Because Someone Asked...(guest post by Sheila Deeth)

Many thanks to Sheila Deeth for the following guest post:

Someone who read the “about me” on my blog asked what I meant by a Mongrel Christian, so here’s my answer:

I’m Catholic because my Dad was Catholic; I went to Catholic schools and will always be grateful to my truly wonderful teachers; I was a Catholic chaplaincy representative at university; I married in a Catholic church; I became a communion minister, standing at the front holding the cup while my husband sat in the cry-room with our first-born son. And my brother’s a Catholic priest.

I’m Protestant because my Mum is Methodist; my Granddad was a Methodist lay-preacher and I loved to read his sermons; my Uncle served a term as president of Gideons in England; my husband grew up in the Church of England and our kids are baptized Presbyterian (USA) and CofE; I read prayers in the Church of England; I led worship in an Evangelical church; I taught Sunday school for kids and adults; I’m an ordained elder in the Presbyterian Church (USA); and I’m a regular worshiper at a Christian Reformed church.

I’m a mongrel because I belong to so many different backgrounds, and I’m Christian because what I’ve learned of science, history and the Bible convinces me, while what I experience in life sustains that conviction. I’m also a believer in Occam’s razor, evolution, relativity and global climate change. And I think the Red Sea parted when the wind blew down the Gulf of Aqaba.

So that’s me, Catholic Protestant, Mongrel Christian, and writer of What IF…Stories, Inspired by Faith and Science.