Church Blogmatics by Beth Felker Jones

Church Blogmatics by Beth Felker Jones

Share this post

Church Blogmatics by Beth Felker Jones
Church Blogmatics by Beth Felker Jones
An emptying nest

An emptying nest

A letter to my son + some thoughts on freedom & Christian education

Beth Felker Jones's avatar
Beth Felker Jones
Aug 24, 2023
∙ Paid
17

Share this post

Church Blogmatics by Beth Felker Jones
Church Blogmatics by Beth Felker Jones
An emptying nest
5
3
Share

Gentle reader,

I’m writing today’s piece as a letter to my son, who has just left our nest. (Yes, I cried.) The letter’s a little sappy (forgive me), but it also shares some of my heartfelt feelings about educating Christians.

Don’t forget to sign up for Fall’s upcoming BOOK CLUB discussion of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel, Purple Hibiscus.

Church Blogmatics is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Dear son,

I know you know it’s hard for me to see you go, but I’m also so excited for you.

For real.

I think you’re going to love college: the freedom, the intellectual discoveries, the sheer social possibilities, which were exciting even for me, all those years ago, though I’m an introvert and you most certainly are not.

Your older sister assumed she’d go to a Christian college, and she had a great experience at the one she chose, but something happened between her college choice and yours. You can call the thing that happened whatever you want to call it: “the 2016 election” or “pandemic and polarization” or “your world fell apart.”

And you knew you wouldn’t go to a Christian college. This news was not unmixed, for me, having devoted most of my adult life to the project of Christian liberal arts education.

But, also, I understood.


The rest of the post is for supporting subscribers, as it’s rather personal. If you’d like to keep reading, you can grab a free trial or get 25% off a subscription with this back to school special.

25% off back to school special

Keep reading with a 7-day free trial

Subscribe to Church Blogmatics by Beth Felker Jones to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
© 2025 Beth Felker Jones
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture

Share