Denial Is My Spiritual Practice: (And Other Failures of Faith)

Two ministers share their own stories about struggling to live out their faith.

It’s the sort of experience familiar to many: Somewhere between illness and divorce, abusive relationships and brushes with death, faith failed to provide answers . . . or we failed to live as though we believed faith held answers. But surely, it’s different for clergy, the ones who preach and practice faith? But faith requires more, and authors Martha Spong and Rachel G. Hackenberg, who grew up in the church and became ordained ministers, know first-hand about coming to terms with God and life, the need to search for answers . . . or at least assurance we are not alone in struggling for renewed hope. Denial is My Spiritual Practice is a companion for the wondering and struggling. The authors offer their own stories as evidence that God remains, both when faith fails and when faith finds new understanding. They combine stark life experiences, offbeat spiritual perspectives, and Scripture to offer comfort, grace, laughter, and a few tears along the way.

RACHEL G. HACKENBERG is author of Writing to God: 40 Days of Praying with My Pen, Writing to God: Kids' Edition, and Sacred Pause: A Creative Retreat for the Word-Weary Christian, as well as several chapters on preaching and ministry. She contributes to RevGalBlogPals and The Huffington Post. An ordained United Church of Christ minister, Hackenberg and her family reside in Cleveland, Ohio.

MARTHA SPONG is executive director of RevGalBlogPals, an international online community with more than 4,000 members. She contributes to The Christian Century and The Huffington Post. An ordained United Church of Christ minister married to a Presbyterian minister, Spong and her family live in central Pennsylvania.