Text Messages

Today is my last day with Beliefnet, and my last day as the author of this blog. The Text Messages archives will remain live at this location, but posting will cease. 

If that sounds gloomy, it's an accurate reflection of my mind this afternoon. I've chosen to pursue new opportunities, but I'm not without pangs of regret. I've loved the conversation on this blog, loved sharing my interests with you, and most importantly, loved my tenure as an editor for Beliefnet. I've worked here for three years, which I'm told is an eternity in online media, but it felt like a spark. (It's also not an eternity for Beliefnet--good people tend to stick around this place, not least because there are so many good people who work here.) 

I'm tempted to link to my favorite interviews, essays, blog posts, videos and feature packages I've had the pleasure of developing during my time here. But I'd rather point forward. If you like this blog, I hope you'll follow the rich conversations that are happening at Jesus Creed and The New Christians, Crunchy Con and Idol Chatter. I love Steven Waldman's blog, too, and Therese Borchard's, and the Blogalogue, and the entire slate of voices Beliefnet is developing. Stay tuned. 

Also keep an eye on Beliefnet's Christian channel, and the soon-to-be-transformed community site. Good stuff all around. 

Me? Well, I've a PhD to complete, and (in related news) a book on Christianity, violence, and Hollywood. New projects abound, with fingers crossed. 

I can be reached at pattondodd (at) gmail dot com. 

Thanks for reading, and thanks especially to Beliefnet. 

Why do people stop going to church? This big question is the subject of Julia Duin's small book, Quitting Church: Why teh Faithful are Fleeing and What To Do About It. Duin is not a disinterested observer of the phenomenon of church-dropping; rather, she's a churchgoer who wants churches to work well, and also a skilled reporter who knows how to apply the tools of her trade. 

The result is a book that makes for uncomfortable reading for anyone invested in good church ministry; Duin is straightforward in her examination of the myriad ways churches can fail Christian believers. But she's not without hope in American churches and their ability to find a way forward. 

Duin took on some questions via email. Our exchange appears after the jump. 

A.J. Jacobs, the author of The Year of Living Biblically, calls it "equal parts Tom Perotta and Rob Bell." Couldn't be a more apt description of what Rob is able to accomplish in his writing: it's a kind of pastoral satire. 

The merit award is a runner-up prize. CT's top fiction award went to some writer named Marilynne Robinson. Who? What has she ever done worth doing?

Ted Haggard enjoyed frequent television appearances during the years when, as the outspoken president of the National Association of Evangelicals, his star rose high enough for Barbara Walters, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, Brian Williams, et al to come calling on a regular basis. In November 2006, he disappeared quickly when he was caught in a sex and drugs scandal with a male prostitute in Denver. But this week, Haggard is gracing television screens once again. Oprah Winfrey and Larry King are profiling Haggard and his family, and HBO subscribers will watch "The Trials of Ted Haggard," a documentary by Alexandra Pelosi that follows the ex-minister through the dreary months after his star crashed. 

In his two decades as pastor of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, one of Haggard's most legendary sermons was titled "There's No Such Thing As a Secret." Truth will out, preached Haggard, so you may as well confess your darkest impulses and actions. I was Haggard's writer and editor for eight years, and I don't know anyone who was not shocked that there was such a thing as a secret for him. Haggard's double life was a searing revelation to his family, his church, and his closest friends.