[Dialogue] 9/16/2021, Progressing Spirit, Remembering Bishop John Shelby Spong

Thu Sep 16 07:50:09 PDT 2021

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|  Bishop John Shelby Spong
June 16, 1931 – September 12, 2021  |

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Bishop John Shelby Spong
 Today we are honoring and remembering Bishop Spong. 

We are sharing just a few of his thoughts and wisdom, more can be found at Progressive Christianity.org and Progressing Spirit.

We also have remembrances from those of us who have known him simply as "Jack". 

Unassuming and humble, he changed the face of Christianity forever. We love him and will miss him, and know that he will live on in all of our hearts.   |

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|  My heart sank when I was notified that Jack Spong died yesterday.  In the 30 years that I have known Jack, he has had a tremendous impact on my ministry, our organization, PC.org, and the progressive Christian movement.  He was a humble, but precise scholar.  He was my mentor, guide, and teacher; but mostly he was my friend.  His work will live on in the lives of many and continue to provide an intellectually honest approach to the history of Christianity and the impact on our daily lives. My thanks to Jack and his wonderful partner in life, Christine, for the difference they have made. 
~ Rev. Fred C. Plumer  |

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|  Bishop John Shelby Spong provided a much needed place for those of us who did not connect with traditional theology. He began to awaken within me (and, I suspect, many others) this “thing” that knew much of what I’d been taught in church was not necessarily the actual Gospel even though it frequently was taught as if it were. Spong helped demystify the Bible for me, helped wrestle it from the overtly possessive hands of literalist, and helped reposition it from a rulebook handed down from God to the guidebook from our spiritual ancestors about what a healthy spiritual life looks likes that it was mean to be. He gave us a spiritual home. He gave us permission to ask difficult questions and to expect non-hypocritical answers. He grew our faiths in ways we never could have imagined. 
He now joins those who know what is next and most assuredly is experiencing the Divine embrace. I give thanks for his life and how this world is better off because of it. We love you, Bishop Spong. You will be deeply missed.
~ Rev. Mark Sandlin  |

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|  I encountered Bishop Spong’s work for the first time when I was pursuing my undergraduate degree in Religious Studies from a secular university.  At that point in my life, I was striving to reconcile my faith with my newfound exposure to the historical-critical method of biblical interpretation.  When I picked up Bishop Spong’s books, I found an approach that helped to liberate me from more traditional ways of thinking about the divine mystery.  In Bishop Spong’s life and writings, I have continued to find the inspiration to stand against Christian fundamentalism. Well done, good and faithful servant.
~ Rev. Dr. Caleb J. Lines  |

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|  Bishop Spong came into my life in the early 1970s when one Sunday he showed up at the church I attended — St Mark’s Episcopal Church, located on Capitol Hill in Washington DC.  Our church, headed by Rev. Jim Adams, welcomed skeptics and helped those among us who had trouble with a literal translation of the Bible find an approach to Christianity that fully used our brains and our hearts.  Spong was a strong supporter of Adams, and in the 1990s encouraged him to establish The Center for Progressive Christianity, now known as ProgressiveChristianity.org.  Spong’s open mind, scholarship, courage, and spiritual insights opened Christianity to new generations of followers.  We pledge to continue that journey.
~ Janice Gregory  |

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|  Jack Spong was one of my giants. He has been a tremendous influence on my life as a pastor and theologian. I first learned of him upon reading his book Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism and recall being notably struck by his obvious scholarly competence, his persuasive argumentation, and his clear passion for the well-being of Christianity and the Church. His writings helped embolden me as a firm liberal Christian. As I've aged and become a voice within progressive Christianity and an author myself, I've come to make more room for paradox, mystery, and increasingly feel less of a need to understand everything, let alone know all the answers. May we honor Spong's legacy and may God bless our efforts to increase love and justice in a world that needs it. 
~ Rev. Roger Wolsey  |

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Click here to find Bishop Spong's books and videos and more on ProgressiveChristianity.org.

