Draft

Why would a Protestant pastor become so drawn to Mary? In this episode, I explore what Christianity may have lost by pushing Mary to the edges of our spiritual lives. I look briefly at the history of Marian devotion and the rosary, the Protestant Reformation’s concerns about excesses surrounding Mary, and the very different excesses that can shape American Christianity today—militant masculinity, domination, scapegoating, and fear. But this is ultimately not an argument about becoming more Catholic or less Protestant. It is an invitation for all Christians to rediscover the Mary we meet in Scripture: a woman who listens, questions, ponders, waits, nurtures, suffers, and remains open to God even when she does not fully understand what is happening. We need Mary more than ever—not as a replacement for Christ, but as a teacher who can help us recover tenderness, compassion, contemplation, courage, and the motherly dimensions of a God who transcends gender.

Why have transgender people become such a powerful target of fear, ridicule, and scapegoating? In this episode of Acts 17: The Quiet Way, I reflect on what I have witnessed in the church, the biblical witness of Matthew 19, Isaiah 56, and Acts 8, and Christ’s call to love people even when their stories perplex or challenge us. Trans people are not the enemy. Our understanding may remain incomplete, but our calling in Christ to love is never in doubt.