Nadia Bolz-Weber (born April 22, 1969) is an American author,
Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
minister and public theologian. She served as the founding pastor of House for All Sinners and Saints, a congregation of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is a mainline Protestant Lutheran church headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA was officially formed on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three Lutheran church bodies. , it has approxim ...
in
Denver, Colorado
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
, until July 8, 2018.
Bolz-Weber is known for her unusual approach to reaching others through her church.
She has produced work in the church that scholar and writer
Diana Butler Bass
Diana Butler Bass (born February 19, 1959) is an American historian of Christianity and an advocate for progressive Christianity. She is the author of eleven books, many of which have won research or writing awards.
Bass earned a PhD in re ...
considers part of "a new Reformation".
Biography
Bolz-Weber was born as Nadia Bolz and grew up in
Colorado Springs
Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...
in a
fundamentalist Christian
Christian fundamentalism, also known as fundamental Christianity or fundamentalist Christianity, is a religious movement emphasizing biblical literalism. In its modern form, it began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries among British and ...
family.
Bolz-Weber began to acquire tattoos in 1986 at age 17. Those present on her arms mark the
liturgical year
The liturgical year, also called the church year, Christian year or kalendar, consists of the cycle of liturgical seasons in Christian churches that determines when feast days, including celebrations of saints, are to be observed, and whi ...
and the story of the
Gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
. She attended
Pepperdine University
Pepperdine University () is a private research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California. Pepperdine's main campus consists of 830 acres (340 ha) overlooking the Pacific Ocean and t ...
briefly before dropping out and then moving to Denver.
She says that she became an
alcoholic
Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomin ...
and drug abuser and often felt like one of "society's outsiders".
By 1991, Bolz-Weber became sober and, as of 2020, has remained so for 28 years.
Prior to her ordination, she was a stand-up
comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing
Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...
and worked in the restaurant industry.
Bolz-Weber felt called to service in 2004 when she was asked to
eulogize a friend who had committed
suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
.
In 2008, Bolz-Weber was
ordained
Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...
as a
pastor
A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...
.
She started her own church, the House for All Sinners and Saints, the name of which is often shortened to just 'House.'
One third of her church is part of the
LGBT community
The LGBT community (also known as the LGBTQ+ community, GLBT community, gay community, or queer community) is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay men, gay, bisexuality, bisexual, transgender, and other queer individuals united by a comm ...
, and she also has a "Minister of Fabulousness", Stuart, who is a
drag queen
A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part o ...
.
Her church is also very welcoming to people with drug addiction, depression, and even those who are not believers of her faith. Bolz-Weber spends nearly twenty hours each week writing her weekly ten-minute sermon.
Bolz-Weber speaks at conferences across the world.
She has given talks about how faith and feminism co-exist. As a
feminist
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
, in 2018 she called for women to send her their
purity ring
Purity rings (also known as promise rings, abstinence rings, or chastity rings) are rings worn as a sign of chastity. Since the 1990s, in the United States, Christian organizations, especially Catholic and evangelical Christian groups, promoting ...
s, to be melted down into a sculpture of a vagina which she regarded as representing the healing of the
psychic damage
Psychic damage is a concept used in the field of social psychology to describe the negative effects of stereotypes on individual members of stigmatized groups. The label "psychic damage" was first used by U.S. historian Daryl Scott to describe th ...
induced by the 1990s
purity movement
Purity rings (also known as promise rings, abstinence rings, or chastity rings) are rings worn as a sign of chastity. Since the 1990s, in the United States, Christian organizations, especially Catholic and evangelical Christian groups, promoting ...
.
At the Makers conference on Valentine's Day, February 14, 2019, Bolz-Weber gave the sculpture to American feminist and political activist
Gloria Steinem
Gloria Marie Steinem (; born March 25, 1934) is an American journalist and social-political activist who emerged as a nationally recognized leader of second-wave feminism
Second-wave feminism was a period of feminist activity that began in ...
.
[
On August 20, 2021, Bolz-Weber was called by the ELCA’s Rocky Mountain Synod and installed as that denomination's first Pastor of Public Witness, in a ceremony where the synod's bishop, Jim Gonia, gave the installation address.]
Personal life
As of 2013, Bolz-Weber had been married to Matthew Weber since 1996 and had two children.
Books
*''Salvation on the Small Screen?: 24 Hours of Christian Television.'' New York : Seabury Books, 2008. ,
*''Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of A Sinner and Saint.'' New York ; Boston ; Nashville : Jericho Books, 2014. ,
*''Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People''. Convergent, 2016. ,
*''Shameless: A Sexual Reformation''. Convergent Books, January 2019. , .
References
Further reading
*
*
*
External links
*
Seeing the Underside and Seeing God: Tattoos, Tradition, and Grace
Nadia Bolz Weber — ''On Being'', September 5, 2013
*
Nadia Bolz-Weber
Video produced by '' Makers: Women Who Make America''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bolz-Weber, Nadia
Living people
1969 births
People from Colorado Springs, Colorado
Clergy from Denver
American Christian writers
American feminist writers
21st-century American Lutheran clergy
American stand-up comedians
American women comedians
American women's rights activists
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Christians
Christian feminist theologians
LGBT and Lutheranism
American LGBT rights activists
Lutheran writers
Women Lutheran clergy
Women religious writers
Christian bloggers
American women non-fiction writers
21st-century American comedians
American women bloggers
American bloggers
Public theologians
20th-century American Lutheran clergy
Women civil rights activists
21st-century American women writers
Writers from Colorado
Activists from Colorado
Comedians from Colorado
Iliff School of Theology alumni