Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint

Now a New York Times bestseller, Nadia Bolz-Weber takes no prisoners as she reclaims the term "pastrix"(pronounced "pas-triks," a term used by some Christians who refuse to recognize female pastors) in her messy, beautiful, prayer-and-profanity laden narrative about an unconventional life of faith.
Heavily tattooed and loud-mouthed, Nadia, a former stand-up comic, sure as hell didn't consider herself to be religious leader material-until the day she ended up leading a friend's funeral in a smoky downtown comedy club. Surrounded by fellow alcoholics, depressives, and cynics, she realized: These were her people. Maybe she was meant to be their pastor.

Using life stories-from living in a hopeful-but-haggard commune of slackers to surviving the wobbly chairs and war stories of a group for recovering alcoholics, from her unusual but undeniable spiritual calling to pastoring a notorious con artist-Nadia uses stunning narrative and poignant honesty to portray a woman who is both deeply faithful and deeply flawed, giving hope to the rest of us along the way.

Wildly entertaining and deeply resonant, this is the book for people who hunger for a bit of hope that doesn't come from vapid consumerism or navel-gazing; for women who talk too loud, and guys who love chick flicks; for the gay man who loves Jesus, and won't allow himself to be shunned by the church. In short, this book is for every thinking misfit suspicious of institutionalized religion, but who is still seeking transcendence and mystery.

• Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People
• Shameless: A Sexual Reformation
• Cranky, Beautiful Faith: For Irregular (and Regular) People
• Salvation on the Small Screen? 24 Hours of Christian Television
• Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People
• Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church
• Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again
• Jesus Feminist: An Invitation to Revisit the Bible's View of Women
• Out of Sorts: Making Peace with an Evolving Faith
• Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time: The Historical Jesus and the Heart of Contemporary Faith