Nee-haw! We made the cut! Making Chutney is being inducted into the 9rules Network!

Out of the 700 blogs that applied, 111 were accepted. We’ll be joining fellow Unitarian LoFi Tribe in 9rules’ religion section.  Click to continue reading “Making Chutney joins 9rules Network!”

In a discussion at Eclectic Itchings, I'm reminded of my own journey away from Christian orthodoxy some years ago.  No one of the thoughts listed below convinced me on its own, but taken together I found them compelling.  

What I would like to see the Emerging Church do is to deeply engage questions like these.  Not because my points are so f-ing brilliant, but because questioning modernity — as the Emerging Churchers frequently claims they do — should mean questioning the foundational assumptions modern Christianity makes about what's Christian and what's not, even if that means questioning the medieval and ancient roots modern Christianity relies upon. 

What follows is something of a beta of my own thoughts over the years.  I do not intend for them to be definitive, though I find them compelling myself (obviously).  Please also keep in mind that they are intended to question and/or refute arguments, not make a single, unified argument.  Click to continue reading “Salvos against Christian orthodoxy”

I've changed it so you have to enter an email address to be able to enter a comment.  There are three reasons for this.  One, to make it easier to get in touch with you.  Two, to help prevent comment spam (not much of a problem now, but still). 

Three, so all regular commenters will have their comments approved automatically.  That is, if the blog gerbils recognize your email address, they'll let the comment through immediately.  You don't even have to use your real email address — though email addresses are never published on the site — but be sure to use the same one each time so the gerbils don't get confused.

Some stats on ministers (emphasis mine):

1. Fifteen hundred pastors leave the ministry each month due to moral failure, spiritual burnout, or contention in their churches.
2. Fifty percent of pastors' marriages will end in divorce.
3. Eighty percent of pastors and eighty-four percent of their spouses feel unqualified and discouraged in their role as pastors.
4. Fifty percent of pastors are so discouraged that they would leave the ministry if they could, but have no other way of making a living.
5. Eighty percent of seminary and Bible School graduates who enter the ministry will leave the ministry within the first five years.
6. Seventy percent of pastors constantly fight depression.
7. Almost forty percent polled said they have had an extra-marital affair since beginning their ministry.
8. Seventy percent said the only time they spend studying is when they are preparing their sermons.

Number four has been feeling close to home as I've been sending out resumes.  I remain convinced that the "Master of Divinity" line on my resume is a ticket straight to the circular file.

But to the more general question: what can faith communities do to make sure this doesn't happen to their ministers?  What sort of restructuring is necessary to change this untenable situation? (Hat tip to CMS.)

Did you ever want your new MacBook to sound like a lightsaber whenever you swung it violently from side to side?  Okay, probably not.  But now it can.

The wifefriend and I celebrate eight years of marriage today.  Damn, we're old.