Over a year ago, I was asked to be a mentor for a brilliant young man who attends my church. I was honored, but also a bit worried. I wondered if I was the best choice - personally I had been questioning my faith since my childhood. Growing up as a Pastors kid Id seen the bad side of the church and in my daily life Id seen people who called themselves christian doing terrible things to themselves and those around them. I was (and am) in the middle of a crisis of faith. But, there are a group of people whom I consider my big-C Christian mentors. They have allowed me to retain my faith by their actions and the way they live their lives and how they deal with the world around them. My father, who counciled and prayed with a group of lesbian women in conservative Indiana in the early 80s. My mother, who during her life touched so many and was a vocal leader for full LGBT inclusion in the ELCA. Jim Wallis and Mark Sandlin - Christians who seem to have read the New Testament and know that Jesus was made man. Faith leaders like Nadia Bolz-Weber and Shane Claiborne who are voices of the Emerging Church. And my church family, pastors and fantastic staff at St. John Lutheran Church - Fargo, N.D. who allow me to be as broken a human as I am and still attend - and dont make fun of me when I have tears on my cheek after singing one of the hymns my mom loved or when I speak up and get loud asking questions.
Posted on: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 13:56:35 +0000
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