Florida Methodist Minister Walks the Aisle At Atheists Convention - Gives Confession of Non Faith

Have to put this lady and her family on a list of people I pray for.

I think NPR did a pretty good job with this article. See From Minister To Atheist: A Story  Of Losing Faith .

This appears to be one of a series of articles on people that lost Faith. There are no doubt Priests that were or are in her situation too.

On March 26, at the American Atheists' convention in Bethesda, MacBain seems almost giddy. The day before, she decided she would go before the conference's 1,500 or so nonbelievers and announce that she is officially an atheist.



"I am nervous," she says, "but at the same time I am so excited. I slept like a baby last night because I knew I wasn't going to have to live a lie anymore. Such freedom."


Moments later, in the darkened, cavernous conference room, MacBain steps onstage.


"My name is Teresa," she begins. "I'm a pastor currently serving a Methodist church — at least up to this point" — the audience laughs — "and I am an atheist."


Hundreds of people jump to their feet. They hoot and clap for more than a minute. MacBain then apologizes to them for being, as she put it, "a hater."


"I was the one on the right track, and you were the ones that were going to burn in hell," she says. "And I'm happy to say as I stand before you right now, I'm going to burn with you."


A few minutes later, MacBain strides off the stage into a waiting crowd. One man is crying as he tells her that her speech is "one of the most moving things I've seen in years." Another woman says she, too, had been a born-again Christian. "Join the club," she says as she hugs MacBain.


"I have never felt so appreciated and cared for, you know?" MacBain says later, noting that she has left one community — Christianity — for another. "New member, just been born — that's what it feels like."





A good well done article. Read it all as they say.