Table of Contents
Foreword Richard Dawkins 7
Preface to the Expanded and Updated Edition 11
I Introduction 13
Preachers Who Aren't Believers 13
Some Cautions 15
What We Did and Why We Did it 18
Qualitative Research ("What Is It Like …?") 24
II Seven Sketches 29
Winnie, the Presbyterian Pastor: Wanting to Belong; Trying to Believe 29
Carl, the Lutheran Pastor: Persevering Through the Pain 35
Brian, the Lutheran Seminary Dropout; Dodging a Bullet 41
Glen, the Catholic Priest: Hiding among Those Who Damned Him 44
Joe, the Mormon Bishop: A Hopeful Agnostic 52
Stan, the Military Chaplain: In Search of Congruency 57
Sherm, the Orthodox Rabbi: Falling Out of Belief 61
III Breaking the Shell-Transparency and the Survival of Religions 68
IV From the Ivory Tower to the People in the Pews 79
Three Seminary Professors 79
What Happens in Seminary: The Students' Perspective 91
After Seminary: Preaching and Teaching 101
Burnout and Depression 117
V Emerging Themes 126
The Plight of Liberal Clergy: Metaphors, Myths, Truths, and Facts 126
The Plight of the Literals: Dealing with the Challenges 134
What Our Participants Gained and Lost as Their Beliefs Changed 143
VI Where Are They Now? 163
Checking in with Four Pilot Study Participants: An Interim Report 163
Checking in with Our Study Participants from 2008-2012: An Update 172
VII The Inner Shell-Isolating Pastors from Their Parishioners and from Themselves 185
VIII What's Next? A Response to Requests for Our Study's "Conclusions" 194
Acknowledgments 202
Appendices 204
Appendix A The Participants 204
Appendix B About Qualitative Research 211
Appendix C Linda's Personal Story 213
Appendix D Dan's Personal Story 217
Appendix E Pilot Study 220
Notes 259
References and Resources 266
About the Authors 280