A reader from England writes …

You don’t know me (although I very briefly introduced myself to you in Middlesborough a few years ago – but I recognise I am one of thousands of people you meet each year), but I wanted to write to you to thank you for your truly inspiring and liberating work. I am an academic in finance and not a churchworker, but for many years I have struggled with the traditional view of Christianity.
I attend an evangelical anglican church in Durham, England which has as part of its “What we believe” statement “we want to affirm an orthodoxy that is both generous and nourishing and which will create a space in which ‘thinking is allowed’ “. I have been happy to find a home in this church for the past decade, but have continued to struggle due to many traditional views being embedded since I was young.
I have been an avid reader of a number of your earlier books (the New Kind of Christian Trilogy, Finding Faith, The Secret Message, etc) and have found them very helpful. I downloaded your talks from Greenbelt last year (on the recommendation of a friend who attended) and found them so insightful and valuable (indeed it led to me and my family going to Greenbelt for the first time this year). As a result I have recently read A New Kind of Christianity and listened to an audio copy of A Generous Orthodoxy. Again, I have found both books extremely helpful and the former truly liberating. It is a simply wonderful book.
I also read Richard Rohr’s Falling Upward earlier this year and listened to the talks from the Emerging Church conference at CAC. I found the words of Richard, Phyllis and you wonderful.
I know that you continue to be vilified by some, but I simply wanted to let you know that there are many of us who find your work so immensely important and I pray for your continued efforts on behalf of all who are looking for a better way forward.
I will be receiving your “Why did Jesus, Moses…” book for Christmas this year (having listened to your talk last year from Greenbelt I am greatly looking forward to this) and am coming to a talk you will give in Newcastle in December.

Thanks for the encouraging words. I leave in a few hours for my book tour in your fine country, with Greenbelt and Hodder … I hope you’ll come say hello!