One thought on “Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People”

1. This book was recommended to me by someone at work who I THINK believes I am edgy, and is also aware that I love reading about religion I think SHE thought I d embrace this cool approach to Christianity But this book was not for me Nadia Bolz Weber comes from an extremely conservative background So her fresh ideas were stale to me Catholics are NOT THAT WEIRD I m a Catholic I hang out with REAL GAY PEOPLE I mean, that is great, and perhaps conservative people reading this will find it refreshing [...]

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2. I recommend the audiobook as well because NBW reads it herself.

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3. 3.5 I knew of Nadia Bolz Weber through Greenbelt Festival She s a foul mouthed, tattooed, fairly orthodox Lutheran pastor This brief, enjoyable memoir is about how she keeps believing despite her own past issues and the many messed up and outwardly unlovable people who show up at her church, House for All Sinners and Saints in Denver I especially love her new set of Beatitudes.In my favorite section, she zeroes in on one Holy Week and shows the whole range of emotions and trauma that religion ca [...]

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4. On a 0 100 scale, what I know about Christianity comes MUCH closer to 0 than to 100 Believe me Note I m not repeating believe me, as does The Donald so you can trust that I m neither lying nor using truthful hyperbole Born Jewish and still Jewish I, unfortunately, don t know what I ought to know about my own religion much less anyone else s And before I discuss Nadia Bolz Weber s book, I should also confess that my desire to increase my familiarity with Christian theology has never been strong e [...]

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5. In the spirit on honesty, I d like to state that I typically avoid books by Christian authors I have an uncontrollable phobia of platitudes and easy answers This book was different and Bolt Weber doesn t claim to have all the answers, which immediately got my attention and respect.Nadia Boltz Weber s writing is raw and honest She asks a lot of questions, and sometimes those questions don t have answers There s no formula on how to live a perfect life or list of rules to follow in order to gain s [...]

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6. I freakin love Nadia Bolz Weber She released the incredible Pastrix just two years ago, and she s gathered enough stories since then to have a brand new inspiring, challenging, funny book about God and people that made me cry on at least three occasions This book is structured over the course of a liturgical year, beginning and ending at All Saints Day, though she draws on stories from multiple years My takeaway from this book is that I don t need to try harder to be a good Christian person I ne [...]

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7. So here s the thing I grew up in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, was baptized, confirmed, and then went to high school and found nothing in the liturgy or the service to make me stay in the church.And then I went to live in Japan and had to wrestle with a WHOLE COUNTRY of folks with a 1000 year old history that has absolutely nothing to do with Jesus So I stopped believing the church or Christianity had anything to do with me I m a flaming liberal, and a religion that makes outsiders [...]

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8. Oddly enough, I had discovered Nadia Bolz Weber exactly one day before seeing this book show up in the Vine newsletter A friend had posted something about her on Facebook, essentially musing over whether Mrs Bolz Weber is genuine or not Let s face it a female pastor, covered in tats, spewing expletives at will s gonna make people wonder, in this world of fame hungry attention seekers.So I looked up Nadia whom I ll refer to as such not out of disrespect, but out of ease I typing I would hope she [...]

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9. Not quite as raw or edgy as I d been expecting, based on what I d heard about this book Given the book s subtitle, I was surprised that I didn t find the book s primary focus to be about finding God in all the wrong people Bolz Weber tends to gloss over what is objectionable about the people whose stories she s telling in a way, I felt like there was a bit of defiance toward the reader in this sense, as though she were expecting us to be the ones to call the people in her examples wrong a judgem [...]

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10. If her book Pastrix convinced me that she s a great pastor, this new book by Nadia Bolz Weber convinced me she s also a brilliant Lutheran theologian The stories in this book are at times funny, at times tragic, but always vulnerable and true, as well as brimming with insights into the Bible and the offensive nature of God s grace in our world I know I ll never read stories like the death of Judas or Jesus encounter with the Gerasene demoniac in the same way again Highly recommended.

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11. I had the opportunity to read an advance copy of Nadia Bolz Weber s forthcoming book Unlike Pastrix, it tells stories primarily from her life as a pastor, with little emphasis on her earlier life Her writing is, as always, engaging, and in this book rather self deprecating, as she tells stories of people who became accidental saints in her life It s a wonderful book Bolz Weber offers a forthright word about grace and mercy, tempering the charming confidence exhibited in earlier writing with a wi [...]

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12. If I met somebody who had no time for pretense, who knew how to use strong language, who d seen garbage than they should have, and who was trying to make a difference in the crazy world, I d hand them Accidental Saints Why would I choose this book for them Because Nadia Bolz Weber is a straight talker who could never be accused of hiding in organized religion Indeed, she has some words for those who use Christianity as an invitation to unreality We ve lost the plot if we use religion as the pla [...]

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13. Recommended for People questioning their faith Christians women, especially strong women people who are dealing with guilt, people who are stretched too thin.Themes you ll find Redemption, forgiveness, finding facets of Christ in everyone Imperfect love, brokenness.Stuff that was awesome Her stories and her tone She s no nonsense She swears She would totally say shit if she had a mouthful But she s also a preacher She s an ordained minister who understands the importance of finding ways to love [...]

