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Glorify: Reclaiming the Heart of Progressive Christianity
Mainline Protestant denominations are dying, while conservative traditions are flourishing. Nones are the fastest growing religious demographic in the United States. A pastor and self-proclaimed former none, Heath possesses an excellent understanding of church growth and the lack thereof, and frequently draws upon that experience when look for ways to welcome people to church. In Glorify: Reclaiming the Heart of Progressive Christianity, Heath shares the experiences, insights, lessons, and challenges that shaped them on their journey of faith. The book is sometimes practical, sometimes spiritual, and always glorifying the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which Heath asserts is the true way to change the world.
- GenresReligion
136 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2016
16 people are currently reading
84 people want to read
About the author
Emily C. Heath
2 books22 followersThe youngest child of a career government officer, Heath was born in Virginia and primarily grew up there and in Winter Park, Florida. After growing up in a "spiritual but not religious" family, Heath was baptized as the age of 17.
In college at Emory University, Heath majored in religion and English in addition to serving as the first openly LGBTQ member of student government, and as the head of the schools LGBTQ student alliance.
After college Heath attended Columbia Theological Seminary, earning both a Master of Divinity and a Master of Theology (in Reformed Theology). Heath was ordained as a minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA) and initially served as a chaplain specializing in trauma.
It was only after several years as a PhD student that Heath realized that they were running away from God's call was to the parish. Leaving the Presbyterian Church over issues of LGBTQ inclusion, Heath's ordination was transferred to the United Church of Christ.
Following an initial pastorate in Vermont, Heath is now the senior pastor of the Congregational Church in Exeter, NH, as well as an active writer whose work has been featured in the Christian Century, the Still Speaking Daily Devotionals, Day 1, and more. Heath lives in Exeter with their wife, the Rev. Heidi Carrington Heath.
In college at Emory University, Heath majored in religion and English in addition to serving as the first openly LGBTQ member of student government, and as the head of the schools LGBTQ student alliance.
After college Heath attended Columbia Theological Seminary, earning both a Master of Divinity and a Master of Theology (in Reformed Theology). Heath was ordained as a minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA) and initially served as a chaplain specializing in trauma.
It was only after several years as a PhD student that Heath realized that they were running away from God's call was to the parish. Leaving the Presbyterian Church over issues of LGBTQ inclusion, Heath's ordination was transferred to the United Church of Christ.
Following an initial pastorate in Vermont, Heath is now the senior pastor of the Congregational Church in Exeter, NH, as well as an active writer whose work has been featured in the Christian Century, the Still Speaking Daily Devotionals, Day 1, and more. Heath lives in Exeter with their wife, the Rev. Heidi Carrington Heath.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
May 22, 2025
A FRANK AND CREATIVE SERIES OF IDEAS FOR PROGRESSIVES
Emily C. Heath is a pastor in the United Church of Christ [she was formerly a minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA), but she left it over their lack of LGBTQ inclusion, and transferred her ministerial credentials to the UCC].
She wrote in the first chapter of this 2016 book, “recently, I was sitting with other clergy from my denomination, talking about my views on why it’s important for progressive ministers to be able to talk about our faith… That’s when the question came, part curious, part suspect: ‘But what about social justice? Doesn’t that matter to you?’ The person who asked that question didn’t know… that for more than twenty years … I have been openly gay… or about how my wife, Heidi, and I needed to file separate federal tax returns even after we were married. They also didn’t know about … how a group of us had stood in the New York State Capitol building … as right-wing Christians rallying against equal marriage had yelled at us that we were going to hell. I’ve gone a few rounds in the social justice arena.” (Pg. 4)
She continues, “So many times when I talk about why the church needs to reclaim discipleship… even my progressive Christian friends look at me sideways. Those of us who ask these questions… often find ourselves being told that we are too dogmatic, too conservative, or too focused on what doesn’t matter. The problem is… I think it matters more than we know. I often worry that the progressive side of the mainline church has begun to define ourselves not by our affirmations, but by our repudiations. When compared with our more conservative siblings … we are so quick to say, ‘We aren’t like that.’… But when it comes to talking about what we DO believe, we often find we lack the words…. I am glad, for instance, that churches stand up against antigay measures. I wish more would. But I want us to talk about why our Christian convictions are compelling us to do so… I respect every Christian who holds a placard … and speaks about climate change, but I wish I heard more about how God created the world and called it good, and why that’s why we can’t be silent.” (Pg. 5)