Click here to find/access his Archived Writings and Articles on Progressing Spirit.   |

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|  We are filled with gratitude to Bishop Spong for his courageous stands on issues of justice including gay and lesbian peoples and much more, and his efforts to save Christianity from itself.  And we are in his debt for his critically acclaimed writings that teach us to grow up as people, as a believing people and as a Biblical people.  His writings and courage and Biblical insights will continue to inspire many for generations to come.  Also, his model of leadership that is not afraid to speak out and to lead and to absorb the knocks that come with critical thinking and leadership uplifts us all. I am happy to share wrote me in the year 2000 on the occasion of my 60th birthday. 
~ Rev. Dr. Matthew Fox  |

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|  Whether welcoming the excluded, inspiring people to totally reevaluate everything they thought they’d ever known, or driving Fundamentalists to distraction, Jack Spong’s example and teachings demanded a response.
 Even in death, as haters fill online forums with scorn, Jack is living up to his cousin William’s advice:
 “The way you really get to the public is by having the right enemies, not the right friends. The friends don’t do you that much good, but the right enemies attacking you really do open up the possibilities.” 
 Thanks, Jack, for modeling the kind of ministry that will continue to change the world!
~ Rev. David Felten  |

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|  Our Abraham is now gathered to his people.  Fully and finally gathered into blessed memory of us all in the global progressive Christian movement.  And gathered to folks far beyond our circle.  Because, to put it in his own words, John Shelby Spong “lived fully and loved wastefully”, spilling out his compassion beyond boundaries of creed and culture.  Jack Spong was a mentor to us all in the progressive Christian movement.  His generosity of spirit – and that of his wife and partner, Christine – nurtured generations of progressive Christian leaders.  I am grateful for their active encouragement in getting my books into print.  And we’re all grateful for the legacy they created in Progressing Spirit, the theological journal of ProgressiveChristianity.org.  May we ever and always “gather him to his people” by carrying his commitments forward! 
~ Rev. Jim Burklo  |

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|  Bishop John Shelby Spong was and will remain a hero to me. An extremely brave revolutionary, a social justice warrior, and a deeply faithful and spiritual human, Spong demanded that Christianity become radically inclusive if it were to remain relevant and true to the teachings of Jesus. One of the first religious faith leaders to come out in support of gay marriage, he also spoke on the national news channels and programs about Hell not being real and against the idea of Original Sin and the need for Atonement. He called for the right for women to be ordained and he lifted up a compassionate and authentic Christian path. He changed the face of Christianity for the better. He will be forever missed.
~ Rev. Deshna Shine  |

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|  I grew up in a sector of Christianity where Bishop Spong was portrayed as the epitome of theological evil, often by people who had never read his books or listened to him speak. When I found myself similarly characterized, I had the chance to meet many people whose Christian faith had survived because of his work. We were interviewed together and I remember thinking, "How could anyone speaking extemporaneously utter such complex, graceful, insightful, and yet clear and intelligible sentences?" Driven by a clear-eyed desire for truth and a compassionate commitment to justice for all, he was willing to be mistreated for those commitments. He challenged the Christian inheritance, not to harm it, but to expose its misunderstandings and mine it for its most enduring treasures. 
~ Brian McLaren  |

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|  Watch Bishop Spong's Sermon: 
What a New Christianity for a New World will Contain
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|  Bishop John Shelby Spong is one of the pioneers and patron saints of the progressive Christian movement. His commitment to asking questions, embracing science, and integrating modern knowledge with a robust understanding of Christian faith helped to create a space within the Church for an ever increasing mass of people who were otherwise pushed out of religious communities because of their own skepticism. His work and witness will endure for generations to come, and his spirit of compassion and curiosity will continually inspire seekers on the ever winding spiritual journey. He will be sorely missed.
~ Rev. Brandan Robertson  |

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|  It is impossible to number those who will mourn the death of Bishop John Shelby Spong. His direct influence, perhaps, if one could create an algorithm related to the sale of his books or size of his audiences. But those whose lives, understanding of Christianity and its expression, and passion for truth was shifted by a sermon preached by a Spong-read pastor, an unexpected broadcast lecture or hearing the sixth degree of either retelling, are as uncountable as stars on a clear summer night. Bishop Spong shone a light on faith, and in so doing, set our minds on fire.
~ Rev. Gretta Vosper  |

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Martin Luther King said there are two types of leadership: those that are thermometers, which measure the temperature in the room and do nothing, and those that are thermostats, which change the temperature. Bishop Spong was a church leader who unapologetically changed traditional Christian Theology to welcome the dispossessed, the disinherited, the disrespected, and the damned into the Kingdom of God. And in so doing, Spong called attention to biblical eisegesis and agenda-driven theologies that bring about present-day social injustices and institutional ills.  Spong’s calling reflected the unending struggle to give voice and visibility to those relegated to the margins of society.
~ Rev. Irene Monroe
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