Black Sheep and Prodigals

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'Very interesting, it's all about not alienating people before they even think about crossing the threshold of where you worship.' Chris Evans, BBC Radio 2

Do you feel more at home on the edges of faith than at the centre? Would you call yourself a bit of a black sheep?

Too often Christian spirituality has been associated with conformity, or a subculture where people don't feel able to ask questions. But Dave Tomlinson, author of How to be a bad Christian, doesn't think it has to be like this; instead, our spiritual communities can be 'laboratories of the Spirit' - places where we can explore issues of faith and spirit with openness, imagination and creativity.

Welcome to black sheep spirituality - where doubts and questions are an essential part of faith; where difference of opinion is a sign of a secure community; where divine revelation is embraced wherever it is found - in the arts, science and the natural world as well as religious tradition; and where faith is something that is lived and practised rather than embalmed in beliefs or ritual.

'Theology for anyone and everyone' BBC Radio 2

'Very interesting, it's all about not alienating people before they even think about crossing the threshold of where you worship.' Chris Evans, BBC Radio 2

Do you feel more at home on the edges of faith than at the centre? Would you call yourself a bit of a black sheep?

Too often Christian spirituality has been associated with conformity, or a subculture where people don't feel able to ask questions. But Dave Tomlinson, author of How to be a bad Christian, doesn't think it has to be like this; instead, our spiritual communities can be 'laboratories of the Spirit' - places where we can explore issues of faith and spirit with openness, imagination and creativity.

Welcome to black sheep spirituality - where doubts and questions are an essential part of faith; where difference of opinion is a sign of a secure community; where divine revelation is embraced wherever it is found - in the arts, science and the natural world as well as religious tradition; and where faith is something that is lived and practised rather than embalmed in beliefs or ritual.

'Theology for anyone and everyone' BBC Radio 2

I finished Black Sheep and Prodigals impressed by the work of Dave Tomlinson, and I would be a difficult person to win over: here is a priest who celebrates holy communion with Hobnob biscuits and communicates the unbaptised ... what shines through is Tomlinson's commitment to people whom the Church has missed, or grasped all too eagerly and burnt in the process. - The Church Times