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Progressive Christian

2024-01-17T13:06:44-08:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Pastors Leaving Ministry: Crafting Winning Secular Résumés

Last updated on: January 17, 2024 at 1:06 pm By Gregory T. Smith

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My last article discussed the decisions some pastors make to leave church ministry. Here, we’ll build your skills-based secular résumé. If you’re a minister who’s decided that it’s time to leave ecclesiastical work, you have soft skills that any employer would like to gain in an employee. The trick is convincing them of that. With a skills-based secular résumé, you can convince a hiring manager that you are the person they want. A Skills-Based Résumé: It’s just what it... Read more

General Christian

Careers, Workplace and Religion

Business, Finance and Religion

For Pastors

cover letter

Pastors are quiet quitting the church

Pastors leaving the ministry

Pastors writing secular resumes

Skills-based resume

2024-01-17T13:06:03-08:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Pastors Job Hunting in the Secular World

Last updated on: January 17, 2024 at 1:06 pm By Gregory T. Smith

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Are you a pastor who’s decided to leave the ministry? Secular job hunting is different from a church search and requires different résumés. Ministry has so many pressures that nobody told you about before you went to seminary or Bible college. Once you got there, you heard stories of churches abusing their pastors—but you barely believed them. “After all,” you told yourself, “Pastors are the bosses of their churches. How could ministry be all that difficult?” The Struggle of... Read more

General Christian

Careers, Workplace and Religion

Business, Finance and Religion

For Pastors

cover letter

Pastors are quiet quitting the church

Pastors leaving the ministry

Pastors writing secular resumes

2024-01-08T15:17:27-08:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

World Religion Day: Why Outreach Shouldn’t Mean Evangelism

Last updated on: January 8, 2024 at 3:17 pm By Gregory T. Smith

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World Religion Day is on its way. How should (or shouldn’t) your faith group reach out to people of other religions? Every year on the third Sunday of January, World Religion Day promotes communication and friendship between people of different faiths. In this article, I’ll discuss how not to reach out to other religious groups. Then, I’ll give seven suggestions for productive interfaith relationships. Pretty Horrible, In Retrospect Back in college, I was part of a group that was... Read more

General Christian

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Deconstruction

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World Religion Day

2024-01-08T08:50:13-08:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Youth Evangelism Gone Wrong: A Confession of Spiritual Abuse

Last updated on: January 8, 2024 at 8:50 am By Gregory T. Smith

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At an Evangelical summer camp, we used harsh tactics to get the kids saved, by any means necessary. Here’s my confession of spiritual abuse. Photo by RDNE Stock projectIn my last article, “Spiritual Abuse: Eternal Salvation by Any Means Necessary,” I discuss manipulative tactics Evangelical churches use to convert people. Most, including myself at the time, don’t see these techniques as abusive. Yet, church leaders can do a lot of damage with their strategies that are unthinking at best... Read more

General Christian

Challenging the Church

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Youth summer camp

2024-01-07T11:24:32-08:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Spiritual Abuse: Eternal Salvation by Any Means Necessary

Last updated on: January 7, 2024 at 11:24 am By Gregory T. Smith

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A few months ago, my daughter told me that she experienced spiritual abuse in some of the churches I pastored. How did I respond to this? At first, I became defensive. Certainly, I couldn’t be guilty of spiritual abuse, I told her—because this is what I told myself. Then, I talked with my other children, who agreed with what their sister said. As I processed all this, I had to admit that perhaps some spiritual abuse had taken place in... Read more

General Christian

Health, Fitness and Religion

Family, Parenting and Religion

Challenging the Church

Evangelism through shame and guilt

Spiritual abuse

Spiritual abuse awareness month

Spiritual maniupulation

2023-12-25T14:27:52-08:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Jesus’s Secret Name—It’s My Name, too!

Last updated on: December 25, 2023 at 2:27 pm By Gregory T. Smith

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Jesus has a secret name—a name given to him by a prophet, that nobody ever called him in life. You have a secret name, too—It’s the same one! Matthew 1:23 NIV reveals that private name: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, (which means “God with us”).” Of course, Matthew is quoting Isaiah 7:14. While it’s debatable whether this Hebrew scripture points to Jesus, Matthew certainly believed it to be so.... Read more

General Christian

Family, Parenting and Religion

Home and Religion

John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt

The kingdom of heaven is at hand

2023-12-12T18:00:04-08:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Toxic Positivity During the Holidays?

Last updated on: December 12, 2023 at 6:00 pm By Gregory T. Smith

Are you tired of toxic positivity during the holidays? Is there anything about our festivals of lights that dispels the darkness? During the holiday season, windows shine with candles and boast beautiful bows. Icicle lights suspend from the eaves, while bushes lay covered with glittering electric snow. The air is filled with the sound of doorbells and sleighbells, and the aroma of schnitzel with noodles. Snowflakes stay on your nose and eyelashes, and all your favorite things make you not... Read more

General Christian

Health, Fitness and Religion

History and Religion

Holidays and special days

2023-12-03T08:21:46-08:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

How Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Got Me in Trouble

Last updated on: December 3, 2023 at 8:21 am By Gregory T. Smith

It’s that time of year, when Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys are too subversive for an Evangelical church. I was shocked when an angry church member took me aside after my sermon on welcoming misfits. The troubling thing is, she wasn’t alone. Others were just as horrified as she was. What do you think—did I go too far in an Evangelical church? Here’s the full text of the Sunday message: All About Misfits The... Read more

General Christian

Religious Music and Entertainment

Family, Parenting and Religion

Challenging the Church

For Pastors

Holidays and special days

A Chosen people a royal priesthood

Christians behaving badly

Inclusion in church

Island of Misfit Toys

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

The least of these

2023-12-02T17:49:38-08:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Word on the Street: Christmas Fact or Fiction?

Last updated on: December 2, 2023 at 5:49 pm By Gregory T. Smith

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Many are questioning what they believe about Christmas miracles. After deconstructing, will you still believe the word on the street? “Word on the street,” declared the shepherds, “Is the Savior is here!” After angels proclaimed the heavenly news and the herders found the holy family in the stable, they returned, glorifying and praising God, and sharing the news with anybody who would listen. Word on the street had already proven true when Mary’s cousin Elizabeth had turned up pregnant... Read more

General Christian

Education and Religion

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Deconstruction

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Are Christmas miracles real?

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Mary pondered these things in her heart

Religious deconstruction

2023-11-26T19:23:24-08:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Lessons from Parking During the Christmas Rush

Last updated on: November 26, 2023 at 7:23 pm By Gregory T. Smith

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While Christmas shopping, parking lots and garages are brutal. Here are some lessons I’ve learned from parking during the Christmas rush. Especially during Christmas, there’s something about the parking garage experience that either brings out the best or the worst in people. Most people are in a hurry, trying to find a space. Often, I have watched as hurried people fly through a parking garage (we call them parkades here in Canada), not only endangering themselves, but others. They miss... Read more

General Christian

Religious Events

Travel and Religion

Holidays and special days

Christmas season parking

Faith over fear

Me first attitude

Parking during the Christmas rush

Patience is a virtue

What is a parkade in Canada

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