Sarah Bessey's Field Notes

Sarah Bessey is a well-known author, celebrated for her impactful books including Out of Sorts: Making Peace with an Evolving Faith and Jesus Feminist. Her latest work, Miracles and Other Reasonable Things, has become a bestseller. She is a highly sought-after speaker, sharing her insights at churches, conferences, and universities globally. Additionally, Sarah co-curates and co-hosts the annual Evolving Faith Conference and holds the position of President on the Board for Heartline Ministries in Haiti. She resides in Abbotsford, British Columbia with her husband and their four children.

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I know the words by heart

2 days 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.
I'm here, you're not alone

6 days 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.
Breath Prayers for Holy Week

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

Hi friends,These are unusual days, many of us are carrying a lot, and now it is Holy Week. Rather than offer forth a hot take on atonement theory or whatever is keeping the theo-bros busy this week, I personally needed a re-centring on the beautiful and glorious story of Jesus’ final week through scripture, prayer, and a few deep breaths.
Where are you finding evidence of grace right now?

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

Hi friends, I’m currently 30,000 feet in the air, somewhere over the western United States on my way home to Calgary from Texas. I was in Houston and Austin this weekend to support our friend Jeff Chu’s Good Soil book tour. I was rather nervous about the trip and sure enough, my entry to the USA was more fraught, complex, and tense than ever before, so …
A nice little pick-me-up of good

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

Hi friends,We had our typical spring blizzard this past weekend and so, despite the fact that I know many of you are in full flowers-and-sunshine mode that is decidedly not my journey. To take a little breather, I figured we could all use this week’s Field Notes to talk about a few good things.
What’s often overlooked can be so beautiful, but it takes a particular kind of attention

1 month ago | sarahbessey.substack.com | Sarah Bessey

Hi friends,Today is a big day, folks: it’s the book birthday for our beloved friend ’s Good Soil: The Education of An Accidental Farmhand. So to celebrate, we have an incredible interview with Jeff here at Field Notes today as well as a giveaway(!) and a community conversation that I think will bring a lot of goodness to us all. Good Soil is such a beautiful and wise book about belonging, identity, work, and the mysteries of God in the midst of our ordinary lives.
Your job isn’t to get over your anger.

1 month ago | sarahbessey.substack.com | Sarah Bessey

Hi friends,Before we jump into this week’s newsletter, thank you for your strong responses to last week’s Field Notes essay Are We Still Calling Ourselves Christians?. In less than two days, the essay became one of the most-read posts around here as you read, commented, shared this on social media, and emailed it to your people. I am so grateful that we have a space like this for lament, for conversation, and for solidarity right now.
Are we still calling ourselves Christians?

1 month ago | sarahbessey.substack.com | Sarah Bessey

Hi friends,Oh, you’re a Christian? they ask carefully, cautiously. You can see their mind trying to make the puzzle pieces of what they know of you fit together with what they know about “those Christians” these days. So quickly you try to clarify. You attempt to cut their immediate assumptions off at the pass but like, in a jokey way. You try to say it quickly, lightly, with a laugh even.
A Blessing for Lent

1 month ago | sarahbessey.substack.com | Sarah Bessey

Hi friends,Before we jump into this week’s Field Notes, some good news: I’ll be joining my dear friend for his fantastic Good Soil book tour in Austin and Houston this April!That’s right, Texas, these two hooligans are headed your way for an evening of conversation about books, belonging, God, food, and at least half a dozen unexpected rabbit trails, too, knowing us. We would absolutely love to see your faces there.
Happy birthday to Field Notes for the Wilderness!

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

Hi friends,Just popping into your inbox today with a little celebration: Field Notes for the Wilderness: Practices for An Evolving Faith is celebrating one year out in the world today. This book was more than ten years in the making so it’s hard to believe we’re already a year out from the release. The book became an instant bestseller and that is entirely thanks to you all.