Ken Kemp introduces the ‘Sanctuary’ story to a national audience via his ‘Beached White Male’ podcast

October 12, 2024 by Leave a Comment

Look at these two illustrations—above and on the book cover below:
Where do you want to be?

By DAVID CRUMM
Founding Editor of ReadTheSpirit magazine

Click the cover to visit the book’s Amazon page.

A few years ago, at the height of COVID, Ken Kemp launched his popular podcast The Beached White Male. He thanked the editors of Newsweek magazine for coining that ironic phrase in a now-famous 2011 cover story about the disappointments of underachieving white men. Ken used that banner to try to knock some sense into older guys like himself—urging them to stop moping and start recognizing the beautiful world emerging around them.

From the start, Ken knew that he—for one—didn’t want to surrender to isolation and exclusion either from COVID or from the many barriers thrown up by anxious and often angry white men in recent years. Instead, Ken has explored the ever-growing circle of communities that embrace inclusivity as a part of their expression of God’s love.

A Message of Hope from a Master Storyteller

Ken’s message is one of hope—that we don’t have to react to change, conflict and chaos in our world by feeling left behind, isolated or “beached.” In fact, as Ken puts it, God’s love is broad enough to make room for all of us—if we only recognize that we can be part of that caring community.

As a podcaster, Ken has a welcoming voice, a storyteller’s talents and a masterful way of unfolding interviews with his guests. That’s especially true in this recent podcast-conversation with Dr. Thomas Wassink, co-author of the new book: Sanctuary.

‘I Couldn’t Put it Down’

As he introduces this podcast, Ken tells listeners: “I’ve got a new book for you today. First, the title of this book was intriguing to me. It got my attention! Its full title is Sanctuary—Queering a Church in the Heartland. And by “heartland” we’re talking about the university town of Iowa City, Iowa. Well, I had to get a deeper look. So, I got my hands on a copy, I started reading—and I couldn’t put it down! And today you’re going to hear my conversation with one of the three authors of this book.”

In the course of his conversation with Tom, Ken also reads a brief passage from the book’s Foreword, written by bestelling Christian author Brian McLaren. The words Ken reads from that Foreword are a challenge to readers: “Often, whether it has to do with racial equality, gender equality, economic justice, or equality of sexual orientation—religious institutions are among the very last to change, which means that they are also the last to cease doing harm. So here is this book—a gift. It’s a series of often humorous, often poignant, sometimes heartbreaking, and always well-told stories and reflections—to help us all rethink what is normal or queer, what is sacred or scandalous, what is bad or good. We may just become better people in the process. May it be so!”

Intrigued?

Well, we can tell you: This new book can be a valuable companion for the tens of thousands of congregations nationwide that are currently in the process of trying to become more inclusive. Please, listen to Ken Kemp and Dr. Thomas Wassink talk about this unique journey in Iowa City—and, when you’re done, please share this week’s Cover Story with friends across social media and email.

You can listen to this Beached White Male podcast with Ken Kemp and Dr. Thomas Wassink right here:

Care to learn more?

You can learn more about Ken Kemp and enjoy all of his podcasts at his home online: The Beached White Male.

You can order your own copy of Sanctuary—Queering a Church in the Heartland in hardcover, paperback or Kindle formats from Amazon. This new book also is available from Barnes & Noble, Walmart and wherever quality books are sold.

Joe Grimm’s review of Detroit Free Press veteran John Gallagher’s memoir, ‘Rust Belt Reporter’

October 6, 2024 by 2 Comments

Stories from a Journalist Looking for Signs of Detroit’s Comeback

Review by JOE GRIMM
Founder of the MSU School of Journalism Bias Busters project

Click on the cover to visit the book’s Amazon page.

John Gallagher went off in search of good stories and found some great ones.

In his memoir, Rust Belt Reporter, Gallagher shares a lot of his best ones about Detroit and the Detroit Free Press, where he wrote them.

Gallagher accepted a reporting gig at the newspaper in 1987, attracted by the gritty charm he saw in Detroit and wanting to indulge his passion for urban affairs. The city and the “characters” in the newsroom intrigued him. While he was never what one would call a character himself, Gallagher was a wry observer of what went on around him. I worked with him at the Free Press from his arrival until I left in 2008. Gallagher’s modus operandi was to punch out solid, insightful copy without drama.

That same talent makes Rust Belt Reporter a fun, informative read.

Gallagher writes that, when he started at the Free Press, the newsroom had a payroll of 320. When he retired in late 2019, the staff had been hollowed out to fewer than 100. Readers—and the ad dollars they attract—had fled to the web.

The Free Press seemed like a small reflection of the City of Detroit, which hit a high-water census tally of 1.85 million residents in 1950 and fell to 640,000 in 2020.

While it took the city 70 years to lose nearly two thirds of its population, newsroom staffing at the paper fell further and twice as fast. It shrank by more than two-thirds in Gallagher’s 32-year tenure. People with institutional knowledge were bought out, laid off or fled. Departments once deemed essential for quality journalism were cut or outsourced. The traditional business model of great newspapers was trashed.

