Sarah Bessey

3 days ago | sarahbessey.substack.com | Sarah Bessey

Hi friends,Since I wrote that essay/howl into the void called “Are we still calling ourselves Christians?,” I’ve been overcome by the responses. The emails are still coming in, the conversation is still unfolding, and many of you have reached out to share your own wrestlings with that question along with your stories. Basically, if you wondered if you were the only one who was asking that question, I can assure you: you are not alone.

1 week ago | sarahbessey.substack.com | Sarah Bessey |Emily Freeman

Hi friends,One of my favourite books from last year was How to Walk Into a Room: The Art of Knowing When to Stay and When to Walk Away by Emily P. Freeman. As I said in my ‘official’ endorsement, “In a time when so many of us have lost old pathways of belonging, Emily met us right in the middle of our anxiety and uncertainty with practical wisdom, gentle companionship, and good questions.

2 weeks ago | sarahbessey.substack.com | Sarah Bessey

How are you feeling about the election? Grew up with purity culture era, not scarred but not sure what I want to impart to my kids. Help? What do you miss most and least about having little kids? How can I open up to friends at church about my changing faith? I worry it’ll change things. I’ve given my adult life to ministry and about to stop out for 1000 reasons. What’s next? What’s it like navigating so much American readership without being a US American?

3 weeks ago | sarahbessey.substack.com | Sarah Bessey

Hi friends,At church a few weeks ago, one of our teenagers was feeling under it all. It’s been a heavier season, with a lot on her plate and a lot happening in the lives of people she loves plus, you know, the apocalypse around us. She sat through every song, quiet, her head drooping with exhaustion. I checked in quietly, offered to slip out of service with her if she needed to talk, but it became apparent that she simply needed to sit. After a while, I felt her hand steal into mine.

4 weeks ago | sarahbessey.substack.com | Sarah Bessey

After many requests from long-time readers, I am occaisionally bringing back some old favourite essays, which had disappeared from the Internet when my blog shut down. This particular Good Friday essay was originally written in April 2015, when I was just a month postpartum with our youngest baby. Since it is Good Friday today and many of us are feeling a bit lonely and scared, I thought that this was a good time to republish it.