Episode
From Southern Baptist to Mainline: Honoring the Journey of Beau Stringer
- Podcast
- Honoring the Journey
- Published
- Feb 23, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 3635
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://www.patheos.com/editorial/podcasts/honoring-the-journey
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Summary
It's the 100th Episode of Honoring the Journey today!! Leslie welcomes Beau Stringer, a former Southern Baptist preacher who transitioned to mainline Christianity. Beau shares his journey from growing up in an evangelical bubble in West Texas, serving as a youth pastor at 19, and eventually becoming a senior pastor, to questioning biblical inerrancy and evangelical theology—particularly around the violence in the Old Testament versus Jesus's command to love enemies. After wrestling with these tensions for years, he left vocational ministry briefly before finding a home in the United Methodist Church in Kansas City, where he now serves at one of the largest mainline churches in North America. Throughout the conversation, they discuss what mainline Christianity is, the importance of pastoral care over conversion agendas, the shift from fear-based faith to love-centered faith, rethinking hell and the kingdom of God, and how to lovingly engage with people still in evangelical spaces without erasing or dismissing them—emphasizing humility, questions, and staying in relationship rather than canceling those who disagree.