As this happened to them, Gallagher and his colleagues chronicled the siphoning of jobs and wealth from Detroit to the suburbs, the South and overseas. They detailed the disintegration of city services and education, drug wars, auto company bailouts, the imprisonment of a corrupt mayor and the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. Houses, stores and factories were abandoned and razed. Once-grand schools, the largest department store in the world and a hospital were left open to scrappers and demolished.

The details of the Free Press’ swoon were no less dramatic. It shackled itself to its former rival, The Detroit News, in the nation’s largest Joint Operating Agreement. The newspapers combined most departments while insisting they were still competitors. The arrangement contributed to a grinding 19-month strike. Gallagher walked the picket line with colleagues from both newspapers and was later talked into being union president. The papers’ landmark buildings were sold, and workers shuffled off to ever-smaller rented quarters. Their industry-leading owners, Gannett and Knight Ridder, swapped papers with each other and eventually, to save money, stopped delivering the paper daily.

Gallagher wrote books about architecture and how Detroit and other cites could be—had to be—reimagined on a smaller scale. Visitors seeking photos of Detroit’s infamous “ruin porn” asked him for tour tips.

Gallagher kept picking away at the rust. And eventually, he wrote, “in my daily work covering the city I saw more and more encouraging signs. And these disparate elements would set the stage for what the world finally noticed was a remarkable urban turnaround.”

This year, reports by other journalists say Detroit is showing its first population growth since the 1950s. Positive signs are shining through in many places. “Detroit” and “comeback” are showing up together in headlines, though many end with question marks.

The Free Press, struggling with industry-wide challenges, has not yet had a turnaround moment. Early in 2024, the Free Press and News newsrooms moved to smaller quarters in their rented building. On Oct. 1, the Free Press reported that the newsrooms must move again this year. They will be in another space in 2025, the year their Joint Operating Agreement is scheduled to end.

Gallagher and I overlapped at the Free Press for almost 20 years. His workmanlike professionalism and quality surprised me so often that I remember asking him how he did it.

He shares his secrets as a journalist and author in this book. One Gallagher habit that stumped me was that no matter how difficult or intricate his assignment was, he always seemed to make deadline and be out the newsroom door at a reasonable time. He addresses that in his book: “…the first draft? Blast through that. That’s where you’ll save a boatload of time. Your editors will think it’s spooky. And your dinner will still be warm when you get home.”

What good news to discover neighbors finding ‘common ground’ in discussing the Bible!

October 6, 2024 by 1 Comment

‘Please, show us what you’ve been reading!’ Several members of Holy Comforter Episcopal Church in Spring, Texas, posed for us with their well-read copies of The Word Made Fresh, by George A. Mason. Left to right: Richard Blumberg, Shawn Henners, Alice El-Hamaki, Linda Barry, and Linda Astala.

By ANN WORLEY
Contributing Writer

Click on the cover to visit the book’s Amazon page.

“This is the best Bible study I’ve ever been part of,” Gwen told me with a hug. “I was just telling a friend about it the other day.”

I was thrilled: Really!?! The best Bible study I’ve ever been part of!?!

But Gwen wasn’t exaggerating as she described the impact of this book and our conversations on her daily life during our 12 weeks together. Who knew that a book of sermons written by a Baptist minister would make such an impression on seasoned Episcopalians? This warm greeting for George A. Mason’s The Word Made Fresh was just one of many welcome surprises in the several months we devoted to discussing the book at Holy Comforter Episcopal Church in Spring, Texas.

A lot of friends at our church seemed to be making their own “fresh” connections as they reflected on Mason’s book. For example, a couple of class members found common ground through the book for connecting with friends in their local interfaith group. One in particular, Linda Barry, shared this personal reflection starting with her admission that she was leery of a Baptist preacher as an author:

“When I first started to read this book, I was doubtful that I would read more than a chapter or two. I was brought up in a faith tradition that was full of judgment and I expected this book would be filled with the judgment and dogma from which I fled. But that is the farthest thing from the truth. There is none of that kind of judgment in this book. It is full of inclusion, compassion, and love. This book is for every Christian no matter what church you attend or if you have given up on church altogether.”

I couldn’t agree more.

Why am I so proud?

I organized this book discussion at our church because I knew there were rich connections awaiting us in every sermon in this book. I’m personally invested in both George’s ministry and The Word Made Fresh. Twenty years ago, George was my mentor in the pastoral residency program at Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas. I was fortunate to serve as lead editor of The Word Made Fresh when the book was in its infancy several years ago—an idea to surprise George at his retirement with a retrospective volume drawn from his 33 years of service in the same congregation.

After my time in the Wilshire residency, I had returned to my roots in the Episcopal church. Then, within my congregation, this was the first class I had offered to coordinate. And, as I have admitted: I was anxious at first about how George’s messages as a Baptist preacher would resonate among Episcopalians.