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14. Reading Nadia Bolz Weber is not comfortable reading for those are offended by broken, messy people with messy lives descending on their look good from the road Christianity Or, incidentally, have issues with pastors swearing But for those who have been wounded, rejected, and damaged by the above mentioned Christians, she is, literally, a Godsend Bolz Weber comes from fundamentalist roots and a rough road back to faith She serves as pastor of The House for All Sinners and Saints in Denver She is [...]

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15. I would not have picked up this book if it weren t for the Book Riot Read Harder challenge I needed to read something about religion, but the history books I had thumbed through didn t seem right Then when I came across this title, I thought YES As a somewhat lapsed Episcopalian, I have a lot of kind feelings about Lutherans particularly one with a lot of anger and tattoos That sounds familiar, for sure This wasn t a straightforward memoir or a how to guide for being a better Christian Instead, [...]

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16. Nadia Bolz Weber is incredible Not because of anything she has done, but because of her recognition of what God has done and is doing through her Her vulnerability, self reflection, and often hard to give graciousness is an example of what Christians should aspire to be Along with Pastrix, I highly, highly recommend this book Both to those in the church in order to learn how to become a community that receives broken people and to the unchurched who believe church members have everything figured [...]

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17. I am a nice Jewish girl who works at an ELCA Evangelical Lutheran Church in America college As a non Christian deeply invested in the ELCA my viewpoint is perhaps a unique one I started reading this book over a year ago I read the first few essays, and was interested, intended to return I often read books of essays in pieces but somehow never did In the meantime I picked up my life, stopped working in a Jewish nonprofit in Atlanta and moved to Fargo and began working at a wonderful college that [...]

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18. This is a good, storied account of how the grace of God meets us in our messy lives.

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19. Once , Nadia Bolz Weber has penned another brilliant expos of our wrestling with God Or, in this case, God s eternal wrestle of getting us to believe in the power of unconditional love.Following the liturgical year, Nadia, through a collection of confessional stories full of symbols and struggles, helps us to eye ball reality as it is to discover a corporeality that is holy ground territory for the divine to manifest its self.And yeah, Nadia, in her usual style, pulls no punches and cuts no corn [...]

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20. Another keeper from the author of Pastrix The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner Saint This one is a collection of reflections on a variety of subjects, illustrated by her experiences with her congregation at House for all Sinners and Saints in Denver.I appreciate the honesty of her writing her raw, confessional tone has a powerful effect on me.I highlighted a lot while I was reading here are a few favorite passages Maybe Jesus was simply blessing the ones around him that day who didn t otherwi [...]

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21. As a former Lutheran, while I differ with Nadia Bolz Weber s theology and religion, I appreciate her approach to her faith and to caring for others, her ability to relate and to show compassion, and her ability to make me laugh and cry with recognition of our collective, messy, shared humanity This is a book that shows the best of what Christianity like many other faiths and spiritual practices in this world has to offer, what I learned about loving people where they re at, just as they are, as [...]

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22. I like Nadia Bolz Weber She s cool and can be funny sometimes She s also very Lutheran, for what it s worth all about the sola fide But I m not the audience for this book, probably because it s not so much about Finding God in All the Wrong People as it is how the Pastrix is herself the Accidental Saint The scenes are ostensibly about other misfits coming around to the faith, but always conclude with passages about how she loves Christ but gasp has tattoos, hangs out with drag queens and addicts [...]

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23. While this book was a bit too episodic and I longed for an arc to connect of the stories or just some added length to the stories there was much I enjoyed I liked the way Bolz Weber articulated some beliefs I share with her such as the way God uses our weaknesses as much as our gifts I also enjoyed seeing some saints in a new light I loved the idea that the Annunciation is about Mary accepting who God has already made her to be.This book is a quick, enjoyable read If you re looking for somethin [...]

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24. Nadia Bolz Weber s books were suggested when I said I enjoyed Anne Lamott s books The book actually suggested was Pastrix, but I couldn t find it so I read Accidental Saints instead What an amazing pastor What an amazing book Yes, she uses the s word and the f word, but not all the time Her stories are personal, her observations are often filled with humor, and the lessons drawn are profound The takeaway is that God loves us just as we are, regardless of what we deserve Highly recommended.

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25. I already loved so many of the things Nadia Bolz Weber has put out into the world, but this book was different, somehow I cried a lot, not because it was sad though the story of the Sandy Hook liturgy was sad , but because it connected me back to the things I love most about my faith, things that tend to get lost in the shuffle of life too often I ll include some of my favorite quotes later.

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26. There were many powerful stories in this book, and moments when the catholicity of the church was very real to me It was also a good reminder that though I often feel liberal in my own denomination, I am not ready to go mainline It s helpful to know who you are, as I am sure Pastor Nadia would affirm spiritual memoir

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27. This Is So Good.

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28. This book is good news.

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29. This is the sort of God lovin I can get behind.

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30. The last time I put a book down after pouring over it for a week or less in the case of Accidental Saints, a whopping 24 hours and thought Wow was John Steinbeck s East of Eden, which I read my sopho year of college, and to this day when I recommend it to people I can still quote the discussion of the meaning of the Hebrew word Timshel whether it means thou mayest, or thou must, triumph over sin this discussion spawned by differing translations of the Bible, something that someone like myself wh [...]

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