Nadia Bolz-Weber Talks Goddess, Sex & Politics at Seminary

Controversial Lutheran cleric Nadia Bolz-Weber addressed finding the divine feminine, misogyny in the upcoming elections, and some of her personal struggles with the church during the keynote address at a Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary summit earlier this month. Other topics of her keynote included sex outside marriage and profanity among church clergy, both of which she said she practices.

Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Chicago, an official seminary of the United Methodist Church (UMC), hosted the three-day “I AM Her Women’s Leadership Summit” [sic] in collaboration with the denomination’s General Commission on the Status and Role of Women (CoSRoW). Sponsors of the event included two other United Methodist denominational agencies: Wespath and Discipleship Ministries.

The summit was intended to be a space for women to “Be Inspired, Be Empowered, and Be Equipped to put in work both personally, professionally and within the United Methodist Church to connect.” With a heavy focus on networking, the online event aimed to teach participants how women in leadership positions overcome challenges and find solutions.

Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson of the North Georgia Conference served as moderator of the keynote speech and ensuing discussion. In her introduction of Bolz-Weber, Bishop Haupert-Johnson stated, “It’s a good day when I can put on my Ruth Bader Ginsberg dissent earrings and introduce Nadia Bolz-Weber.”

In her introductory remarks, Bolz-Weber gave the disclaimers that “I just have a commitment to be myself” and “I talk the way I talk.” She is often known for her vulgarity in speeches or discussions, and minced no words in this sometimes foul-mouthed keynote address. “I know some people think clergy shouldn’t swear. But I think clergy shouldn’t try and pretend to be someone they’re not,” stated Bolz-Weber.

Although the title of the summit was “I AM Her,” Bolz-Weber admitted that she had originally misread the conference information, and wrote a keynote speech on the theme “I AM Here.” Therefore, Bolz-Weber told of her perseverance, mostly against what she described as misogyny and hypocrisy in the church, that, in spite of it all, led her to deliver this keynote address.

Her journey of leaving and returning to the church included being introduced to a “divine feminine” spirit. “I did have to go hang out with the Goddess for a while,” recalled Bolz-Weber. She continued, “I could only come back to the church after I could find the women here.” She had originally left her childhood church, the Church of Christ, over what she saw as hypocrisy when church elders kicked out a black youth group member after she got pregnant and decided to keep the baby.

This journey of hanging out “with the Goddess” and finding the divine feminine included a stay in a yurt, a traditional portable tent distinct to the nomadic groups of Central Asia, in Colorado with a group of females. Nadia expressed that there was something safe for her in being surrounded by these women.

Bolz-Weber also addressed what she deemed blatant misogyny in the vice presidential debate between Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris on October 7. “Watching the debate the other night, it’s like I saw my whole life in front of me,” Bolz-Weber stated in reference to Pence speaking over Harris. “I was yelling at my television ‘Shut the f*** up!’”.

Bolz-Weber used her keynote address to promote a live stream she will be hosting with various spiritual leaders at the top of each hour on her Instagram page on election day. She calls the event “Keeping it Together on Election Day with Nadia Bolz-Weber & Friends,” and in the event description says that “there’ll be some kind of spiritual Xanax available here.”

When asked why she doesn’t leave the mainline Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Bolz-Weber asserted that belonging to a denomination helps keep her in check. “I’m why we have bishops. Someone like me is why we need bishops,” she stated.

Bolz-Weber continued, stating that she is proud that the Lutheran Church is the “caretaker” of grace, and that grace saved her life. “I wish a cooler group of people were the caretakers, but it’s not — it’s the Lutherans,” she stated.

“I have a very queer church,” stated Nadia, in reference to the House for All Sinners and Saints in Denver, where she served as the founding pastor until July 2018. As of November 2019, there was one gay man and one trans person on the church’s board, with several other trans people serving in positions of authority.

Bolz-Weber conceded that her bishop knew it was not a good idea to place her in an existing mainline congregation, and therefore let her establish her own. “I have always just created my own jobs, because I’m unemployable,” quipped Bolz-Weber.

In 2019, she published the book Shameless: A Sexual Reformation. In the book, Bolz-Weber argues that sexual desires are not something Christians should “struggle with.” Christians can “listen to, make decisions about, explore, and perhaps have caution about,” their sexual desires, but never “struggle with” them, Nadia asserts.

During the keynote, Nadia stated that she wrote the book because she “had shame over a sexless marriage.” She then stated that she has “great, amazing sex” with her current partner, which “she didn’t know you could have.” But she admitted that her lifestyle is “out of compliance with the church” since she is not married. Bolz-Weber made clear that this is something that she believes still needs to be addressed within the church.

John Lomperis, UMAction director at the Institute on Religion and Democracy, had this to say about the summit, “Empowering women’s leadership in the church is a worthy goal, which I support. But it is sad to see a seminary and agency of our denomination, both heavily funded by apportionment dollars skimmed from offering plates, make a needless choice to effectively pit this noble value against basic biblical faithfulness. Why couldn’t they have instead invited as their keynote speaker an orthodox woman in church leadership, who does not display such casual disregard for biblical warnings against re-imagining God, profane language, and sexual immorality?”

The event also featured worship, plenary sessions, and jurisdictional and central conference breakout sessions advertised as promoting efforts to “get out the vote.” The “GOTV” sessions apparently focused on how to organize ahead of any election, which could include both the upcoming November 3 U.S. presidential elections and leadership elections within the church. The sessions focused less on organizing for specific candidates than for certain ideals.

These “GOTV” breakout sessions were preceded by a conversation on voter suppression and the 19th amendment with Rev. Pamela Pirtle, Rev. Francine Thirus, and civil rights activist Clara Ester. The session highlighted female Methodist suffragettes and the role that the Methodist church played in laying the groundwork for female suffrage in the 19th century through its social activism. The ensuing discussion focused on some of the past challenges in America in terms of voting, such as voter suppression. These challenges seem to be “rearing their ugly head” ahead of the November 3 presidential elections, according to panelist Rev. Pamela Pirtle.