That’s why I was so proud that George’s denominational affiliation did not prove to be a barrier. My own instincts in respecting George’s inclusive wisdom over the decades were not wrong. Right away in my congregation, readers recognized George as a friend in faith whose sermons connected with their lives. That made it easy to spark thoughtful conversations in which friends could share their own stories from their faith journeys—the sure sign that a small-group in a congregation is truly going to be memorable.

The one lament from our class was that there are so many sermons in this book that twelve weeks only allowed us to skim the surface. But I’m happy to report that the book’s influence in my own congregation continues—and George’s work
remains part of our culture of constructive conversation.

Continuing the Conversations

Following our book study, I had a wonderful visit with our new Deacon Tony Kroll about some of the rich discussions in our class—and about how to encourage further thoughtful discourse as Christians in the world today. As we talked, Tony invited me to serve as one of the facilitators for adult formation classes this year, expanding on those very conversations.

Here is a description of the first course Tony has planned:

Civil Discourse Class: Sunday mornings at 10:45 a.m., October 20 through November 24. In our baptismal promises we are asked, “Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?” We will explore loving our neighbors through scripture and the voices of modern-day prophets (e.g. Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, Bishop Doyle, George Mason, Pauli Murray, Carter Hayward, among others). The class will use a discussion format and focus on our responsibility in civil discourse as we empower one another to be God’s people in the world.

I wish everyone reading this column could join us!

One of many reasons The Word Made Fresh is so compelling is that George is particularly skilled as a preacher at navigating “the hard things” that many of his contemporaries choose to avoid, favoring the easier, repetitive call to personal (and private) salvation. But how else do we learn to live as Christians in a world so full of hard things—violence and political polarization and religious posturing and more—if we cannot talk about them as friends?

These sermons not only teach us how to engage the world around us as Christians, but they also serve as a model of the power of preaching for pastors and priests. I have read each of these sermons many times and I still find them instructive, life giving, and new. There is a reason The Word Made Fresh received the Religion Communicators Council’s coveted DeRose-Hinkhouse Memorial Award earlier this spring. It should be in the library of every church and the hands of every minister—or better, every Christian.

I know I’m biased. I’ve explained that honestly—and, now, I am thankful that ReadTheSpirit magazine has invited us—me and the good folks at our church who have embraced this book—to tell our story in this way.

May our story inspire someone who reads this to take one more chance on connecting through a congregation—or, if you’re a long-time church veteran, perhaps one more boost of encouragement to organize a “fresh” small group.

We’re so glad we did.

.

Ann Bell Worley is a Houston-based writer and editor with a background in theological education and ministry. She is the author of two children’s books with additional publications in religion and parenting and a broad range of editing credits. Much of her recent writing focuses on the challenges of raising a medically complex child. You can find more of Ann’s work and her family’s story on her website: www.graycoloredglasses.com.

Dr. David Gushee and Jonathan Grimm discuss via video: When do our faith and conscience compel us to speak out?

September 23, 2024 by

We are streaming this timely Gushee-Grimm video below

Why is this Timely? Because bestselling Christian ethicist Dr. David Gushee is writing about the timeless values of Jesus that call into question a lot of the political claims being made in the 2024 election year. Dr. Gushee began addressing these issues in his late-2023 book, Defending Democracy from its Christian Enemies. Now, he is following up on that book with an overview of what Dr. Gushee describes as Jesus’s “radical” teachings about our moral priorities.

Why is he talking with Jonathan Grimm? Because Jonathan Grimm—as you will learn in the video below—is a former student who credits Dr. Gushee with helping to form his moral conscience many years ago. Now, Grimm is a leading financial expert whose upcoming book, The Future Poor, raises many of the same questions about the fairness of our economic and social systems that are described in Dr. Gushee’s book.

What will I learn if I watch this video? First, you will  hear these two remarkable authors talk about how far Jesus’s original moral message has been distorted in our current era.

In Grimm’s own work nationally—trying to help Americans prepare for their retirement years by helping to form compassionate communities—he has found this same confusion about Jesus’s original teachings that Dr. Gushee identifies in his new book.

In the video, below, Grimm says at one point, “I feel like many Christians have very little familiarity with the actual teachings of Jesus about the moral life.”

Then, as the two discuss these issues, you will find useful—and very “quotable”—insights.

For example, at one point, Jonathan argues that one reason millions of self-identified “Christians” seem to be ignoring some of Jesus’s core teachings.

Dr. Gushee agrees and says that’s because: “We don’t want Jesus to set the agenda for our lives. … He is radical. My book’s subtitle is Radical Instruction in the Will of God—and Jesus is very radical and very challenging—which is the reason that we’d rather focus on the story that Jesus came as a baby and he died on the cross for our sins and he rose from the dead so we can go to heaven when we die.”

Dr. Gushee continues: “Jesus came preaching a Kingdom that has never been fulfilled in human life and cannot be reduced to anybody’s political or ideological agenda, left or right.”

In other words, the video below is something that you’ll likely want to share with friends (just use the social-media sharing buttons with this column) and that you may want to “quote from” in coming weeks.

Here’s one more example of a key exchange:

In Grimm’s research on the looming American retirement crisis, which forms the core of his upcoming book The Future Poor, he found that one reason so many American families are likely to wind up below the poverty level in the future is that our priorities have become so aggressively competitive, focused on individual success.