She goes on, “But before I got to this place, I first had to become a disciple… Only then could I go about the work of living my faith in the public arena… And so when people ask me what the ‘next big thing’ in the church will be, I tell them this: discipleship… It’s time for progressive Christians to claim discipleship. It’s time to get radical… about our faith…. And it’s time to see our social justice work kas a natural product of our discipleship, not something that competes with it for the church’s time… we just may find that when it comes to changing the world for the better, the Gospel of Why We Are Different from Other Christians can’t hold a candle to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”” (Pg. 5-7)
She observes, “Mainline Christians …. Have the worst ‘retention rate’ when it comes to our young people… More and more of our youth are graduating from high school, stepping out into the world, and becoming ‘nones.’ At the same time, more young people … are being raised outside of organized religion completely. Parents that have been disillusioned by the church are seeing less value in raising their children in the faith. Others… take Sunday as their ‘day off’ when they are able to stay home or spend the day with the kids. Add to that…. Fifty years ago there were no Litle League games on Sunday mornings, and the stores stayed closed… the reality is that those practices would have never been moved to Sunday mornings had the church not already lost so many of its faithful. Sunday soccer did not kill church attendance. Sunday soccer sprang up when people stopped finding something more worthwhile in our houses of faith, and instead looked to something new.” (Pg. 8-9)
She suggests, “The time has never been more perfect for progressive Christianity. An entire generation of unchurched and marginally churched young people is rising to adulthood. And though the phrase ‘spiritual but not religious’ continues to have its day, there is a sense that more and more people are finding that it is… ‘not enough.’” (Pg. 18)
She acknowledges, “Though I love my own denomination, by the time I retire, I’m not so sure it will look anything like it does today. I believe either we will have merged with other, like-minded denominations or we will exist as a loose band of connected congregations. But whatever the future holds, I’m positive that a renewal of mainline Protestantism, and our progressive Christian hopes for the world, is impossible if we remain in our denominational silos.” (Pg. 27)
She continues, “Too many of our congregations are… just waiting for new wood in the hopes that it will reignite us. New members … give us hope for a little while, but more often than not, they don’t stick around. I truly believe that is because we in the progressive churches often fail to create a culture of discipleship. Our more conservative Christian siblings may not always lead the charge on social justice issues, but they know how to disciple, or teach, people.” (Pg. 31)
She notes, “There are plenty of voices out there telling you that you can connect with God on a hike, or over brunch… I’m not saying that any of those things are false, but I am saying that I don’t think they are enough. Because at the end of the day, the solitary spiritual life is just that: solitary. And I don’t think God calls us out only to leave us alone.” (Pg. 54-55)
She states, “the church is… the community that ties us together and strengthens us for the lives our faith in Christ calls us to lead… The truth is, that has not always been easy for me personally. As a young Christian… congregations… always seemed to be … making mistakes. They were messy and frustrating… I truly believed that if Jesus came back the last place he’d be caught dead in was a church. I left seminary and spent eight years as a chaplain and academic… I never felt like I was in the right place. I was running from the local church… I had never felt further from God in my life. Things changed for me when I was able to acknowledge that church was indeed a frustrating… difficult place filled with imperfect people. So was the first church that Jesus called to surround him… I have come to believe in the power of each congregation to transform lives and … communities… ‘fellowship’ … is a deeper sense of community, one centered around Christ. To create that kind of community is our calling as Christians.”
(Pg. 62-63)
She recounts, “In 2011 … there was the fight for equality in New York state. New York’s anti-gay marriage [statutes] were the linchpin in the struggle… My wife [and I]... joined the chorus of witnesses asking for marriage equality… The first day, when I showed up in my clergy collar, the anti-equal marriage crowd… assumed I was one of them. But when Heidi and I stood next to a group of radical queer activists, more than a few eyebrows were raised… a prominent ex-gay activist … yelled that I was not a real pastor, and that I had simply bought a clergy shirt to try to deceive others. When I replied that I was an ordained minister he looked incredulous, and told me to read the Bible. (I let him know that I’d read it cover to cover, in English and the original Hebrew and Greek… he told me I was going to hell. Before I could respond Heidi grabbed my shoulder and guided me away… The public hijacking of the name ‘Christian' by those who would use the government and other means to limit the rights of others is a threat not only to our democracy, but also to our faith. The simple fact is that too often the word ‘Christian’ is understood in our culture to be synonymous with … ‘judgmental’ or ‘exclusionary.’… a big part of the reason so few people know about progressive Christians… is because we don’t know who we are and for what we stand… Most of us would be hard-pressed to make an elevator speech about why we are a Christian…” (Pg.107-109)
She concludes, “God is constantly at work in the church… We who are the church have a choice; we can join in… or we can stay on the shore of fear and caution… I don’t know what the progressive church will look like in ten years, or twenty… But I do know that, whatever it is, Christ will be at the heart of it… Now is the time, progressive Christians. The light of Christ can burn brightly in all of us. And we can let it shine.” (Pg 135)
This book will be of great interest to progressive and ‘mainline’ Christians.
