And here’s proof of God, at least in my book: “But then when I was 19 years old and holding a cucumber, I met a guy who was like, OMG you should work at a Unitarian church camp.”
Thank you.
I am currently and will continue to be (at least until 5/2) in a small town in Texas that is, by day, full of charming Christian women who have very much attended Fundamentalist Christian Charm School (they’ve mostly been very kind to this UU/Bu/Jewish lesbian, except maybe for that “I can fix that for you” thing) and who, one senses, by night, morph ever so slightly. I nearly fled last night; it’s been a rough few weeks. So your essay today was, as always, a balm. Also: the guy in the cast. God is in the details. 🙏🏻❤️
Good morning! As I sat reading this, I look back on my past where being a Christian was full of don’t and do’s . I remember one Saturday afternoon I went to the movies with a friend, we watched Tales from the crypt, my grandmother who I believe had a direct line to God, both she and my grandpa were in ministry ( Pentecostal) she about had a fit that I went to a moving picture show, or how as I worked at pizza inn, the Budweiser guy gave everyone a t shirt, I wore it home, you would have thought I was the anti christ ! But none the less, many years later, I’ve since moved on from regular church and now my wife and I attend the UU Church of Waco, because of my up bringing I had a difficult time wrapping my mind around this group of friends, who accept me for who I am. Since then I’ve had the chance to speak my topic was a modern take on the Beattiudes of Christ. I am still a follower of Christ, I fully believe the Apostles Creed, yet I feel totally welcome here at UU Waco, and instead of beating people over the head with a ten pound King James Version Bible, any and all are welcome in our small fellowship. For myself I would love t
I meet you in person, just to say thank you from my old wore out heart. Much love in Christ!
Nadia, blessings upon you and your time at Rowe Camp. One of the campers who benefitted from your time there, Reykha of the cutest toes, is now the mother of another Rowie. You gave Reykha courage to learn to be herself and I am forever grateful you were there for her, Her mom, Robin
Thank you for sharing. I am a retired UMC pastor who is hoping to be a better Christ follower retired than I was before when bound by the rules and doctrine of the church. I hope to be like Jimmy Carter who made a greater impact on the world out of office than we allowed him while in office.
Amazing and wonderful as ever! If you're ever interested in collecting your homilies into a book, I would consider it a privilege to do design and layout (I'm a graphic designer). It would be a way to express my gratitude for these wonderful messages which have helped me to find my Higher Power.
I’m in recovery from alcohol and substances abuse. I’m out hear seeking my path in spirituality. This is very encouraging and inspiring to read. Thank you 😊.
Wow!! I love your word of generosity! As I escaped fundamentalist christianity while coming out, I found this lovely group of lesbians who welcomed me and gave me space to just be with them. No pressure to date and no flirting, just acceptance. I did not receive any of that from the church I attended or my family. I remember trying so hard to be that perfect christian woman, wife and mother, how exhausting and fake. Thank you for sharing your experiences. It is very affirming to me! Love you, Nadia!
I don’t know about the past, present, or future of progressive religion but i am so glad remnants of people join together to show love to one another in real life and here in the corners. As Jesus said in John they will know you by your love. So this Sunday morning, i give thanks for this place... where we are encouraged to love more and fear less. My hope and prayer is that more and more will find real freedom and healing and learn to love well.
…I [need] there to be a place that has a spiritual foundation but isn’t tangled up in doctrinal imperatives. I [need] there to be a place for me to be received and told that who I am is actually a good thing, oh and by the way, join us in some prayer and meditation.
I need to create a version of Rowe Camp for moms like me!
The first time I left the Episcopal church, I ended up hanging out with UUs for 6 years, and the experience was lovely. It was the first time in my adult life I could talk about The Big Questions with people who didn't presume they already knew the answers, or even that there *were* answers.
“Like I am being continually told what I must say and believe and act like in order to be “good”, and told how I can easily identify who is “bad” by what they say and believe and act like.”
Those are the words that made me become a paid subscriber today, even though I have followed you for a long time. I want to be open to where God may be leading us, but am also concerned that those who aren’t yet ready to embrace some of the cultural changes in our churches, are vilified and labeled and are being excluded from our congregations. We need to find a way to show love to each other and our community as Jesus calls us to do, regardless of our neighbor’s personal beliefs and political affiliations.
I love the anecdote at the end of about your church kind of being a recreation of the camp you loved. It’s important that church is a place for all people to feel welcome, both the queer and the conservative, the radical and the traditional, the comfortable and the awkward. We are trying to do just that at The Vine Church in Temple, TX (ironically, formerly the Canyon Creek Church of Christ, now a fully affirming church). It’s a difficult balance to strike, and we’re finding that many of our wonderful gay members are those who are most hesitant to leaning into that identity. Just this morning, I had a conversation with a gay couple who were concerned about us becoming “the gay church,” meaning that they don’t want the church to be “too loud and proud,” becoming more about a gay identity and less about the message of Christ. Still others want us to go even further. It’s a challenge to create a space of any kind, Christian or otherwise, where everyone feels welcome. We’re doing our best and humbly trying to learn from our mistakes.
