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
A friend gave me What Pope Francis Really Said (Servant Press, 2016). Interesting book! Now, mind you, I like Pope Francis. He’s a breath of fresh air and an inspiration, especially compared to the last two popes who were trying to move the church back to the fourteenth century. However, for me, the jury is … Read more
Scientists have found what they claim are the oldest-known traces of life on earth, embedded in some Canadian rocks. The article states the fossils are really only 3.7 billion years old, not 4 billion—but what’s a few hundred million years! Scientists are still investigating this, so I’m sure there is someone out there ready to … Read more
Someone must have an answer. I need one, quickly. Maybe one of our many Evangelical Christian (EC) relatives can help me. The polls suggest that over 90 percent of ECs voted for Trump to be the forty-fifth president of our country. Here’s my first question: What did you honestly think when Mr. Trump, for many … Read more
I lived in Paradise—Hawai’i—for twenty years. There I met my Annie, our three daughters were born, and, for fifteen of those years, I served as an Episcopal priest. I still receive that diocese’s church e-mail postings. A week ago, a member asked the bishop, “Do I have to pray for him, and, if so, do … Read more
An elderly man walked (not shuffled) into a restaurant with his friend, immediately pulled out a handkerchief, and started doing coin tricks for the children who were waiting in line. He pulled a quarter out of one little boy’s ear. He had flat balloons in his pocket, blew a few of them up, and started … Read more
I am a retired Episcopal priest who has been ordained for almost sixty years and in the church business all my life (I’m a “PK,” a preacher’s kid). For years, I have struggled with what the church has told me I have to believe because so much of it doesn’t make any sense. Some of … Read more