During the time we lacked the ability to post new articles, the Cafe conversation continued on Facebook!
We looked at two very popular blog posts from Rachel Held Evans: 15 Reasons why I left the church, and 15 Reasons I Returned to Church. Among the thought provoking:
For leaving…
1. I left the church because I’m better at planning Bible studies than baby showers…but they only wanted me to plan baby showers.
9. I left the church because I felt like I was the only one troubled by stories of violence and misogyny and genocide found in the Bible, and I was tired of people telling me not to worry about it because “God’s ways are higher than our ways.”
For returning…
3. The fact that when somebody gets sick or dies or has a baby or loses their job, it’s the church ladies who are the first to show up at the front door with a casserole and a hug.
11. My parents, who, though we don’t always agree on all the political or theological details, have modeled Christian compassion and grace better than anyone I know and who have supported me through every “evolution” of faith
We discussed the Bishops meeting at Camp Allen – pray, talk about social media, send greetings to ABC Rowan Williams, but no blogging or tweeting this meeting seen so far.
We discussed a video of Bishop James Jones speech at synod against the proposed Covenant.
And we announced the sad passing of Mary Ellen Smith, wife of Bishop Dabney Smith, who died Tuesday, March 20, 2012 at 8:30pm.
All of these discussions can be found on The Episcopal Cafe Facebook page (where you can find all of the Cafe posts as well!!!)