Substack unwrapped

Celebrating a year of Church Blogmatics with you

Gentle reader,

As I’m sure it was for you, for us at the Jones household, 2023 was a very full year.

My husband changed jobs. We celebrated two graduations, dropped a son off at college, and took many trips to see family—some joyous, some full of grief, as we lost my father-in-law.

I enjoyed a trip to DC with my son and parents, dance competition trips with my daughter, and a family vacation full of sun and water. I confessed, in public, my status as a cat person.

The 2nd edition of Practicing Christian Doctrine came out into the world. I taught more than 150 wonderful students. I celebrated the launch of the D.Min. program in theology at Northern Seminary. I read some books.

And I wrote words, many of them right here, at Substack. Substacking with you was, for me, a big highlight of this past year.

This January also marks a year of Church Blogmatics at Substack. Thank you for reading. Thank you for the conversations. Thank you for your support!

Let’s unwrap Church Blogmatics over the last year.

Thanks to Gridfiti for the fun and free wrapped templates.

Throwback to the very first post here at Substack.

Find all things #theologycat here.

Did I say thank you? Thank you!

Find gender related posts here, posts on salvation and the Christian life here, pop culture & Christianity here, posts on doing theology here, and book related posts here.

Wow! Thanks again for reading!

I’m so happy to have this book out in the world. My book release celebration post for the 2nd edition of Practicing Christian Doctrine: An Introduction to Thinking and Living Theologically can be found here.

(And, if you’ve read the new edition, would you do me a favor and leave a review at Amazon? It takes some time to build up the reviews when a new edition of a book comes out.)

I’m grateful to all of you who chose to upgrade your subscriptions to support my work. Thank you! (Thanks to you and a miracle, Church Blogmatics has paid my car insurance this year!)

Thanks to all who have shared Church Blogmatics with friends!

And thanks to all who have contributed to the conversation in chat, notes, and in the comments. Access to commenting is open to supporting subscribers.

Links, in case you missed the most read posts of the year:

1. Protestant bodies, Protestant bedrooms

2. TGC again, this time where a book by a woman doesn’t get the same benefit of the doubt

3. The Bible and the end of Patriarchy, the scriptural story of God’s love for women

4. Complementarian theology and gnosticism

5. Questions about hell

Rules for doing theology seemed to strike a chord with many, and the post includes a free, printable version.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to the 70 writers who have honored me by recommending Church Blogmatics. Check out these Substacks from my top recommenders:

1. Scot’s Newsletter

2. Word from the Bird

3. Marginalia with Beth Allison Barr

4. David Fitch

5. Speakeasy Theology

6. Faith Seeking Understanding

7. The Scandal of Reading: Uncovering Holy Wisdom

8. Elizabeth Glass Turner

9. Christian Ethics in the Wild

10. Slow Faith

I love that Substack connects us across the country and around the world. Those of you in Australia and New Zealand see posts before those of us in the US are awake.

Thanks for embracing vulnerability.

1. I don’t know how she does it

2. An emptying nest

3. How Annie Dillard revived my faith last Friday

4. So, as it turns out, I’m a dance mom

5. That fertile stink

Your material support of Church Blogmatics means a lot to me and to my family.

If you’re interested in upgrading to a supporting subscription, you’ll get these benefits:

• backstage pass posts

• discounts on ticketed events

• access to commenting

• my hearty thanks for your support of my work!

Good only today and tomorrow, here’s a special discount for a new year of Church Blogmatics:

I have some fun things planned for Church Blogmatics in 2024. Thank you again for joining me here. I’m glad you’re here, and I look forward to continuing to talk, together, about the things of God.

Grace & peace,

BFJ

This piece contains associate links. As always, I’m grateful if you choose to subscribe, forward, or share. Want to support my work but can’t become a supporting subscriber? Buy me a coffee.

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