Dr. Gushee agrees. In the middle of this video, he says:

Ours is a culture that’s about branding oneself—making a name, building a following—all the things one must do to be competitive in the marketplace. But Jesus was remarkably uninterested in any status games whatsoever—and that challenges everybody. We like wealth and ostentatious displays of wealth all across our culture—and Jesus warns against wealth in a way that should make either liberal or conservative wealthy enclaves uncomfortable.

So, please, sit down for a bit with your favorite beverage and listen to these two prophetic authors explore the moral values that Jesus taught as an alternative to the troubled world in which we find ourselves in 2024 …

Care to learn more?

If you have read this far, then you’ll definitely be interested in two of Dr. Gushee’s classics:

Plus, you’ll want to sign up for Jonathan Grimm’s free, newsy updates, which he describes in this week’s Front Edge Publishing column, headlined: Care about your financial future and that of your loved ones?

‘Sanctuary’ debuts with a timely success story of a church in the American heartland where people dare to be inclusive

August 25, 2024 by

Dr. Tom Wassink, Dr. Katie Imborek and the Rev. Adey Wassink, Senior Pastor of Sanctuary Community Church in Iowa City.

C’mon—you can smile, too!
Pre-order your copy of ‘Sanctuary’ now:

PLEASE SUPPORT THIS EFFORT! CLICK on this banner to visit the book’s Amazon page and order your copy in hardcover, paperback or Kindle. Or, consider ordering more than one copy so you can give copies to friends who will be inspired by this story. When this book’s page first popped up on Amazon for pre-sale last week, it immediately drew so much attention that it earned a rare “No. 1 New Release in Adult Christian Ministry” banner. That was due to all the hopeful “buzz” about this inspiring story. By pre-ordering a copy of this book—and perhaps buying additional copies for family and friends—you are helping with the national effort that currently involves tens of thousands of congregations where people now are moving toward inclusion.

As thousands of congregations nationwide seek to become welcoming, we all can learn  from these brave souls in Iowa.

By DAVID CRUMM
Editor of ReadTheSpirit magazine

On Sunday morning, hundreds of people packed the Iowa City church called Sanctuary to celebrate the congregation’s 25-year journey toward inclusion—a dramatic story the world now is learning about through the soon-to-be-released book, Sanctuary: Queering a Church in the Heartland.

Last week, as they talked about their plans for this special Sunday-morning worship service, Senior Pastor Adey Wassink talked about this journey with her husband Dr. Tom Wassink and their friend and lay leader Dr. Katie Imborek—all three of whom are co-authors of the new book.

“Let’s put it this way,” Adey said, “So many people are coming to this anniversary service from all over the place that we might get questions from the fire marshal!”

“I doubt it,” Tom said. “If there are questions, you know, we’ve got the mayor of Iowa City singing in our choir! So, I think we’ll be OK with the crowd size.”

Kidding aside, that’s true about Iowa City’s mayor. Because this congregation has become such a powerful beacon of Christian hope for minority individuals and families, it also became a natural church home for Iowa City’s Mayor Bruce Teague. He’s nationally known as one of the first Black and openly gay mayors. In his family life, Teague feels right at home with this congregation’s high-spirited music-prayer-and-praise style of worship—enough that he joined the choir.

“He’s become an important part of our church,” said Tom. “When Bruce and Colton, his husband, got married—I mean, that was like the wedding of the year in Iowa City!”

On Sunday morning as the anniversary service began, Teague took his place in the choir loft. Then, after the opening praise music, Teague stepped down from the choir’s risers into the pulpit and led the congregation in a unison reading of the church’s official mission statement:

“We are a community that makes space for every race, ethnicity, age, orientation, and gender identity. We welcome belief and doubt, devotion and exploration, while hoping to connect with God, one another, and our world as we do life together.”

‘Giving people hope about what’s possible for Christians’

In our conversation before that service, Tom said, “The mayor is just one example of why so many people want to be here for our 25th anniversary. Lots of people are thrilled to celebrate just the existence of a church like this. Just the fact we’re here and we’ve survived this long gives people hope about what’s possible for Christians—and what’s possible for churches.”

“Oh, yeah, we have lots of people from other places and communities supporting us,” said Adey. “For example, we definitely have a lot of Methodists supporting us.” The Sanctuary staff is well aware that their new book is launching at exactly the time that more than 20,000 United Methodist congregations across America officially are moving toward inclusion—in most cases, without many resources to help them figure out the challenges that lay ahead.

“I mention the Methodists,” Adey said, “because, of course, we hope Methodists can find something in our story that may help them, now.”

“They’ve got quite a journey ahead of them. This is not an easy journey,” said Tom. “That’s something we tried to capture in this book—all the struggles we had, all the anxieties, all the questions.”

“And, all the mistakes we made,” Adey said. “All the things we learned.”

