September 14, 2021
In his 2021 Episcopal Address, Bishop Sudarshana Devadhar recommended the book Faith After Doubt: Why Your Beliefs Stopped Working and What to Do About It to clergy and laity of the New England Conference.
In Faith After Doubt, McLaren, a former pastor, postulates that questions of faith and doubt are not “the enemy of faith, but rather a portal to a more mature and fruitful kind of faith.” His model for faith development has four stages: Simplicity, Complexity, Perplexity, and Harmony.
McLaren writes: “Some people tell me they never have doubts. Faith comes easy to them, they say, at least it has so far. But many, many, many of us do have doubts, and sometimes our doubts seem more powerful than our beliefs. … I promise you: there is faith after doubt, and life after doubt, and life with doubt. … wait until you see where doubt can lead you and what doubt can teach you.”
Author Brian D. McLaren is leading a four-session online discussion of his book that Bishop Devadhar called “important and insightful.”
Sept. 13, 2021 – Session One: An overview of Faith After Doubt
Sept. 20, 2021 – Session Two: Spiritual life, a personal perspective Sept. 27, 2021 – Session Three: Liturgy and spiritual formation, a congregational perspective Oct. 4, 2021 – Session Four: Outreach and evangelism for congregations