My first recollections of church were the Englewood Church of Christ in California, 3 or so, trying to tolerate sitting still in taffeta, no music allowed, no women at the pulpit. Later there would be pentecostal and charismatic influences...the "faith message" ...and tension with a husband who grew out of his restraints before I did while I stood frozen in judgment. I just couldn't see another way even if I knew there was something clearly missing.
I continue to be so grateful for the frontrunners (like you) who for a long time have been willing to speak out loud that if we embody God, it will look like love. It will look like safety and acceptance. Nadia, I have followed the natural way you walk through life as yourself, and I am so filled with joy and awe over your story of your first taste of being accepted in a faith community. I went to the church in Denver and saw it for myself.
Thank you for enlarging the space where we can all have community and heal together. Blessings.
I've been ordained for just over 40 years, now retired from serving congregations, in the United Church of Christ. For a few of those years, I was responsible for organizing weekend events twice a year for senior high youth from across the state. Themes were often social justice oriented, and occasionally faith formation focused, often a mixture of both. Youth were always full participants in the planning process and outnumbered the adults on the planning team.
For some, maybe most, these events, along with the week-long summer camp for senior highs, were their experience of "church." They went home, high on community, affirmation, sacred moments of connection with God and each other, and full of stories of growth and challenge and a deepening insight on what it could mean to be a person of faith in the world. And for some, likely most, they found nothing like that in their home churches.
That still breaks my heart. A few tried to change things in their churches by creating a safe space for them to be more authentically themselves, and a rare few were successful, most felt defeated and had to wait another year or six months to get back to the community that had become their spiritual home. We talked about that, openly, encouraging them to keep the faith, to create those communities at home however they could, enlisting whichever pastors or other adults would be supportive.
Some of the youth, now adults, I still know or know of have found other faith communities even though they live close to the churches they attended as youth, even the ones I served as their youth pastor. Others have never been back to church. I don't think we failed them with our events; I don't know what their life would have been like without those relationships or experiences we shared. But I still think, as I did then, the church let them down because most of our churches are stuck thinking about what they should be, because of what they once were, and not what they could be, because of who young people and other searches need them to be.
God is way bigger than we can imagine, certainly bigger than our fears, our agendas, our answers, at any moment. I'm still way more uncomfortable with answers than I am with questions, and would rather walk with anyone who is asking than with anyone convinced they know.
And here’s proof of God, at least in my book: “But then when I was 19 years old and holding a cucumber, I met a guy who was like, OMG you should work at a Unitarian church camp.”
Thank you.
I am currently and will continue to be (at least until 5/2) in a small town in Texas that is, by day, full of charming Christian women who have very much attended Fundamentalist Christian Charm School (they’ve mostly been very kind to this UU/Bu/Jewish lesbian, except maybe for that “I can fix that for you” thing) and who, one senses, by night, morph ever so slightly. I nearly fled last night; it’s been a rough few weeks. So your essay today was, as always, a balm. Also: the guy in the cast. God is in the details. 🙏🏻❤️
Thanks for pointing out the cast, Elissa. I missed it. Wow.
Good morning! As I sat reading this, I look back on my past where being a Christian was full of don’t and do’s . I remember one Saturday afternoon I went to the movies with a friend, we watched Tales from the crypt, my grandmother who I believe had a direct line to God, both she and my grandpa were in ministry ( Pentecostal) she about had a fit that I went to a moving picture show, or how as I worked at pizza inn, the Budweiser guy gave everyone a t shirt, I wore it home, you would have thought I was the anti christ ! But none the less, many years later, I’ve since moved on from regular church and now my wife and I attend the UU Church of Waco, because of my up bringing I had a difficult time wrapping my mind around this group of friends, who accept me for who I am. Since then I’ve had the chance to speak my topic was a modern take on the Beattiudes of Christ. I am still a follower of Christ, I fully believe the Apostles Creed, yet I feel totally welcome here at UU Waco, and instead of beating people over the head with a ten pound King James Version Bible, any and all are welcome in our small fellowship. For myself I would love t
I meet you in person, just to say thank you from my old wore out heart. Much love in Christ!
Nadia, blessings upon you and your time at Rowe Camp. One of the campers who benefitted from your time there, Reykha of the cutest toes, is now the mother of another Rowie. You gave Reykha courage to learn to be herself and I am forever grateful you were there for her, Her mom, Robin
I remember her!! Please give her my love.
BEAUTIFUL!
Thank you for sharing. I am a retired UMC pastor who is hoping to be a better Christ follower retired than I was before when bound by the rules and doctrine of the church. I hope to be like Jimmy Carter who made a greater impact on the world out of office than we allowed him while in office.
Amazing and wonderful as ever! If you're ever interested in collecting your homilies into a book, I would consider it a privilege to do design and layout (I'm a graphic designer). It would be a way to express my gratitude for these wonderful messages which have helped me to find my Higher Power.
Nadia, reading you is like drinking out of the proverbial fire hose. I love it!
I’m in recovery from alcohol and substances abuse. I’m out hear seeking my path in spirituality. This is very encouraging and inspiring to read. Thank you 😊.