This is, indeed, a valuable story says the Rev. Dr. Sherry Parker-Lewis, a United Methodist Elder from the Michigan Conference. In endorsing this new book, she writes, “Set aside the ‘How To’ guides and experience an authentic narrative from those who led their church to thrive in full inclusion. … In this story of celebration, readers will find a model to lead a congregation to lovingly welcome all people.”

Among the other nationally known Christian leaders encouraging readers to learn from this book is bestselling author Brian McLaren, who writes: “I am so grateful for churches like Sanctuary and for pastors like Adey and Tom Wassink, and for sincere and insightful people like Katie Imborek. They’re telling us honestly about the intimate pain that has been and is still being inflicted on people whose only crime is being sexual. And thank God, Adey, Tom, and Katie also are telling stories of healing that pain, because they are living those stories. They’re modeling what religion should have always been good at, but too seldom is: repenting, which means rethinking or changing our minds.”

Nudging people gracefully to take the next step

This book, Sanctuary, is especially powerful—and helpful to readers—because it has three co-authors who labored for a number of years in drafting and perfecting their story so that it was ready to launch with the church’s 25th anniversary. Those perspectives include the voices of LGBTQ+ members of the church.

Katie Imborek’s story of trying to find a welcoming Christian congregation for her family is one of those LGBGTQ+ voices that runs through the new book.

“The perspective I share is different than Tom’s and Adey’s, because they were there leading the church from the beginning—and I came into this story as a congregant who was part of this incremental process toward inclusion over many years,” said Katie, who is co-director of the University of Iowa Carver School of Medicine’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Questioning (LGBTQ) Clinic.

“This is a difficult choice for queer people if they are looking for a church and they choose to be part of a process like this,” Katie said. “I mean, when we put skin in the game, we are risking getting further hurt and we need to know that people like Adey and Tom and others are aware of the need to protect people from things that can happen along the way. I came into this particular story back when this church did not look like what we all hoped it would look like someday, so the need for protection from harmful things that can happen was very real. That’s a very important perspective for readers—anyone who wants to try doing this.

“I do hope that someone else out there will reads our book and have an inkling, or an inspiration, that their church really should become more welcoming,” Katie said. “If that’s the case, I hope readers will come away with insight about the challenges of doing this—and will have more empathy for the impact this journey can have in people’s lives—and that our story will give them more hope about what’s possible in the end.

“I hope that reading our stories will humanize the experience for folks—including the queer folks whose lives are impacted in a big way by all of this,” Katie said. “And, I hope that by putting this book out there for readers—we may give people in other congregations the nudge they need to risk taking those first steps toward welcoming others.”

A “nudge.”

That’s the gracious tone of this congregation in the heartland. Among the many high-spirited songs the congregation sang to celebrate their 25th anniversary service on Sunday was:

Lord we need Your grace
Lord we need Your grace
Your grace brings forgiveness.
Your grace brings acceptance.
Your grace—it is the answer
To the hunger in our hearts, oh Lord,
The hunger in our hearts, oh Lord.

.

Care to read more?

Please visit the book’s Amazon page and order your copy of the book right now in hardcover, paperback or Kindle. And, consider ordering more copies so you can spark a small-group discussion in your community. Those books will arrive on the official release date of October 8, 2024, a launch date chosen to coincide with the annual observance of the historic National Coming Out Day, first observed in 1988.

If you are a writer, journalist, media professional—or a community leader hoping to see an advance copy of this book, contact our staff at [email protected]

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MSU Bias Busters have a book to help as military culture collides with political posturing

August 19, 2024 by

In the field of military service, civilians can muddle the terms and concepts

By JOE GRIMM
Director of the MSU School of Journalism Bias Busters project

Click the cover to visit Amazon.

The rare occurrence of two veterans as vice presidential candidates on the major party tickets could have been a wonderful opportunity to celebrate all that our nation’s millions of veterans have contributed—but, given the often toxic tone of our political divisions, this is turning into an opportunity for political partisans to snipe at the candidates’ military records.

Since Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was named as the Democratic vice presidential candidate, squaring off opposite Republican Sen. J.D. Vance, hundreds of news stories, blog posts, commentaries and op-ed pieces have reflected on these issues. And, unfortunately, as journalism professionals, we often find ourselves shaking our heads wearily at obvious confusion about the terms and concepts involved in military service and in the lives of veterans and their families.

Responsible journalists need to help sort out the often skewed claims and counter claims. And, some of us have done so: Four examples of solid journalistic analysis have been published by Snopes.com, The Washington Post Fact Checker, POLITICO and FactCheck.org.

But the debate continues, the sniping continues and more questions and claims keep unfolding.

Would you like some help in sorting out this moment of national confusion?

At the Michigan State University School of Journalism Bias Busters project—we have a book for that!

It’s part of our award-winning Bias Busters series, a volume called 100 Questions and Answers About Veterans: A Guide for Civilians.

How rare is this matchup?

Curiously, a lot of the coverage of this veterans’ match up call it “rare,” but then the writers don’t detail when such a matchup last occurred.

