In Their Own Words:
Thoughts from the 2014 MidWinter Speakers

February 3-5, 2014
Register here.

Sam Wells

“Receiving God’s love is like breathing in. Responding to the suffering of others is like breathing out. If I do the first without doing the second, I will pass out.” - Sam Wells & Marcia A. Owen, Living Without Enemies

"We can destroy the planet, just as we can destroy our lives and the lives of others; but we can’t destroy what God will finally make of our lives or the life of the planet. In lamenting the condition of the Earth, let’s not make humanity too big by exaggerating our ability to ruin everything or make God too small by forgetting that this is always a story about God that we get to play a part in, not the other way round." 

- Excerpt from Sam Wells' "Let Earth and Heaven Agree" blog entry

Rachel Held Evans 

“So what did God say to me in the silence that morning? I’m not sure, but I think God said something like, Don’t try so hard, little child, and, Hey, check out this cool turtle I made.”
- A Year of Biblical Womanhood

"I think it was because my faith was so personal, so deeply important to me, that I couldn't just let it go the moment I started having questions and doubts."

- Excerpt from Rachel Held Evans' "5 Reasons I'm Glad I was Raised Evangelical" blog entry

Shannon Johnson Kershner 

 “Here at (our church), we talk a lot about the gift and challenge of being family together. And we use that language on purpose because through baptism, that is what we are—one big wonderfully dysfunctional and beautiful family—brothers and sisters in Christ.” -Shannon Johnson Kershner, from her sermon, Option 3 on 11/10/13

“I am not anxious for the future of the church. It’s full of all kinds of possibilities if we can be brave and open and know some things we try are going to fail and that’s okay,” she told us. “I just have a genuine hope because, really, if we really believe Jesus Christ is the head of the church―then why are we so anxious?” 

- Shannon Johnson Kershner, from her "Breaking Down Barriers" interview with PC (USA)

Scot McKnight

“When chance encounters with blue parakeet passages in the Bible happen to come our way, we are given the opportunity to observe and learn. In such cases, we really do open ourselves to the thrill of learning how to read the Bible. But, like the sparrows, we have to get over our fears and learn to adjust to the squawks of the Bible’s blue parakeets. We dare not tame them.” - Scot McKnight, The Blue Parakeet

"If there is any group in the world who should fight for freedom of all sorts it is those who call themselves Christians."

- Excerpt from Scot McKnight's "Mandela's Walk to Freedom" blog entry