Emily C. Heath is a pastor in the United Church of Christ [she was formerly a minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA), but she left it over their lack of LGBTQ inclusion, and transferred her ministerial credentials to the UCC].
She wrote in the first chapter of this 2016 book, “recently, I was sitting with other clergy from my denomination, talking about my views on why it’s important for progressive ministers to be able to talk about our faith… That’s when the question came, part curious, part suspect: ‘But what about social justice? Doesn’t that matter to you?’ The person who asked that question didn’t know… that for more than twenty years … I have been openly gay… or about how my wife, Heidi, and I needed to file separate federal tax returns even after we were married. They also didn’t know about … how a group of us had stood in the New York State Capitol building … as right-wing Christians rallying against equal marriage had yelled at us that we were going to hell. I’ve gone a few rounds in the social justice arena.” (Pg. 4)
She continues, “So many times when I talk about why the church needs to reclaim discipleship… even my progressive Christian friends look at me sideways. Those of us who ask these questions… often find ourselves being told that we are too dogmatic, too conservative, or too focused on what doesn’t matter. The problem is… I think it matters more than we know. I often worry that the progressive side of the mainline church has begun to define ourselves not by our affirmations, but by our repudiations. When compared with our more conservative siblings … we are so quick to say, ‘We aren’t like that.’… But when it comes to talking about what we DO believe, we often find we lack the words…. I am glad, for instance, that churches stand up against antigay measures. I wish more would. But I want us to talk about why our Christian convictions are compelling us to do so… I respect every Christian who holds a placard … and speaks about climate change, but I wish I heard more about how God created the world and called it good, and why that’s why we can’t be silent.” (Pg. 5)
She goes on, “But before I got to this place, I first had to become a disciple… Only then could I go about the work of living my faith in the public arena… And so when people ask me what the ‘next big thing’ in the church will be, I tell them this: discipleship… It’s time for progressive Christians to claim discipleship. It’s time to get radical… about our faith…. And it’s time to see our social justice work kas a natural product of our discipleship, not something that competes with it for the church’s time… we just may find that when it comes to changing the world for the better, the Gospel of Why We Are Different from Other Christians can’t hold a candle to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”” (Pg. 5-7)
She observes, “Mainline Christians …. Have the worst ‘retention rate’ when it comes to our young people… More and more of our youth are graduating from high school, stepping out into the world, and becoming ‘nones.’ At the same time, more young people … are being raised outside of organized religion completely. Parents that have been disillusioned by the church are seeing less value in raising their children in the faith. Others… take Sunday as their ‘day off’ when they are able to stay home or spend the day with the kids. Add to that…. Fifty years ago there were no Litle League games on Sunday mornings, and the stores stayed closed… the reality is that those practices would have never been moved to Sunday mornings had the church not already lost so many of its faithful. Sunday soccer did not kill church attendance. Sunday soccer sprang up when people stopped finding something more worthwhile in our houses of faith, and instead looked to something new.” (Pg. 8-9)
She suggests, “The time has never been more perfect for progressive Christianity. An entire generation of unchurched and marginally churched young people is rising to adulthood. And though the phrase ‘spiritual but not religious’ continues to have its day, there is a sense that more and more people are finding that it is… ‘not enough.’” (Pg. 18)
She acknowledges, “Though I love my own denomination, by the time I retire, I’m not so sure it will look anything like it does today. I believe either we will have merged with other, like-minded denominations or we will exist as a loose band of connected congregations. But whatever the future holds, I’m positive that a renewal of mainline Protestantism, and our progressive Christian hopes for the world, is impossible if we remain in our denominational silos.” (Pg. 27)
She continues, “Too many of our congregations are… just waiting for new wood in the hopes that it will reignite us. New members … give us hope for a little while, but more often than not, they don’t stick around. I truly believe that is because we in the progressive churches often fail to create a culture of discipleship. Our more conservative Christian siblings may not always lead the charge on social justice issues, but they know how to disciple, or teach, people.” (Pg. 31)
She notes, “There are plenty of voices out there telling you that you can connect with God on a hike, or over brunch… I’m not saying that any of those things are false, but I am saying that I don’t think they are enough. Because at the end of the day, the solitary spiritual life is just that: solitary. And I don’t think God calls us out only to leave us alone.” (Pg. 54-55)
She states, “the church is… the community that ties us together and strengthens us for the lives our faith in Christ calls us to lead… The truth is, that has not always been easy for me personally. As a young Christian… congregations… always seemed to be … making mistakes. They were messy and frustrating… I truly believed that if Jesus came back the last place he’d be caught dead in was a church. I left seminary and spent eight years as a chaplain and academic… I never felt like I was in the right place. I was running from the local church… I had never felt further from God in my life. Things changed for me when I was able to acknowledge that church was indeed a frustrating… difficult place filled with imperfect people. So was the first church that Jesus called to surround him… I have come to believe in the power of each congregation to transform lives and … communities… ‘fellowship’ … is a deeper sense of community, one centered around Christ. To create that kind of community is our calling as Christians.”
