About the Book
Tim Sledge pulls back the curtain on Southern Baptist life as he chronicles nearly four decades of ministry in this highly personal, sometimes painful, and frequently provocative spiritual autobiography. Part memoir, part expos�, part polemic-this is an account of failures as well as accomplishments-and very nearly a case study in how faith may begin, how it evolves, and how it can fall apart. Sledge traces the childhood origins of his sincere faith, his efforts at spiritual obedience, his theological education, his climb up the ladder in ministry, his insights into the challenges of growth-oriented leadership, and his pioneering work in faith-based recovery ministries that ultimately guided participants in 20,000 support groups across the U.S. A recurring theme in his story is coming to grips with the significance of being an adult child of an alcoholic. After a fall from grace and a growing awareness that faith no longer worked for him, his journey took a new direction that required examining alternatives to his former belief system including Deism, agnosticism, humanism, and atheism. Ultimately, he found new ways to live a positive, value-driven life and emerged as a new version of the same person he had always been, still interested in creating avenues for personal growth in the lives of others. Goodbye Jesus is a relatable and thoughtful read for those seeking to better understand the evangelical mindset, for Christians who are questioning their faith, for ministers trying to decide whether to stay or go, and for those who have left their faith and are dealing with its loss.
About the Author :
Tim Sledge is a former Southern Baptist minister, speaker, and writer. Born and raised in conservative West Texas and called to ministry at the age of 16, Sledge is a graduate of Billy Graham's alma mater, Wheaton College, and earned Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. Sledge began writing Southern Baptist curriculum materials as a 25-year-old seminary student. For more than a decade, while serving as a pastor, he was a writer for nationally distributed mission and discipleship training materials for youth including meeting guides for their leaders. He was the co-author of a year-long study on lifestyle evangelism for Baptist men, and a member of the writing team for The YouthDisciple Notebook, a Southern Baptist discipleship guidebook for teens. After devoting his career as an evangelical preacher to leading and growing ministries in Illinois, Tennessee, New Jersey, and Arizona, Sledge moved to a suburb of Houston, Texas, where, as senior pastor, he led his church to experience dramatic growth and wrote two books that launched a ground-breaking support group ministry that spread nationwide. Making Peace with Your Past and Moving Beyond Your Past have now been in print for more than 20 years, and have been used as interactive guides for 20,000 support groups across the U.S. At the peak of his ministerial career, Sledge experienced a series of events that led to a decade-long, growing awareness that faith was no longer working for him. Since 2002, he has been a full-time developer of custom business software, and today, multimillion-dollar businesses run on applications he created. In Goodbye Jesus the former pastor chronicles nearly four decades of ministry in a highly personal, sometimes painful, and frequently provocative spiritual autobiography. Part memoir, part expos�, part polemic-the book is very nearly a case study in how faith may begin, how it evolves, and how it can fall apart. Ultimately, Sledge found new ways to live a positive, value-driven life and emerged as a new version of the same person he had always been, still interested in creating avenues for personal growth in the lives of others. He explores, articulates, and shares a new kind of "spiritual" secular life in his latest book, A Meta-Spiritual Handbook.