Digging into the history of veterans and presidential campaigns pretty quickly surfaces every-four-year disputes over whether presidential and vice presidential candidates did—or did not—serve. The further we dig into the past, we eventually bump into quadrennial debates about how candidates responded—or didn’t—to the Vietnam War in particular. So, there is nothing “rare” about political posturing over military service every four years.

What is rare is a matchup of veterans as vice presidential candidates. The last time this happened was 1992, when Al Gore (Bill Clinton’s VP choice) had been an Army veteran, Dan Quayle (George H.W. Bush’s pick) had served in the national guard—and Medal of Honor winner James Stockdale made a third-party bid as the potential VP with Ross Perot.

So, yes, since this hasn’t happened in more than 30 years, it’s accurate to call this Walz-Vance matchup of vets something “rare” on the national political stage.

Fact or Myth? There aren’t many veterans in national office.

Here’s a great example of the confusion: The truth of the above headline depends on your point of view—but Pew Research documents specifically the declining numbers of veterans in Congress, which roughly mirrors the decline across all levels of national leadership. Pew was able to assemble this chart, because—after every round of Congressional elections—the nation’s main veterans groups all publish fresh analyses of these numbers. This data is vital in their ongoing lobbying efforts to push for policies of interest to those currently serving our nation and those who are vets.

So, the truth of this headline depends on your definition of “many.” Generally the word means “a large but indefinite number,” which could be accurate for 17 senators and 50 representatives for a total of 67 people. However, Merriam-Webster says one meaning of the word “many” could be “the great majority of people” so then that headline isn’t accurate.

What we do know is that Pew’s headline is true: “Share of members in Congress who are veterans has fallen in recent decades.” And that declining portion of veterans among national leadership concerns all of the millions of Americans who care about our military families. The declining share of veterans in Congress means fewer American leaders understand, first hand, military and veteran issues.

And that was one reason our MSU Bias Busters team decided to work with veterans groups to publish our book.

Case in point in this election cycle: What is ‘deployment’?

It is no surprise that military language, dragged into politics, can be distorted. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2022, just 6.2% of the U.S. population 18 and older are military veterans. So, most of the country is unfamiliar with military-speak and might misuse or misunderstand it.

In his POLITICO analysis that is linked above, Ben Kesling wrote, “Just as people might not fully recognize the subtlety of a foreign language’s words and phrases, civilians frequently miss—or misinterpret—the language service members use to talk about the nature and scope of their service.”

One example is “deployment.” Kesling wrote, “Simply put, a combat deployment is when someone is sent to a place where troops are engaging in operations.”

That’s operations. Deployment does not connote combat.

Our book explains this term with an example. The question in our book is, “Has everyone deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan been in combat?” The answer: “Not all. Many were physicians, mechanics, or information technology specialists, for instance, or served in support positions away from combat areas. Some may have engaged in combat remotely as drone pilots or from vessels at sea.”

What is ‘Stolen Valor’?

First, it’s a serious charge that can, in some circumstances, be illegal under the Stolen Valor Act of 2013. For service members, veterans and their families especially, “stolen valor” refers to an even broader range of grave offenses involving claims of military service.

In one passage of our book, we explain to readers: “The Stolen Valor Act outlaws false claims of having received certain military decorations if done with the intent of financial gain. Some interpret the idea more broadly and object to any false claim or exaggeration of military service.”

It is the “more broadly” that leads to trouble. Candidates sometimes get in trouble, for example, when making off-the-cuff references to their military service—or because of memorabilia that supporters give them and encourage them to display. During his term in the White House, Donald Trump was accused of “blurring the lines” with his personal collection of “challenge coins,” which have a long tradition in military culture dating back to the Roman Empire.

Similarly, over the past decade, hats—especially baseball-style caps—have been at issue.

After wading through a number of potentially swampy issues, Kesling’s POLITICO conclusion is: “What shouldn’t be lost in the conversation is that both Vance and Walz served their country honorably and had no marks against their records when they were in uniform.”

Learn about military terminology and traditions in 100 Questions and Answers About Veterans: A Guide for Civilians.

Chris Stepien says his newest biblical novel, ‘Disciples of Doubt,’ is an invitation for readers to discover God’s love

August 11, 2024 by

Chris Stepien, a veteran multi-media professional, working on audio versions of his novels. (Photo used with Stepien’s permission.)

By learning more about Mary, Chris Stepien hopes readers will risk taking ‘a leap toward embracing God’s far larger world’

By DAVID CRUMM
Editor of ReadTheSpirit magazine

This week’s Cover Story is a rare opportunity to recommend a book that represents the flowering of a friend’s spiritual vocation to use his skills as a media professional to help us plumb the mysteries of faith.

Click the cover to visit the book’s Amazon page.

In half a century as a journalist covering religious diversity, I have met hundreds of men and women who are successful in the secular world and yet daydream of leaving their current careers to write, paint, sculpt, develop a screenplay or compose music that could convey their faith to the world. However, the hard truth is that precious few people are able to do that. Chris Stepien is one of those few who accomplished this feat of combining the authenticity of his personal faith with his skills as a media professional. First, he produced the bestselling historical novel, Three Days: The Search for the Boy Messiah. And now he is releasing a sequel to that book, Disciples of Doubt: A Journey with the Messiah’s Mother.

