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I’ll still be sending out my regular piece on Tuesday morning, but I thought I’d also share a run-down of the pieces I wrote for this newsletter in 2023 that were read the most.
Perhaps some of you missed them the first time (I know you would never intentionally do that!). Or maybe you started subscribing to my newsletter after I sent them out. Either way, have a look at the most popular pieces of 2023.
So here they are: the top 10 most-read pieces from “Reimagining Faith” of 2023:
What Makes Seventh-day Adventists Different? As you’ll note, the pieces I write that directly address questions about my faith community seem to be the most popular.
Why I’m a Seventh-day Adventist. As I was saying!
Reaching the Secular Mind. A recent piece wherein I share reflections about how to reach people who are becoming increasingly non-religious and secular. It was based on a presentation I shared for leaders of my denomination in Canada.
Is God a Community? A bit of a more theologically-dense piece, in which I reflect on the idea of God being fundamentally defined as a community (or what is often called “social trinitarianism”).
God Is Love, So God Is Violent? Another theologically-dense piece where I wrestle with how the violence attributed to God in the Bible makes sense if I believe God is fundamentally defined as and by love.
Saying “Yes to the Dress and “No” to Modesty Culture. Critiquing the tendency within conservative religious communities to strictly regulate what females wear.
Why I Want to Stop Complaining About People. This is pretty self-explanatory!
“Then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” In this piece, I springboard from a passage in the biblical book of Daniel to discuss how, historically, there was a major shift in attitudes about God in the nineteenth century.
Is the Table Open or Closed? I look at the tendency among religious communities to tightly guard who has access to God, comparing it to how Jesus welcomed (and still welcomes) everyone to his table.
A Kite Without Wind. I reflect on a column in the Washington Post wherein the writer, who is a former Christian, wished he could organize a weekly church service that had nothing to do with God.
So those were the most-read pieces of 2023. Happy reading! And happy 2024!
Shawn is a pastor in Maine, whose life, ministry, and writing focus on incarnational expressions of faith. The author of four books and a columnist for Adventist Review, he is also a DPhil (PhD) candidate at the University of Oxford, focusing on nineteenth-century American Christianity. You can follow him on Instagram, and listen to his podcast Mission Lab.