Meet Nadia Bolz-Weber - a tattooed Christian preacher

Meet Nadia Bolz-Weber, the founder and pastor of the House of All Sinners and Saints in Denver, Colorado. Nadia is a Lutheran preacher, and her latest book, Accidental Saints: Finding God In All The Wrong People, will be published this September.

Recording the audio book version of Accidental Saints all day today and tomorrow. http://t.co/n1FNBOMwNq pic.twitter.com/rTA1QIn4n0

— Nadia Bolz-Weber (@Sarcasticluther) July 6, 2015

Her two earlier books also deal with religion and spirituality – Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner and Saint, an autobiography which examines her own spiritual trajectory, which was preceded by Salvation on the Small Screen?: 24 Hour Of Christian Television.

Her religious go-to heroine is Mary Magdalene, whom she refers to as “the apostle of the apostles”.

But never mind all that. Let’s talk about her tattoos – Nadia is quite some way from the Vicar of Dibley on the pastoral appearance spectrum.

Her arms and torso are a rich stained glass of Bible-themed ink, and at 6’1”, she is a commanding presence, like a taller, butcher Alex Vause from Orange Is The New Black. (Except she is heterosexual, and married to a man she met on a volleyball court, a location she says is romantic heaven for tall people).

So it is principally Bolz-Weber’s appearance which has caused her to receive the slow but sure build of publicity beyond her own church community, given how it’s not every day you come across a 6’1” heavily tattooed Christian preacher lady in that vast swathe of God-fearing America that exists between the East and West coasts. Especially one who swears like a normal person and looks like a rock star.

They warned us this would happen if we ordained The Gays #elca #hfass pic.twitter.com/qKH0e8KoZZ

— Nadia Bolz-Weber (@Sarcasticluther) June 20, 2015

So who is she?

Growing up, Bolz-Weber’s family were members of the deeply conservative church (which she describes as ‘Baptist-Plus’).

It was a harsh, fundamentalist and unforgiving version of religion which dominated her childhood, and unsurprisingly, she rebelled and ran away, dropping out of Christian university and settling in California.

Not that ‘settling’ is quite what she did – instead, she discovered drugs and alcohol, and became a stand up comic.

All were outlets for her years of stored up rage. She assumed she would die very young, and didn’t particularly care. The death of a close friend from suicide was closely connected with Bolz-Weber finding recovery from her alcoholism through a 12 Step fellowship – she got sober in her early 20s, and is now in her 40s.

And as everyone knows, 12 Step recovery requires its members to find a higher power. Anything, so long as it isn’t yourself.

During her years of drinking and using drugs, Bolz Weber had never lost her core spiritual beliefs. After a stint with Paganism for a while, in recovery she reverted back to the deity of her youth, but without all the fundamentalist baggage.

For a while she tried to be a Unitarian, but found them too nice and optimistic, so eventually she settled on Lutheran. She believes in stuff like sin and grace, but thinks reading the Bible literally is ridiculous, and has no truck with the endless debates around human sexuality, which have long been the bane of mainstream religions.

Freedom and equal rights upheld as 'merican by #SCOTUS #GayMarriage

— Nadia Bolz-Weber (@Sarcasticluther) June 26, 2015

Founding the House of All Sinners and Saints, she ministers to the “outsiders” who have Christian beliefs but are put off by the homophobia and conservatism of the megachurches, yet want something meatier than Christian liberalism-lite.

“I had to start a church I’d want to show up to, basically because I’d rarely gone to one I liked,” she told the BBC, of her “indie boutique” church.

“Theologically I’m not liberal,” she says.

“Because what I see in a lot of what would be categorised as liberal theology is what we call a high anthropology, which is a very high opinion of human beings and what we can accomplish, like ‘All the good of God is inside of you!’ And I’m like, ‘Are you kidding? It’s dark in there!’ It’s there, but there are other things there too.” She describes her faith as “relaxing in the presence of someone you are certain is fond of you.”

Initially, she had a congregation of around 40 people, comprising mostly of those who might be deemed misfits and weirdos by conservatives, and who felt at home and comfortable to worship in the church of sinners and saints. Drag queens, sexual and social outsiders.

Word began to spread – she was featured in the Denver Post, and her congregation grew. Ordinary non-weirdos began turning up, which left her initially non-plussed.

A confident, accomplished public speaker, Bolz-Weber now receives frequent invitations to appear on television.

She has also been asked if she would like to become a bishop.

Neither appeal, she says. Her mission is to continue working within her community of oddballs, rather than getting ensnared in the kind of religious hierarchies from which she ultimately ran a mile.