One day in a class at church, someone brought up the idea of the soul, starting a conversation about souls and what they do after we die. I listened for a while and then asked, “What is a soul?” For the next half hour, we discussed souls. Allow me to share some of the ideas … Read more
A friend emailed me this statement from a seminary professor: “The bulk of Christians seek salvation.” My friend likes to bait me, and he did so again. In a return email, I used a form of teaching that Jesus used often called didactics, which means one answers a question by asking a question. My questions … Read more
These letters stand for two of the most important words in the church today—they should be the cornerstone for the church of the future. We remind congregants at every service that we are an “O & A” church. In my new book, Cramming for the Finals: New Ways of Looking at Old Church Ideas, I … Read more
One of my favorite subscriptions is a weekly called The Spong Newsletter. It’s distributed by ProgressiveChristianity.org, which I suspect is on the Forbidden to Read List for some Christian sects. On March 9, David Felten, a Methodist pastor with a congregation in Fountain Hills, Arizona, published “How to Repeal and Replace Christianity’s Addiction to ‘Fake … Read more
As a child and teen, church was the center of my life. My dad was the rector, which made me a PK (Preacher’s Kid). I was an acolyte and loved serving at the altar. I was big into our youth group. If you wanted, I would give you a private tour under the church, in … Read more
I don’t think it’s any secret that the institutional church, especially in developed countries, is dying. The worst part: the leaders don’t seem to know how to revitalize it. What are your feelings? From my vantage point, I don’t see how a church can survive if church leaders insist that a god lives up there, … Read more
It seems to me that too many Christians have a list of people or groups unworthy of unconditional love. Part of me thinks that being human without having a list is almost impossible. But my guru, Jesus, says to his true Followers: “No lists. Period.” My list used to be fairly long, but I junked … Read more
I named the theistic god NoOneUpThere because the term clearly describes my feelings. If I just call it the theistic god, then some folks are going to say, “He’s just another one of those atheists.” But I’m not! I believe in a force so vast that I can’t describe it in my limited human language. … Read more
I call myself a PC, but that does not mean politically correct, which I usually am not. If I was with a group of mainstream Protestant clergy, most of them would know that when I call myself a PC, I mean I am a progressive Christian. I can hear some of you asking, “What or … Read more