From Minister to Atheist

I heard a sad, sad story earlier this week on NPR about a Methodist minister who says she has lost her faith in God and is now an atheist.  While I can appreciate her honesty with herself, it is sad that she kept this news from her church for so long.  I don't pretend to understand the struggle she was going through, so I am willing to grant her patience as she wrestled with doubts.  But to continue preaching and pastoring during this season of doubt was unwise at best and dishonest at worst.  To continue doing so after her faith was completely gone, however, was just plain wrong.  And to make matters worse, it doesn't sound like she was treated very Christianly by church members and church officials once the news finally broke, which makes this story sad for other reasons.  Saddest of all, of course, is that this is a story of a woman who no longer believes in the saving grace of Jesus Christ revealed in the gospel that she once proclaimed.       

Here are a few excerpts:

Teresa MacBain has a secret, one she's terrified to reveal.

"I'm currently an active pastor and I'm also an atheist," she says. "I live a double life. I feel pretty good on Monday, but by Thursday — when Sunday's right around the corner — I start having stomachaches, headaches, just knowing that I got to stand up and say things that I no longer believe in and portray myself in a way that's totally false."

. . . . . . . . . .

On March 26, at the American Atheists' convention in Bethesda, MacBain seems almost giddy. The day before, she decided she would go before the conference's 1,500 or so nonbelievers and announce that she is officially an atheist.

"My name is Teresa," she begins. "I'm a pastor currently serving a Methodist church — at least up to this point" — the audience laughs — "and I am an atheist."

Hundreds of people jump to their feet. They hoot and clap for more than a minute. MacBain then apologizes to them for being, as she put it, "a hater."

"I was the one on the right track, and you were the ones that were going to burn in hell," she says. "And I'm happy to say as I stand before you right now, I'm going to burn with you."

To read the entire story, click here.