The Thoughtful Pastor is one woman’s way of making sense of the world, especially the intersected world of religion, business, and politics. I think, question, and connect odd dots.
I find delight in ambiguity and mystery and less tolerance of those who call themselves people of God and then use that self-description as a way to abuse others.
Background
As a retired Elder in The United Methodist Church, I have written extensively about UMC issues. Many of our institutional concerns echo national political matters.
I write the for the weekly religion column at the Denton Record-Chronicle newspaper. I also do film reviews, opinion pieces, and have completed one book (An Ordinary Death) with others in the works.
Here’s an article that sums up a good bit of my initial retirement life as a “mystery worshiper.”
In the last several years, I have embraced the world of the entrepreneurial business owner and am now co-owner of North American Life Plans, a national marketing agency specializing in individual health insurance, Medicare, supplemental health, life insurance, annuities, and long-term care. This move has given me massive exposure to the world of business, to the challenges of being an owner and ultimately responsible for all that happens, to the need for careful strategic planning and wise hiring, and also to discern the parallels between effective and successful businesses and effective and successful religious organizations.
I believe God holds the world together with passionate interest in redeeming all creation, not just a few selected people who have managed to say the correct words or believe with a pre-set pattern.
These beliefs represent hard steps away from my long background and education in the conservative/fundamentalist church, trying to find a voice in a world that insists women remain voiceless. Those years nearly killed me. In the end, I chose life. I walked out. Everything changed.
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