Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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Unorthodox and Unashamed

Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner and a Saint by Nadia Bolz-Weber

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I have been following Nadia Bolz-Weber on social media for a few years now and I subscribe to her newsletter. I find her preaching to be witty, funny, cutting, provocative and deeply spiritual. It has been most welcome over the years as I have tried to deal with the problems of everyday life and the larger fucked up world. Bolz-Weber has written several books but I believe this was the first and it sort of provides the “origin story” for Pastrix Nadia, a Lutheran pastor […]

A refreshing conversation about sexuality and spirituality…

Shameless by Nadia Bolz-Weber

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As someone who grew up in the Christian tradition in the 90s, this was a book I am very thankful for. It was not uncommon in the circles of my youth to have any conversations about sex include all of the following: don’t even THINK about sex until you are married…before marriage you need to suppress your sexuality, be ultra-modest, and be careful to not tempt the boys… when you DO get married tho, flip that switch and unleash your inner nympho… oh, and also, […]

I’m Not Like Those Other Pastors, I’m the Cool Pastor

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I’m sure a lot of people will get a lot out of Nadia Bolz-Weber’s memoir Accidental Saints, but I’m not one of them. Reverand Nadia Bolz-Weber doesn’t look like your typical Lutheran Pastor. Rocking tattoo sleeves and a foul mouth, she’s a new type of preacher, the type to welcome those who have normally been turned away by the religious establishment. Her church is founded on the principle that humans are going to fuck up (so edgy with the swearing!) but that a good heart […]

Spoiler: God loves gay people and Republicans alike.

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Book Club is coming up this weekend. And when you choose a brand-new book, you’re guaranteed a long wait at the library. So, when our friend B chose Accidental Saints, a sort-of follow-up to Nadia Bolz-Weber’s Pastrix, I was elated and dismayed at once. Were The Chancellor and I going to get a copy of the book before Book Club? Thanks to kind friends, yes. But perhaps that means we limit our new-books-for-Book-Club ideas unless we plan ahead. Like, 3 months ahead. So, on to […]

On My Own Cranky, Beautiful Path to Faith

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I don’t really know how to review Pastrix. I think what I’m going to do is tell you a bit about the book and its author, and then blog about how some of the things in the book really affected me and gave me some things to ruminate on. So, enter at your own risk, I’m going to talk about faith. Awhile back our own bonnie read and reviewed this book and suggested it to me via Goodreads before I even had a chance to […]

Faith is cranky, beautiful, and absolutely profane.

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When I read Rachel Held Evans’ most excellent Searching for Sunday, I noticed a few names that came up in the conversation regarding church, spirituality, and grace. One was Nadia Bolz-Weber’s. My friend A mentioned a curiosity to read Pastrix after a recommendation from one of her friends in her systematic theology MA program. I like un-orthodox Christians, and Bolz-Weber sounded like one of those. Pastrix is subtitled The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner and Saint, and with her enormous tattoos, Bolz-Weber seems like […]



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