Nadia Bolz-Weber

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Nadia Bolz-Weber
Nadia Bolz-Weber.jpg
Born
Nadia Bolz

(1969-04-22) April 22, 1969 (age 52)
NationalityAmerican
Education
OccupationPublic Theologian
Spouse(s)Matthew Bolz-Weber (1996–2016)
ChurchEvangelical Lutheran Church in America
Ordained2008
WritingsPastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint, Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People, Shameless: A Sexual Reformation
Congregations served
House for All Sinners and Saints
Websitewww.nadiabolzweber.com

Nadia Bolz-Weber (born April 22, 1969) is an author, Lutheran minister and public theologian. She served as the founding pastor of House for All Sinners and Saints, a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in Denver, Colorado, until July 8, 2018.[1] She is also a three-time New York Times bestselling author.[2]

Bolz-Weber is known for her unusual approach to reaching others through her church.[3] She has produced work in the church that scholar and writer Diana Butler Bass considers part of "a new Reformation".[4]

Biography[]

Bolz-Weber grew up in Colorado Springs in a fundamentalist Christian family.[5]

Bolz-Weber began to acquire tattoos in 1986 at age 17. Those present on her arms mark the liturgical year and the story of the Gospel. She attended Pepperdine University briefly before dropping out and then moving to Denver.[6] She says that she became an alcoholic and drug abuser and often felt like one of "society's outsiders".

By 1991, Bolz-Weber became sober and, as of 2020, has remained so for 28 years.[5] Prior to her ordination, she was a stand-up comedian and worked in the restaurant industry.[7]

Bolz-Weber felt called to service in 2004 when she was asked to eulogize a friend who had committed suicide.[8] In 2008, Bolz-Weber was ordained as a pastor.[7] She started her own church, the House for All Sinners and Saints, which is often shortened to just House.[8] One third of her church is part of the LGBT community, and she also has a "Minister of Fabulousness", Stuart, who is a drag queen.[6] Her church is also very welcoming to people with drug addiction, depression, and even those who are not believers of her faith.[9] Bolz-Weber spends nearly twenty hours each week writing her weekly ten-minute sermon.[7]

As a feminist, in 2018 she called for women to send her their purity rings, to be melted down into a sculpture of a vagina which she regarded as representing the healing of the psychic damage induced by the 1990s purity movement.[10][11] At the Makers conference on Valentine's Day, February 14, 2019, Bolz-Weber gave the sculpture to American feminist and political activist Gloria Steinem.[12]

Bolz-Weber speaks at conferences across the world.[13][8] She has given talks about how faith and feminism co-exist.[14]

Books[]

  • Salvation on the Small Screen?: 24 Hours of Christian Television. New York : Seabury Books, 2008. ISBN 9781596270862, OCLC 221174864
  • Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of A Sinner and Saint. New York ; Boston ; Nashville : Jericho Books, 2014. ISBN 9781455527076, OCLC 868044878
  • Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People. Convergent, 2016. ISBN 9781601427564, OCLC 934193175
  • Shameless: A Sexual Reformation. Convergent Books, January 2019. ISBN 978-1601427588, OCLC 1035435905.

References[]

  1. ^ Suderman, Brenda (2013-09-28). "Sinner and a saint". Winnipeg Free Press (MB), September 28, 2013, p D15 Abstract: Call her cranky, call her a sinner, but please don't call Lutheran minister Nadia Bolz-Weber "pastrix".
  2. ^ "Welcome". Nadia Bolz-Weber. Retrieved 2020-11-14.
  3. ^ Green, Emma (3 September 2015). "Why Every Church Needs a Drag Queen". The Atlantic. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
  4. ^ Sentilles, Sarah (5 March 2012). "My Take: Five Women In Religion to Watch". CNN. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b O'Connor, Colleen (10 September 2015). "Nadia Bolz-Weber, Tattooed 'Pastrix,' Ministers to Sinners and Saints". The Denver Post. Retrieved 2015-09-29.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b Little, Jane (6 July 2015). "Nadia Bolz Weber: A Pastor For America's Outsiders". BBC News. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b c Draper, Electa (April 23, 2011). "Pastor turns heads by blending tradition and irreverence: Guided by Resurrection, and a dose of insurrection". Denver Post. Denver, Colorado: Digital First Media. Retrieved November 4, 2013.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b c Michelle Boorstein (2013-11-03). "Bolz-Weber's liberal, foulmouthed articulation of Christianity speaks to fed-up believers". Washington Post. Retrieved 2013-11-04.
  9. ^ Gross, Terry (17 September 2015). "Lutheran Minister Preaches A Gospel Of Love To Junkies, Drag Queens And Outsiders". NPR. Retrieved 2015-09-29.
  10. ^ Mouser, Jessica (November 29, 2018). "Pastor to Make Controversial Sculpture Out of Purity Rings". Church Leaders.
  11. ^ Kuruvilla, Carol (2019-02-13). "Feminist Pastor Unveils Vulva Sculpture Made Of Old Purity Rings". HuffPost. Retrieved 2020-11-14.
  12. ^ Kuruvilla, Carol (14 February 2019). "Feminist Pastor Unveils Vulva Sculpture Made Of Old Purity Rings". Huffington Post. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
  13. ^ Preyss, Jennifer. "Revelations: Nontraditional 'Pastrix' preaches to reporter", Victoria Advocate (TX) October 11, 2013
  14. ^ https://www.makers.com/videos/5b032422c269d6796835e567

External links[]

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