(Pg. 62-63)
She recounts, “In 2011 … there was the fight for equality in New York state. New York’s anti-gay marriage [statutes] were the linchpin in the struggle… My wife [and I]... joined the chorus of witnesses asking for marriage equality… The first day, when I showed up in my clergy collar, the anti-equal marriage crowd… assumed I was one of them. But when Heidi and I stood next to a group of radical queer activists, more than a few eyebrows were raised… a prominent ex-gay activist … yelled that I was not a real pastor, and that I had simply bought a clergy shirt to try to deceive others. When I replied that I was an ordained minister he looked incredulous, and told me to read the Bible. (I let him know that I’d read it cover to cover, in English and the original Hebrew and Greek… he told me I was going to hell. Before I could respond Heidi grabbed my shoulder and guided me away… The public hijacking of the name ‘Christian' by those who would use the government and other means to limit the rights of others is a threat not only to our democracy, but also to our faith. The simple fact is that too often the word ‘Christian’ is understood in our culture to be synonymous with … ‘judgmental’ or ‘exclusionary.’… a big part of the reason so few people know about progressive Christians… is because we don’t know who we are and for what we stand… Most of us would be hard-pressed to make an elevator speech about why we are a Christian…” (Pg.107-109)
She concludes, “God is constantly at work in the church… We who are the church have a choice; we can join in… or we can stay on the shore of fear and caution… I don’t know what the progressive church will look like in ten years, or twenty… But I do know that, whatever it is, Christ will be at the heart of it… Now is the time, progressive Christians. The light of Christ can burn brightly in all of us. And we can let it shine.” (Pg 135)
This book will be of great interest to progressive and ‘mainline’ Christians.
August 16, 2016
Reverend Emily C. Heath has written a concise, clear, and accessible book much needed across the breadth of progressive Christianity. Her reflections articulate the need for those of a progressive bent to find our purpose and be transformed by growing in discipleship together, so that our love of God might provide the foundation for our love of neighbor and transformation of the world.
Insightful and grounded, honest and joyful, this book could offer a fresh inspiration for discipleship and joyful Christian living, bringing glory to God. I encourage all church leaders to consider its potential for your ministry setting.
A study guide is available at www.emilycheath.com
Insightful and grounded, honest and joyful, this book could offer a fresh inspiration for discipleship and joyful Christian living, bringing glory to God. I encourage all church leaders to consider its potential for your ministry setting.
A study guide is available at www.emilycheath.com
May 27, 2016
Wonderful. I thought I'd just be cheering my way through this book ("Yeah, right on, sister!!") - and ended up being challenged in really good - and profound - ways. This book will be close at hand for the next while as I contemplate the power of its message.
August 17, 2016
A call for progressive churches to reclaim their discipleship. I'd suggest this to any church leaders who want to see transformation in their congregation.
March 30, 2017
Good book about what mainline Christian denominations in the US are doing wrong and some ideas about how they need to change to survive.
Read
August 9, 2016Good for genre. Wanted to read because I heard her preach & like her Still Speaking entries - UCC
August 17, 2024
The ideas here are 5 stars but I’m rating this 3 based on my level of enjoyment. I read this for work and though I can’t tell you what my coworkers thought of it as I spent most meetings zoned out, this is an invaluable book to have when working for a progressive church or Christian organization.
I’m not Christian anymore but I can still see how much of a game changer the author’s insights could be. Nothing here was really new to me as I’d already extrapolated these ideas from Born Again: The Christian Right Globalized, but it was good having it all nicely laid out and organized.
I’m not Christian anymore but I can still see how much of a game changer the author’s insights could be. Nothing here was really new to me as I’d already extrapolated these ideas from Born Again: The Christian Right Globalized, but it was good having it all nicely laid out and organized.
April 10, 2018
Glorify brings a breath of fresh-air to into Progressive Christianity. The author challenges the progressive church to dig deeper into discipleship and theological groundings. It is a great book for church leadership and small group study.
My copy is well-underlined and sticky-noted. It will be on my re-read and often recommended list.
My copy is well-underlined and sticky-noted. It will be on my re-read and often recommended list.
January 2, 2020
A great perspective from a progressive Christian in loving critique of some of the weaknesses of modern progressive theology and churches. Rev. Heath presents a solution that is hard-hitting as well as grace informed.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews