Shawna R. B. Atteberry

Two years ago I married that intelligent, handsome man to the right, and I make no apologies for it!

In fact, I’d marry him all over again, just so I could wear the dress.

Edit to update: Jessica, a student at Olivet Nazarene University corrected a mistake I had made. The professor was not dismissed:

I’m a current ONU student and I randomly came about your site. To my knowledge, the ONU prof was not dismissed…(unless this is a very new development). He is unable to teach the general education biology class (which is a loss for students because he is well-qualified to teach it) or teach his book. It’s a shame.

Jessica, thank you for letting me know he had not been dismissed, but that his teaching as been curtailed.

I should should have also posted a link to the book: Random Designer: Created from Chaos to Connect with the Creator by Richard G. Colling. It’s an excellent book. I didn’t agree with everything (but then I rarely do), but he makes an excellent case for God using evolution to create the world. I should really do a book review on it. Yes, I know those are famous last words. But I really do need to start putting up book reviews because I am reading some really good books right now.

End of edited update

I have decided to resign my ordination credentials and leave the Church of the Nazarene. I have not agreed with many of the decisions of our General Church in the last few years, and I have been thinking of leaving for the last two and a half years. I’ve decided due to theological and doctrinal differences (along with the GC decisions), that it is time to leave. There is a lot I want to write that I feel like I can’t due to the changes in my own theology. As a friend told me: “May be your new wine can no longer fit into the wineskin of your denomination. It’s time to move on, so that you can continue to grow and do what God has called you to do.” I think he is right.

It has also hit me that I really don’t need to be ordained to do what God has called me to do: write and speak. In fact, I will have more freedom for both without having to worry about credentials, what I need to do to keep them, and what I can and can’t write that people will compain about, saying “is she really a Nazarene?” and think I should be removed from ministry. This is not all paranoia on my part. A professor at Olivet Nazarene University was recently dismissed due to his views on creation and evolution. It was almost a repeat of what happened to one of my favorite college pastors at Southern Nazarene University in the 90s.

I felt a great peace when I had made the decision, and it has been confirmed through three different sources that this was the right decision to make. I will still be writing, and you will see some differences in the things I post, what I talk about, and how I talk about it.

Shawna

I am finally catching up my blogroll and updated pages on my website. Both the Sermon and Writing Clips pages have been updated with the writing I have done in the last five months.

Here are some wonderful sites that I have come across that I would like everyone to know about. First is Jan Richardson’s site, The Painted Prayerbook. Jan is an artist and a theologian. She chooses one ov the lectionary passages for the week, illustrates it with her art, and always has a thought provoking meditation to go with it.

Feminist Theology in an Age of Fear and Hope is a site written by several women who priests in The Episcopal Church and the Independent Catholic Church. The look at one of the passages of the lectionary from a feminist and gender equal perspective.

Conversations at the Edge with Helen Mildenhall is wonderful community of different faith, agnostics, and atheists talking about the role of spirituality in our lives.

Pam Hogeweide’s How God Messed Up My Religion are Pam’s thoughts and writings on how religion and church aren’t always what they seem to be and may be isn’t what God had in mind. Her subtitle is “Essays of discovery and disillusionment from the junk drawer of Faith.” I love it.

Pastor Scott of Pastor Scott’s Thought is the pastor of Pasadena First Church of the Nazarene. He is also one of my former college profs. His thoughts are always worth reading.

Square One is Victoria Marenelli’s site. Victoria reports on several different things in reading, music, and culture through her feminist eyes.

So what are you reading? What sites have caught your eye lately?

Photo courtesy of stock.xchng.

The breast cyst was removed today. Surgery went very well, and I am at home. I feel pretty good, and the pain isn’t bad. Thank you for your prayers.

Shawna

We are back from vacation, and getting back to the normal schedule. At least I am. Tracy is in D.C. for a check-up. He should be coming home tomorrow. Then he can get back to his normal schedule next week. Church services will resume this Sunday.

An update on the bump under my right armpit. It is a cyst–a large one which has grown around some tissue. It is also benign. I will be having outpatient surgery on May 1 to have it removed.

I had a lot of time to think about rest, and I’m reading Marva Dawn’s The Sense of the Call: A Sabbath Way of Life for Those Who Serve God, the Church, and the World. I told Tracy that it was nice to rest and not feel guilty about it. I always feel guilty for taking a couple of days off. I feel guilty about far too much, and I need to stop. I will be blogging more about rest, Sabbath, and guilt. What about you? Are you able to take a day or two off just to rest, renew, and revitalize? Do you feel guilty about not doing something–anything?

I’m heading to Phoenix in a couple of hours to see friends. I hope everyone has a good weekend.

I am back to my office hours this week, although I am changing the time from 2-4 p.m. to 3-5 p.m. Those hours work better for me, and gives me to time at the library if I need to do research.

I will be at Caribou Coffee at 8th and Wabash today 3:00-5:00 p.m., and at Hi Tea on 10th and State on Thursday. I hope everyone has a good week.

Shawna