The Firing of a UMC Student Pastor Prompts a Candid and Profound Response

Many of you have heard me mention Chad Holtz. He is a fourth year divinity school student at Duke. He graduates this May. He was recently dismissed from his student pastorate (a church he served for 4 years) early because of a blog post he wrote that spoke of his changing beliefs about the doctrine of hell. You can read his post here. This has generated alot of conversation in the blogosphere as well as social media sites like Facebook. The Associate Press even picked up the story. You can read that article here. 

Hugh Hollowell, founder of Love Wins in Raleigh, NC, wrote a simple yet very profound blog post about Chad's situation. It is one of the best that I've read thus far. I want to share it with you because Hollowell makes a few simple yet very powerful statements that I think are worthy of our attention. I really could not say what he says here any better. Please take the time to read it. Hugh seems to have the talent of saying allot with few words. A talent that I DO NOT possess! Anyways, You can find this post here. 

Please pray for Chad and his family. They will be moving back to Tennessee once Chad graduates, possibly to plant a UMC church. He's a very talented, intelligent, passionate, and committed man of God. Let's pray that God will use this negative experience to strengthen his resolve to continue to be real and truthful to his calling.