Why I Don’t go to Church Anymore

Earlier this year I was invited to write about why I don’t go to church anymore for a local weekly newspaper. The blog entry about my article is here:

Why I Don’t go to Church Anymore

People have responded to the article in person, by phone, by mail and by writing to the newspaper. I’ve written a number of blog entries about the responses:

Blog entries about responses to the newspaper article (most recent first)

The direct links to all the related newspaper articles/responses are below. At first the responses were to me, but as time has gone by, people have started responding to each other. One thing I have enjoyed that has developed is an ongoing newspaper dialog between me and one of the respondents, Rev F. Dean Lueking.

Date

  

Author

Article/Letter

Response to
7/5/06 1 Helen Mildenhall Changing
Faith: Why I don’t go to church anymore		  
7/12/06 2 Audrey deCoursey Progressive
Christians are real Christians too		  
7/19/06 3 Cynthia Collazo Mildenhall’s
article on struggling with faith is appreciated		  
7/19/06 4 Bud Hayes A
confession of faith		  
7/19/06 5 Rev. F. Dean Lueking Going
to church anyway … and why		  
8/2/06 6 Helen Mildenhall Thank
you, Rev. Lueking for your kind, humble response		 Rev Lueking (5)
8/23/06 7 Rev. F. Dean Lueking Mildenhall
asks big questions, in the right spirit		 Helen (6)
8/23/06 8 Franklin ‘Bud’ Hayes A
faith more transparent to itself: Why I still do go to church		  
9/13/06 9 Helen Mildenhall Is
dialog possible between people of faith and people of doubt?		 Rev Lueking (7)
9/13/06 10 Richard Beeman Doing
church: How and where do we find God?		  
9/13/06 11 Susan Cross Mildenhall
shows lack of courage in leaving church		  
9/20/06 12 Ken Trainor (editor) Why
I do, and don’t, go to church		  
9/27/06 13 Rev F. Dean Lueking Who’s
who in the faith/doubt dialog		 Helen (9)
10/04/06 14 Dan Haley (editor) Can
God be found in letters to the editor?		  
10/11/06 15 Helen Mildenhall Dialog
works if you don’t need a membership card		 Rev Lueking (13)

10/11/06

 16 Joseph A. Wemhoff Church
wins in Catholic Church vs. Ken Trainor		 Ken Trainor (12)
10/11/06 17 John McMahon The
world and the Church aren’t perfect, so grow up		 Ken Trainor (12)
10/11/06 18 John M. McCarthy Church
change starts at our own kitchen tables		 Ken Trainor (12)
10/11/06 19 Karen Scafidi WJ
isn’t shy about any issue, even religion
10/11/06 20 Barret Buchholz Relieved
of ‘god,’ we can live fuller lives		 Rev Lueking (13)
10/11/06 21 George Thompson Renewed
faith: Why I returned to church
10/25/06 22 Rev F. Dean Lueking What we believe is affected by where we stand Helen (15)
10/25/06 23 Mary Cronin Your Aug. 2 issue was a real prize
11/08/06 24 Helen Mildenhall I won’t worship a God I might be making up Rev Lueking (22)
11/08/06 25 Rev S. Anita Stauffer A little background for the continuing dialog Helen (15)
11/08/06 24 Helen Mildenhall I won’t worship a God I might be making up Rev Lueking (22)
11/08/06 25 Rev S. Anita Stauffer A little background for the continuing dialog Helen (15)
12/19/06 26 Rev. F Dean Lueking The search to know God, the gift of being known by God Helen (24)
3/13/07 27 Helen Mildenhall I won’t try to explain God away anymore Rev Lueking (26)
3/27/07 28 Rev Lueking What shall we do with this cross? Helen (27)
5/22/07 29 Helen The heart of the matter Rev Lueking (28)
5/29/07 30 Rev Lueking Religion: a straitjacket or bright wings? Helen (29)
6/5/07 31 George Thompson Reflection on doubt and spirituality
6/5/07 32 Mary Hunsberger Thoughts on the Lueking/Mildenhall dialogue
6/26/07 33 Helen Heading toward love, away from fear George Thompson (31) and Mary Hunsberger (32)
7/10//07 34 Rev Lueking Before Truth and Life, there is the Way Helen (33)
8/14/07 35 Helen Jesus wouldn’t mind us asking these questions Rev Lueking (34)
8/14/07 36 Rebecca Dahlstrom Many of us are searching for answers
9/19/07 37 Rev Lueking Just so we know what we’re getting into Helen (35)
10/31/07 38 Helen The Way is important, not who owns it Rev Lueking (37)
11/07/07 39 Jim Henderson The way, the truth, and the following Helen (38)
12/04/07 40 Rev Lueking All voices are welcome, from all sides Helen (38)
1/15/08 41 Helen One way to find The Way is Off The Map Rev Lueking (40)
1/30/08 42 Jim Henderson It’s all about honoring others Helen (41)
2/13/08 43 Rev Lueking The Way across the achievement gap Helen (41)
4/2/08 44 Helen No eligibility tests for The Way Rev Lueking (43)
5/27/08 45 Rev Lueking ‘The Way’ reaches behind bars Helen (44)

If you want to read more about my move away from conservative Christianity, here are a couple of other places I’ve written about it online:

09-16-2006 |