On one level, these are straight-forward Bible stories. The plots of the two novels are taken so directly from the New Testament that Chris provides chapter-and-verse references along the way, if readers care to read more from the Bible. His first novel expands on the famous story of Jesus, as a boy, scaring his parents by suddenly leaving them to spend time in the Jerusalem temple talking with scholars. The second novel begins at the end of Mary’s life, then takes readers back over her entire life with Jesus and his followers.

I have described these novels as historical fiction—but ultimately they are love stories. That’s especially clear in Disciples of Doubt where at least two forms of love are apparent. First, there’s Chris’s love for his Catholic faith, which has blossomed over the years into a resilient, compassionate love of God as described in the Gospel stories. Second, there’s the tough-as-steel love of Jesus’s mother Mary that Chris portrays in these pages. In one scene after another, we see how Mary helped to hold Jesus’s ragtag group of followers together after the trauma of his torture and crucifixion by Roman authorities.

Writing novels as ‘a way to express God’s loving mercy for us’

“This is an act of love—a way to express God’s loving mercy for us,” Chris said as we discussed, via Zoom, the merging of his spiritual and professional vocations over the years.

I started our conversation by summarizing the opening paragraphs of this ReadTheSpirit story. Then, I asked him, “Am I telling your story accurately?”

“Yes, I think you have grasped it,” Chris said. “I worked on these books really out of my gratitude for all that God has provided. And I really mean that. I am so grateful. In my life, I have had so many questions—and I’ve found that Jesus brings the answers. It’s amazing how, in the four Gospels alone, Jesus’s teachings cover every part of our lives. And, in the end, we realize that Jesus’s message ends up being: ‘Love God and love your neighbor as yourself.’

“Then, I also love this line from the scriptures, too, that sums up what we’re supposed to be doing in following Jesus. Lately these words have been haunting me every day that I reflect on them. It’s in Matthew. Jesus tells us, ‘Go and learn the meaning of: I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ There’s a whole lot to think about in those few words, isn’t there? It’s that same core message of love and mercy that I want to share with others.”

Four sets of rosary Mysteries are keys to Chris’s overall vision

In Chris’s spiritual journey—through prayer and worship and retreats and selfless public service—he found that his Catholic traditions made it easy to welcome Mary as a gateway toward a deeper connection with Jesus. When talking publicly about his faith, Chris encourages others to try regularly praying through the cycles of reflection on Gospel stories that are associated with the rosary. That list of thematic cycles now includes four different sets of “Mysteries“—each one of them pointing people to prayerfully think about five stories from the Gospels. Pope John Paul II added the fourth—called “Luminous Mysteries” or “Mysteries of Light”—in a special year-long focus on the rosary in 2002. So now, 20 Gospel stories are highlighted if someone prays through all four sets of Mysteries.

For Chris, these are powerful gateways to the Bible—and through the Bible to a deeper relationships with God. For example, praying the rosary along with meditations from the “Joyful Mysteries” concludes with: “Finding Jesus in the Temple” from the Gospel of Luke Chapter 2—the subject of Chris’s first novel.

Understanding Chris’s personal journey adds a richness to the reading of his books—and underlines his overall purpose in helping readers to move from these novels toward a deeper daily prayer life. In choosing to explore Mary’s life in his second novel, Chris is drawing together reflections from all four sets of rosary Mysteries: Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful and Glorious.

“When I saw how well the first novel was doing, especially among Catholics, I saw that this was the natural second book,” Chris said. “For me, I believe that Mary—or Miriam as she is called in this book—brought me closer to her son. Through my reading of the Gospels and years of prayer, I came to realize how much her life is intertwined with Jesus’s life and the lives of his followers both back then and today as well.

“When people hear me say this, particularly if they don’t know the Gospel stories well, they will ask me, ‘You’re focusing on Mary? Really? She’s not there much in the scriptures, is she?’

“Then, I say to them, ‘Well, first, we know that she was there through all of it, whether she’s mentioned in every passage or not. And, yes, there are long passages when she’s not mentioned. But, when she shows up in the Gospels—Wow!—we really know she’s there. All you have to do is start by reading the Magnificat in Luke to realize how powerful Mary’s words are in shaping our whole sense of Jesus’s life and message.”

As if to demonstrate that point, Chris began to recite a long passage of the Magnificat from memory—then he realized that he had to pause because those words had caused such emotion to well up in him. He finally said, “Wow! Sorry, but those words are so powerful, aren’t they?”

He continued by listing a long series of other Gospel passages involving Mary and said, “Just think about all those conversations Mary had with different figures in the Gospels. So, if people tell me that Mary isn’t that prominent, I list all those stories for them. And, at the end of that list, I ask people, ‘And, how can we ever forget Mary at the foot of the cross?’ She’s right there witnessing this trauma, this horrible trauma of her son’s torture and execution. And Jesus, even in his agony, looks down and says those words that direct care for her after he is gone. For anyone who has experienced trauma—or trauma that can run through our families for generations—there’s so much that Jesus is teaching us in that scene about caring for each other in our families even after we experience the worst horrors.”

