A year ago Frank-Answers.com went dark. I removed it because it had become too controversial among my clergy colleagues. One of their issues was too much nudity in the images. Some regard pictorial nudity in itself as pornography. So much for the human body “wonderfully made” by its Creator!

 Another criticism was my defense of homosexuality. As my blog evolved, I was attracting different readers. I provided answers for people who had questions about their sexuality, and I decided to serve them since not too many pastors address people confused about sexual issues (at least not in public). Millions of men are dealing with masculinity issues, and if a small fraction found a pastor to answer their questions instead of the likes of Andrew Tate, Elon Musk, and Tucker Carlson, I was providing a needed ministry. Frankly, the liturgical questions I initially answered on my blog weren’t attracting much traffic. I deleted articles that had few viewers as well as adding new articles so that the blog would not become overly cluttered.

 But fellow pastors wanted me to repent by taking down the blog. They said that if it had been someone else, they wouldn’t have cared so much about it. But I had been a model to them, and they had been able to refer their lay people to my blog for its articles on liturgy, theology, spirituality, etc. But if they went on my blog they might be scandalized to see naked bodies or articles that promote homosexuality.

So, I hid Frank-Answers.com from public viewing on May 31, 2024. In its place I posted my goodbye message. (We had paid for a year’s subscription to WordPress and could leave the message up for those who were looking for the blog.)

 But the blog had attracted a rather wide readership. The analytics provide some interesting information about the reach of my blog. In the year 2020 alone, when many were confined home because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it had 70,145 visitors, who had 76,793 sessions, with 502,823 page views. The top five countries with the highest number of visitors were the U.S. (44,697), the U.K. (4,904). Canada (2,880), Germany (2,413), and Australia (1,724). Russia and China often vied with Australia for fifth place. In fact, more than a hundred countries were represented among the visitors. Nothing I ever published in print had these many readers. There were also a few readers from Arab and African countries that forbid and penalize homosexual practices.

 Some of these blog readers were regulars. When I announced that Frank Answers would be taken down in a few days, I received the comments you see down below.

            I received this comment from Gavin  by email.

I apologize for this late reply; I did not see your ‘Goodbye’ message until this morning.

The blog represented a real breath of fresh air on subjects that are considered controversial by the risk adverse.  I really appreciated your willingness to publish many voices, and to raise significant questions about Christianity, the body, and varying male sexualities.  I enjoyed my exchanges in your blog comments and learned a great deal.  I thank you very sincerely for helping me to keep faith with some form of Christianity at one of the periods of my life when I was contemplating really giving it up. I know there are Christians like me, and like you, and that’s something that keeps my faith alive—the Holy Spirit in action, I truly believe. Most Christians cannot follow the implications of the Incarnation into areas in which the church, especially those in the heritage of St. Augustine, has long seen only sin and negativity. I once contemplated the Presbyterian ministry (PCUSA or its predecessor UPSUSA) to the point of completing an M.Div. At that time the argument about ordaining gay men and women to any office was rising, and I could not follow through with my initial intention.  Perhaps it was selfishness or a failure of faith, but I just could not dedicate years of my life to an argument which I regarded as settled.  I regarded it as settled because of the faith in action that I saw in New York City in the late 1980s and early 1990s regarding HIV+ persons and outreach to those with AIDS at a time when those efforts were denigrated and belittled.  I can never forget the Christian witness of those, now long gone, who saw a light and were lifted by a Spirit beyond human imagining.  They rest from their labors. Thank you, Frank, for all you have done. Best wishes and blessings.

But now, a year later, we are dealing with politically divisive culture wars that have intensified. To what extent are theological commitments blurred by culture wars? How many theologians have been cancelled just because they have been known to support homosexuals…or trans people, or women’s health issues, or immigrants and refugees, or DEI (diversity, equality, identity)? Political cultures wars have infiltrated the Churches as well as consumed society.

One’s cultural upbringing or political ideology clouds the interpretation of biblical passages leading to a rejection of even traditional hermeneutics, like “Scripture itself interprets Scripture.” The result is proof-texting. Does Psalm 139:13−14, “You formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’ womb,” prove that gender or sex is assigned at birth? Or does the following verse 15, “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works,” indicate that the psalmist is praising the God who created him and knows all about him? Who couldn’t praise God for creation, even if that could only be the result of a long discernment process?

We seem to be at a point where some Christians suspect that empathy for other people is being politicized. The right is turning not only against the LGBTQ community, but also the plights of migrants and recipients of foreign aid who might die of hunger or disease without it. Hard right podcaster, Allie Beth Stuckey, published a book entitled, Toxic Empathy: How Progressives Exploit Christiam Compassion. Right-wind theologian, Joe Rigney, published a book entitled, The Sin of Empathy: Compassion and its Counterfeits. Who has the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ commanded us not to love? How can a godly love be expressed if not by understanding the situation of our neighbor and acting on it?

Just so, I think my blog is needed more than ever.

But there is another reason to return to blogging. How did someone who viewed himself as a liturgist end up addressing issues about the body? 

In fact, I’m not the first liturgist or lover of liturgy to make this transition. That’s not surprising. You glorify God with our body (1 Cor. 6:19). See Elochukwu E. Uzukwu, Worship as Body Language: Introduction to Christian Worship: An African Orientation (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1997; Bruce T. Morrill, editor, Bodies of Worship: Exploration in Theory and Practice (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1999); Tara M. Owens, Embracing the Body: Finding God in Our Flesh and Bone (Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 2015); Craig Mueller, Any Body There? Worship and Being Human in a Digital Age (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2017); John W. Kleinig, Wonderfully Made: A Protestant Theology of the Body Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2021); Pavol Bargár, Embodied Existence: Our Common Life in God, Foreword by Stephen Bevans (Eugene, OR:Cascade Press, 2023). To these I add my own writings: Embodied Liturgy: Lessons in Christian Ritual (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2016); Eucharistic Body (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2017); “The Body in Protestant Theology,” Protestant Spiritual Traditions, Vol 2, 191−261, Edited by Frank C. Senn (Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2020).

This new version of my blog will maintain its emphasis on body issues. But I will also be open to liturgical questions from readers. As before, it’s my choice to answer them.

Pastor Frank Senn