Me too, Rob. Sober now 9 years. There ARE communities that know what love looks like. I hope you find them in these sensitive days.
Wow!! I love your word of generosity! As I escaped fundamentalist christianity while coming out, I found this lovely group of lesbians who welcomed me and gave me space to just be with them. No pressure to date and no flirting, just acceptance. I did not receive any of that from the church I attended or my family. I remember trying so hard to be that perfect christian woman, wife and mother, how exhausting and fake. Thank you for sharing your experiences. It is very affirming to me! Love you, Nadia!
Every Christian needs a Nadia to speak truth in unvarnished love!
I don’t know about the past, present, or future of progressive religion but i am so glad remnants of people join together to show love to one another in real life and here in the corners. As Jesus said in John they will know you by your love. So this Sunday morning, i give thanks for this place... where we are encouraged to love more and fear less. My hope and prayer is that more and more will find real freedom and healing and learn to love well.
…I [need] there to be a place that has a spiritual foundation but isn’t tangled up in doctrinal imperatives. I [need] there to be a place for me to be received and told that who I am is actually a good thing, oh and by the way, join us in some prayer and meditation.
I need to create a version of Rowe Camp for moms like me!
The first time I left the Episcopal church, I ended up hanging out with UUs for 6 years, and the experience was lovely. It was the first time in my adult life I could talk about The Big Questions with people who didn't presume they already knew the answers, or even that there *were* answers.
“Like I am being continually told what I must say and believe and act like in order to be “good”, and told how I can easily identify who is “bad” by what they say and believe and act like.”
Those are the words that made me become a paid subscriber today, even though I have followed you for a long time. I want to be open to where God may be leading us, but am also concerned that those who aren’t yet ready to embrace some of the cultural changes in our churches, are vilified and labeled and are being excluded from our congregations. We need to find a way to show love to each other and our community as Jesus calls us to do, regardless of our neighbor’s personal beliefs and political affiliations.
Welcome, Stacey. Glad you're here.
I love the anecdote at the end of about your church kind of being a recreation of the camp you loved. It’s important that church is a place for all people to feel welcome, both the queer and the conservative, the radical and the traditional, the comfortable and the awkward. We are trying to do just that at The Vine Church in Temple, TX (ironically, formerly the Canyon Creek Church of Christ, now a fully affirming church). It’s a difficult balance to strike, and we’re finding that many of our wonderful gay members are those who are most hesitant to leaning into that identity. Just this morning, I had a conversation with a gay couple who were concerned about us becoming “the gay church,” meaning that they don’t want the church to be “too loud and proud,” becoming more about a gay identity and less about the message of Christ. Still others want us to go even further. It’s a challenge to create a space of any kind, Christian or otherwise, where everyone feels welcome. We’re doing our best and humbly trying to learn from our mistakes.
My first recollections of church were the Englewood Church of Christ in California, 3 or so, trying to tolerate sitting still in taffeta, no music allowed, no women at the pulpit. Later there would be pentecostal and charismatic influences...the "faith message" ...and tension with a husband who grew out of his restraints before I did while I stood frozen in judgment. I just couldn't see another way even if I knew there was something clearly missing.
I continue to be so grateful for the frontrunners (like you) who for a long time have been willing to speak out loud that if we embody God, it will look like love. It will look like safety and acceptance. Nadia, I have followed the natural way you walk through life as yourself, and I am so filled with joy and awe over your story of your first taste of being accepted in a faith community. I went to the church in Denver and saw it for myself.
Thank you for enlarging the space where we can all have community and heal together. Blessings.
I've been ordained for just over 40 years, now retired from serving congregations, in the United Church of Christ. For a few of those years, I was responsible for organizing weekend events twice a year for senior high youth from across the state. Themes were often social justice oriented, and occasionally faith formation focused, often a mixture of both. Youth were always full participants in the planning process and outnumbered the adults on the planning team.
For some, maybe most, these events, along with the week-long summer camp for senior highs, were their experience of "church." They went home, high on community, affirmation, sacred moments of connection with God and each other, and full of stories of growth and challenge and a deepening insight on what it could mean to be a person of faith in the world. And for some, likely most, they found nothing like that in their home churches.
That still breaks my heart. A few tried to change things in their churches by creating a safe space for them to be more authentically themselves, and a rare few were successful, most felt defeated and had to wait another year or six months to get back to the community that had become their spiritual home. We talked about that, openly, encouraging them to keep the faith, to create those communities at home however they could, enlisting whichever pastors or other adults would be supportive.
Some of the youth, now adults, I still know or know of have found other faith communities even though they live close to the churches they attended as youth, even the ones I served as their youth pastor. Others have never been back to church. I don't think we failed them with our events; I don't know what their life would have been like without those relationships or experiences we shared. But I still think, as I did then, the church let them down because most of our churches are stuck thinking about what they should be, because of what they once were, and not what they could be, because of who young people and other searches need them to be.
God is way bigger than we can imagine, certainly bigger than our fears, our agendas, our answers, at any moment. I'm still way more uncomfortable with answers than I am with questions, and would rather walk with anyone who is asking than with anyone convinced they know.