Again in our conversation, Chris paused as he pondered the emotion of that crucifixion scene. He was silent for a moment. “I’m sorry, but these things just hit me, you know? Just thinking of that—wow.

“And that’s not all—there’s so much more I can add,” he continued. “Mary’s story continues. Leaping ahead, just read the passage in Acts and we know she’s with Jesus’s followers at Pentecost, the birth of the church. I could go on and on here.”

“I know!” I said. “There’s a lot to tell! Your new novel takes more than 180 pages to tell Mary’s whole story,” I said.

He chuckled. “Yeah, I guess that’s the point, isn’t it? Miriam’s life is quite a story!”

“And, now, quite a novel,” I said.

A mystery for all time: What happened to Mary?

Near the end of our conversation, I said, “I’m scheduling this cover story for the August 12 weekly issue of ReadTheSpirit magazine to coincide with the Feast of the Assumption.”

“Oh, perfect!” he said. “Perfect timing.”

“Of course, the Assumption—or what the Eastern Orthodox churches call the Dormition of the Theotokos—is the big mystery at the end of your novel,” I said. “That’s the 2,000-year-old mystery—or matter of faith is another way to describe it: What became of Mary? And I do like the way you end your novel. You quite literally give readers an opportunity to choose what they think may have happened. Your words are, ‘What do you think happened to Miriam?’ You leave this question hanging for readers. I think that was a wise choice.”

“Thanks for saying that,” Chris said. “I want Catholic readers to feel comfortable reading this book—and I know they will. And I’m also acknowledging that all Christians have this question: What happened to Miriam?”

A majority of Chris’s readers are Catholic, although he has heard from fans of all faiths—and some who have no affiliation at all. He has an “in” with Catholics, because he is part of a Catholic publishing house that makes it easy for parishes to buy large quantities of his books to distribute to parishioners. The ending of his new book, while left open to individual readers’ interpretation, also accurately reflects the Catholic understanding of the Assumption.

Chris devoted a good deal of time to researching everything from the complex history of that Catholic teaching to the latest findings about ancient burial practices. Viewers of the popular historical documentaries about New Testament times on the History or Smithsonian or National Geographic channels will find that Chris’s sections on burial practices reflect the latest archaeological finds.

“One thing we know from all those years of archaeological research is that no one claims to have found Mary’s remains,” Chris said. “Lots of other claims are made about the remains of Jesus’s followers and related figures—but no one has claimed to have found relics of Mary. So, the mystery remains: What happened to Mary, or Miriam? We don’t know for sure. It’s a matter of faith.

“And that really reflects the larger message of this book: I want to give readers a sense that faith is rooted in the ability to take a risk, to take a leap out of the world in which we’ve been living day by day—a leap toward embracing God’s far larger world that’s out there. We all know that we have a spiritual side that we don’t fully understand, whatever our faith tradition may be or even if we don’t have a religious affiliation. But, we all know there are deep questions and doubts there in life. Doubt is natural. We’re hard-wired to doubt.

“But in writing these books, I want to give readers just a glimpse of that spiritual realm out there that may seem mysterious and, of course, is filled with even more doubts. For me, that’s how I found Jesus providing so many of the big answers in my life—and it’s how I found that Mary could help lead me further toward Jesus.

“What do I hope readers will get out of reading this book? I just want to open a door for readers to see these big spiritual possibilities that are right there in their lives—if they choose to open their eyes and their hearts.”

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Care to Learn More?

Chris Stepien. (Photo provided by the author for use with this story.)

We asked Chris to send us a short “bio” to fill in more of the “back story” about his long and successful journey. Chris sent us the following:

Chris Stepien grew up listening to riveting war stories from parents who had survived the Nazi occupation of Poland. In college, Stepien studied electronic journalism. As a producer-director for the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), he won six Emmy® Awards, and other honors for documentaries, sports, celebrity specials, and children’s programming at WXYZ-TV, Detroit, Mich. Then, Stepien co-founded Adventure, Inc., to create award-winning communications for Fortune 500 companies. Finally, as co-owner of Stepien Creative Services, Inc., he crafted marketing and advertising for global clients.

Imaginative prayer inspired Stepien’s first book, Three Days: The Search for the Boy Messiah, (Wellspring, 2015). The biblical novel journeys with preteen Jesus gone missing.

In 2014, Stepien’s wife, Ellen, was diagnosed with breast cancer, and Chris wrote Dying to Be Happy: Discovering the Truth About Life (Wellspring, 2016). This nonfiction book asks: “If you knew you were going to die today, what would you do?”

A native Detroiter and lifelong Catholic, Stepien and his wife volunteered with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, assisting neighbors in need for 17 years. In 2017, they moved to Chicago to be near family. For more than three years, Stepien served as Workforce Development Coordinator at Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation, on Chicago’s South Side. (www.pbmr.org.) He accompanied at-risk youth and adults as they became job ready.

You can contact Chris at [email protected]