Black Sheep and Prodigals: An Antidote to Black and White Religion

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.Dave Tomlinson was a house church leader for many years before founding Holy Joe's, a church in a pub in Clapham for disaffected churchgoers. He is now Vicar of St Luke's, Holloway, a thriving parish church in north London. He is the author of the seminal The Post-Evangelical, How to be a bad Christian and The bad Christian's manifesto. He is a regular contributor on BBC Radio 2.hodderfaith.combadchristian.co.uk@HodderFaith@goodluker/HodderFaith/dave.tomlinson.925