Introducing The Salve, a New Progressive Christian Publication
Our mission is to help progressives and Christians understand each other through stories from people who have identified as both
A few years ago, when I was getting ready to announce my book about sex and religion, I realized I was ashamed (the book is called Shameless).
Half of my friends didn’t know I was religious — in my years of living in New York and San Francisco, I’d stopped attending church and rarely talked about faith. The other half of my friends didn’t know I was an unmarried non-virgin. I was terrified that, on simply sharing the book’s subtitle, I’d alienate myself from both sides of my social circle.
The Salve is the antidote to this fear — for myself and many others who hold Christian and progressive in their identities.
This growing group is generally characterized in two types. The first, which includes me, is someone who either left their Christian community or rejected their faith completely when they became progressive. The other type is someone who is part of a progressive Christian organization or tradition and is advocating for more widespread reform from within.
Both experiences produce tension. The themes in this tension include love, doubt, politics, mental health, race, LGBTQ+, disability, science, parenting, and morals. These are the topics we’ll be covering on The Salve.
Many of our stories will be personal essays of how people have dealt with this tension in their own lives, inviting others to feel less alone. We’ll also do news analysis and service stories, providing expert tips on how to deal with fallout with one’s family due to religion or politics, for example.
One key element of The Salve I’m excited about is that we’re going to write not just for fellow progressive Christians, but also progressives who are curious about Christians, and Christians who are curious about progressives. In my interactions with both these groups, I’ve become convinced that people want to understand each other, and I believe empathetic, vulnerable storytelling can do that for us.
Here are some of the stories I’m excited to publish this month:
- On Whether Your Date Should Share Your Faith by Ko Im
- What It’s Like Being a Christian Who Is Also a Feminist by Addie Stuber
- Pressuring Christian Universities to Be Affirming by Madeline Kay Sneed
- Why Churches Should Talk About Race by Gabrielle Krystal Greiner
You can keep up with The Salve by following us here on Medium, and we’re also on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
What stories would you like to see covered on The Salve? Post a response and tell us.
