Sharon Autenrieth
The problem with the church is me
A look at the widening gap between churched Christians and unchurched Christians.
Apr 18, 2012 | 8:53 am
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Standing with the Catholic bishops on religious freedom
Please tell me that you are paying attention to what is happening right now between the Catholic Church and the Obama Administration. I have to be honest in saying that I have too many work commitments to do justice to this story, and yet it deserves every ounce of attention we can give to it. Al…
Feb 07, 2012 | 9:43 am
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Pastors: Stay out of the bully pulpit
I preached my first sermons a couple of weeks ago. I've spent my entire life listening to sermons, week in and week out, never imagining I'd be standing at the pulpit myself someday. The experience brought to mind one of my assignments in the "Exploring Christian Ministry" class I took this past …
Jan 21, 2012 | 9:24 pm
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The War on Christmas (no, not that one)
But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time...as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they…
Dec 20, 2011 | 12:35 pm
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Tony Perkins and Free Market Jesus
We are all tempted to appropriate Jesus for our political positions. This isn't new. Occupy protesters carry signs that say "Jesus was a Socialist" while Herman Cain described Jesus as the "perfect conservative". Squint hard enough and you can make Jesus into anything you want him to be. We've ha…
Dec 07, 2011 | 10:46 am
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Moving step by step into "Clergy World"
"Why are you back in school?"
Dec 01, 2011 | 9:07 pm
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The awesome six pack of God?
My oldest daughter has been asking me many difficult spiritual questions lately, some of them prompted by interactions with Christians in other denominations: "What about speaking in tongues?"; "Do we go straight to heaven when we die, or somewhere else?" - questions like that. I am predictable a…
Nov 22, 2011 | 2:45 pm
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All Saints Day: The church of foolish lovers
Frederick Buechner said that God "makes his saints out of fools and sinners because there is nothing much else to make them out of." It's a line I quote often, partly because, as a fool and a sinner myself, I find it consoling. But I also find myself drawn like a magnet toward the most foolish of…
Oct 28, 2011 | 8:48 pm
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Iranian pastor Yousef Nadarkhani faces execution for apostasy
Last night while going through my Google Reader I came across a news article that prompted the following blog post. I've copied it from my personal blog to Civil Religion in the hopes that I can gather support for Pastor Nadarkhani. To email the Iranian embassey, please go here.
Sep 28, 2011 | 9:44 am
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Michele Bachmann raises the question: can a submissive wife be a commanding president?
I left my Google Reader unattended for several days and discovered something interesting when I came back to it: item after item on "wifely submission". What drew all of the attention to this subject? Michele Bachmann's presidential campaign. As someone who has devoted considerable energy to the …
Aug 19, 2011 | 8:25 am
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John Stott: "A walking embodiment of the simple beauty of Jesus"
Fifteen years or so ago I purchased a copy of The Cross of Christ by John Stott. I'd heard his name, knew he was "famous" in evangelicalism, but had never read any of his writings. It took only a chapter or two in The Cross of Christ for me to be won over to Stott's style of writing. He was intel…
Jul 29, 2011 | 7:37 pm
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On Harold Camping and waiting for Judgment Day, again
Have you heard the one about the pastor who predicted the Rapture and the end of the world? Which one, you ask? Yes, despite the unusual amount of media attention this is getting, the predictions for this Saturday are not unprecedented. Even my beloved John Wesley got it wrong, thinking the antic…
May 20, 2011 | 9:29 am
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Book Review: The Sword of the Lord
Note: Earlier this spring I received a pdf pre-release copy of Andrew Himes's book The Sword of the Lord: The Roots of Fundamentalism in an American Family. The book's official release date is May 16th, and my review follows:
May 10, 2011 | 7:14 pm
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Should we rejoice in bin Laden's death?
I posted this article to my personal blog this afternoon. I realize I'm repeating many of the thoughts expressed by Amelia and Pamela, but I'd like to add my voice to this conversation.
May 02, 2011 | 2:49 pm
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Thomas, the truth-telling apostle
Tomorrow is St. Thomas Sunday on the church calendar. Last year was the first time I realized that there was such a day. I was immediately glad about it, though, since Thomas is my favorite disciple. In services tomorrow countless churches will be reading the story of Thomas's post-resurrection e…
Apr 30, 2011 | 2:11 pm
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I want to live in Eastertide
We make little jokes in our church staff meetings that might seem irreverent to some. For instance, it was in a staff meeting that I was introduced to the Vintage 21 Jesus - because a certain person on staff, ahem, does a terrific impression. Yesterday, in the service planning for this coming Sun…
Apr 26, 2011 | 1:36 pm
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The radically ordinary christian
Yesterday I read a post called Demythologizing "Radical" Christianity at the Internet Monk. A few paragraphs in, I was disagreeing vehemently with the post. It seemed to be both promoting complacency and demonstrating contempt for passionate Christians. But I don't know...the more I read, the mor…
Apr 21, 2011 | 3:05 pm
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Using the Bible to support abolition - and slavery
I'm currently reading a book called The Sword of the Lord: The Roots of Fundamentalism in an American Family by Andrew Himes. I snagged the opportunity to read it for review before publication, and I am loving it. American history, religious history and family history are all bound up together in…
Apr 15, 2011 | 7:20 am
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Terry Jones's Koran burning produces tragic results
I love the internet. I love checking in with my friends on Facebook every day. I love being able to access research materials easily. I love reading blogs, finding good music, and watching videos of preternaturally cute babies. I realize, though, that there is a dark side to the internet. Porn, f…
Apr 05, 2011 | 9:11 am
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Q & A with Johnnie Moore, on Hell
Yesterday I posted an op-ed piece by Johnnie Moore, campus pastor at Liberty University, on the subject of hell. After reading Rev. Moore's point of view I sent him a list of questions which he graciously answered. I wish we had time for more back-and-forth, because on this subject at least, the …
Mar 31, 2011 | 8:29 am
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Liberty University's Johnnie Moore: Hell is Terrible, Believing It Exists Is Not
Note: A few weeks back I wrote a post about Rob Bell and the controversy aroused by his new book. The book, Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived, has since been released, but at least in my corner of the church world, the conversation about hell is ongo…
Mar 30, 2011 | 7:35 am
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Where Do Bullies Come From?
Most of the bullying I encountered as a child was just verbal abuse. Did I say "just"? Verbal is bad enough. I wasn't a constant target the way some kids were, but I got my share of ridicule. The "freaks" who called me "Virgin Mary" in high school bothered me less than the popular girls who made …
Mar 24, 2011 | 12:13 pm
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In Defense of Ritual (Not Ritualism)
Note: This post was originally written for my personal blog, and while it's a bit long for Civil Religion, it seems appropriate for this site as well. My denominational home, the Church of the Nazarene, has traditionally been "nonliturgical", but that is changing - at least in some churches.
Mar 23, 2011 | 7:52 am
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Japan's Earthquake and Psalm 42
In his book Learning to Pray Through the Psalms, James Sire writes of misunderstanding the biblical image of "the deep". In Psalm 42, verse 7, the psalmist prays, "Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me." Sire's initial reaction to the ph…
Mar 11, 2011 | 11:06 pm
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Sharon Autenrieth
Sharon Autenrieth is a homeschooling parent and the Director of Christian Education at Good Samaritan Church of the Nazarene in Collinsville. Her interests include movies, radical politics, church history and theology. Sharon also blogs at strangefigures.wordpress.com. She lives with her husband, five children, four guinea pigs and a ridiculous number of books.
