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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If scrolling is exhausting you but are still craving something that feels like a hug for your weary self, today’s newsletter is probably a good fit.

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

Hi friends,Lately, in your comments and emails and even a few old-fashioned letters or postcards, I’ve noticed a running theme of exhaustion, grief, fear, and anxiety for many of us. Good gracious, we are in it, aren’t we?
One more thing I am still learning

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

Hi friends,It was May Long1 this past weekend here in Canada and all we did at our house was work. There are many things that can make a marriage flourish over the long term, but one that has served my husband and I well over twenty-four years of wedded bliss is that we match each other’s freak - and by “freak,” I mean “work ethic.” We are the do the things and keep doing the things people.
A Benediction for the (Stubborn) Ones Still Holding On

3 weeks 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.
The Stowaways

1 month 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.
Managing my own concerns and those of other folks into the bargain

1 month 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?
I know the words by heart

1 month 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

1 month 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 month 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 months 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

2 months 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.