution” is set to go live today, March 08, International Women’s Day. There’s something rather authentic and volatile about sharing openly about sex, purity culture, and patriarchy on the day women around the world are celebrating each other, and affirming how…
When We Kill the Prophets
I remember when Rob Bell released his book “Love Wins”. There was somewhat of a frenzy at our church about Rob’s teachings — whether or not they were heresy. Eventually, the church board at the time chose to ban Rob’s works from the church library. He was deemed dangerous, a threat to bible-believing Christianity. I was still fully immersed in…
Where is Jesus Now if Not in My Heart?
Where is Jesus now? Awake at 2:30 this morning, I wondered what becomes of the images and metaphors we use in our initial spiritual or religious contexts after we exit them. Where do they go? Who does God then become? How, then, do we connect with the Divine? For those of you who may require some explanation, evangelicals describe a…
High Anthropology, Low Anthropology
I am in a season of both swirling snows and swirling conversations about atonement theories. It makes sense since I do live in north-central Alberta and we are well past due the time for seasonal snows. And it makes even more sense now during this season of my life as I’m engaging more theological circles, writers, teachers, and theologians addressing…
Support for Bi People of Faith
I offered a didactic on ‘LGBTQ+ Health in Spiritual Care’ during my recent CPE Unit. Do you know what I discovered? There were hardly any credible pastoral care/spiritual care resources for LGBTQ+ people. I wasn’t surprised. Saddened, but not surprised. As I sifted through what little I could, I began to realize once again that there is practically nothing…
The Look of a Disciple
Today’s gospel reading was taken from Matthew 11: 16 “But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another, 17 ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.’ 18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a…
A Picnic With Bigotry
A few weeks ago, the church I’ve been attending here in Edmonton co-hosted a church picnic. Being a student, I couldn’t afford much in the way of food but I did have a vehicle I could bring to assist transporting people to the picnic grounds. Wouldn’t you know it: there was a new woman there that morning who wanted a…
Women in Theology: A Canadian Snapshot — WIT
Great post from Jane Barter… This past week, I participated in a panel on women in theology in Canada at the annual meeting of the Canadian Theological Society. I was asked to speak on the current state of affairs for women in theology in Canada, which, according to my research, is not a very happy one. My paper begins with […]…
