On Leaving the Patheos Progressive Christian Channel

On Leaving the Patheos Progressive Christian Channel February 6, 2015

Sometimes it’s time to go.

I have a hard time being decisive in moments of change and often take some time to transition from one season to another. Maybe we all do. But usually, it’s an exercise in prolonging the inevitable. The change has already happened – I am just a little slow to acknowledge and accept it fully.

But that time has come with my blog here on the Patheos Progressive Christian Channel. Indeed, I recently attempted a rebrand – and I still love the concept and graphics and hope they will live on over here, if only as an archival record – but it was too little too late. It’s time to go. And there are a few reasons for that.

First, recent changes in my personal/family life have sparked a whole set of positive changes elsewhere – and a renewed sense of perspective. For the first time in a long time, I have a clear sense of my own gifting, calling, and purpose, and how to best build on those specific things rather than spreading myself too thin. Part of that is building and managing my own site (currently under construction) in order to best represent my unique writing and content voice, and continue collaborating with other people and brands based on that. With 3 little ones(!) and living in a new state, it’s time to do one thing well rather than lots of things with low creative quality.

Second, writing and working with clarity of call and a “one thing” kind of focus will allow for my work to have a greater impact in other spaces. I want to seek out the right people and publications to partner with – and I want to write a second book! While I could probably benefit from the wonderful exposure that the Patheos Progressive Christian channel offers, it’s just not the right place for me to develop my craft and move forward well. Which leads me to the kicker.

Third, I am not a Progressive! I am a charismatic evangelical – and I always have been. I have some views that have gotten me lumped into the Progressive Christian camp almost by default, and I’ve mainly been ok with that, at least in the sense that it denotes “not a card-carrying conservative.” But I have become equally dissatisfied with what passes for Progressive Christianity as I am with Conservative Christianity. Neither ideological mold fits. And I am increasingly satisfied with a charismatic evangelical identity, as it implies the best of Bible- and gospel-rooted, Spirit-filled, diverse and empowering, mission-centered theology and practice. (See #NewCharismatics for more along these lines.)

Maybe that leads to a fourth thing, and that is, The Internet. Spending more time away from It these days has awakened me to how easily It becomes an alternate universe – with issues and codes and conflicts and wars all its own, increasingly divorced from the world of skin, bone, and spirit. The Internet, like anything else, is either a tool that we master or a master that turns us into tools. I am determined, in this new season of life, to make my work online completely subservient to my life and identity offline – to make the Internet a tool and not a master.

So it’s time to go.

It’s time for a new start.

Before heading out, I do want to say thanks. Because my year of writing here has been wonderful – with much learning, much growing, much creating. I want to thank you, my readers, for being consistent, loyal, and engaged. That is truly a privilege I never thought I’d ever experience – to be read. I am so grateful for that. I hope you will follow me over to my new place once it’s up and running. And in the meantime, please subscribe to my newsletter that will keep you updated on the changes and send new posts to your inbox once the new site is live!

And thanks to two people in particular who took the risk of inviting me to write here when my audience was much smaller and my writing voice still cracking. To super-blogger Benjamin Corey, and editor-par-excellence Deborah Arca: thank you, for everything.

Ok, that’s my cue.

Subscribe to my letter, if you’d like.

Blessings to you.


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