A Journey of Reconstructing Faith with Pastor Beau Stringer

Each faith journey is unique, a work of God and the individual. In this episode Beau Stringer, Associate Pastor at Resurrection Church Downtown in Kansas City, shares his movement from evangelical, to pastor, to seeker, and to a deeper faith reconstruction. His journey casts light on the movement of many sincere seekers today to build something transcendent and meaningful in this challenging world.

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:07

Welcome to this edition of the Tracks for the Journey podcast. So glad you're joining us. I have a special guest today. Bo Stringer is a pastor in Kansas City and has a burgeoning ministry on Substack and other things that we'll cover here in a little bit. But Bo, uh welcome you to this. Great to have you here.

SPEAKER_01 0:30

Yeah, thanks so much for having me. I'm uh glad to be here.

SPEAKER_00 0:34

I'll have to be transparent a bit. Bo and I go back a long time. His family was a part of the church I pastored in Amarillo, Texas, and uh saw them. Well, it was just a wonderful time to be a pastor and to know his family and that congregation. Seeing what you're doing and getting back in touch with you has really uh been a little bit of a trip down memory lane, but more importantly, it's right now, it's the present, and it's this crazy world of 2026, and what that means for faith development and people who are coming or going in their faith. And that's what I really want us to dig into. So uh just for those who who don't know you, uh tell us a little bit about your journey, what you're doing now, and and where you've come from in this thing of being a spiritual leader and a spiritual person. What's it mean? Tell us about it.

SPEAKER_01 1:29

Yeah, thank you. And uh man, I'm just so so good to catch up and uh to to just be be here and talk talk to you about kind of where I've where I've been. And so um I'll start just by by sharing, you know, what what you kind of already hinted at that you know, I was raised in West Texas in the Southern Baptist Church, and um it was an amazing experience for me. You know, I I very quickly fell in love with with the scriptures and fell in love with Jesus and that whole church world really was special, really special for me. And um, so you know, I found myself being a leader in the youth group, and we bounced around a few different churches um growing up, but really just again fell in love with faith and and Jesus and a sense to call to ministry in in high school. And I was at the same time I was playing baseball, so I wanted to kind of chase that dream as far as that would go. But uh yeah, first sense that I might do vocational ministry in high school, and so ended up finding myself at at Wayland Baptist University, pretty close to to Lubbock there in Bible College. I studied religion and played baseball there and wow, a student athlete.

SPEAKER_00 2:40

That's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 2:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:42

Too bad it was before all the NIL kind of stuff, and you had to play for free.

SPEAKER_01 2:48

That's right, I didn't make a dime. But no, it was it was good, and you know, I was able to study religion, but I also started working in churches pretty young. I was, I think, 20 when I first was a youth pastor at a small Southern Baptist church in in West Texas, Floyd Data, pretty close to to Lubbock there. And so I spent 18 months there, and then uh moved we moved out to East Texas to be a part of a a church out there. We kind of just followed kind of God's prompting and moved out to East Texas, another Southern Baptist church, and that one was a little bit trying and and testing that that ministry was tough. But it was you know, good good people. But I that's kind of when my faith started uh to shift um and change a little. But at that point, it wasn't necessarily theological things, it was more missional. I just found myself in my ministry early on, having just a heart for evangelism and you know sharing Christ with people who didn't know who he was, and so I wasn't getting many opportunities to do that. The the church I was at, you know, it was one of those altar calls every Sunday, and no one really moved, and there wasn't really much happening. We're just kind of doing the the status quo, and I really felt like I wanted to, you know, exercise those gifts and the those passions, and so um I decided to start looking for some work outside of the the Bible belt. And so um I connected with the church in North Iowa. It was a church plant, a non-denominational church, and their whole mission was to be a church, to be a church that unchurched and deturched people love to attend. And so I really connected with that that mission and that that heartbeat, and we fell in love with this little city in North Iowa called Mason City. Um it's clo up close to the Minnesota border there, and spent a decade there. Five years as a youth pastor, and then five years as the senior lead pastor there.

SPEAKER_00 4:39

Wow, what a change in environment, in the context of Christian life and church life, and taking a step of faith to move out like that.

SPEAKER_01 4:50

Yeah, yeah, and it was such rewarding ministry. I was, you know, again, especially when I was doing student ministry or youth ministry there, you know, we would have teenagers show up on a Wednesday night that had no idea who Jesus was. They'd never been to church ever, and that really just filled my heart to be able to, you know, minister in that context. And it was a also a very heavy Lutheran and Catholic, you know, demographic. And so, you know, being a non-denominational church in that environment, we would always, you know, interact with folks who were maybe raised Lutheran or Catholic and stepped away from church for a season, but then found their way back. And so that was a lot of fun. And um yeah, so five years after I moved there, I became the the senior pastor, lead pastor, and that was about 2016. Um and that was uh a crazy time. That's really I would say 2016 is really when my faith journey, my spiritual journey really started to shift. Um I was kind of exposed to some different thought leaders, some different uh reading material that had never really been presented with before, and uh it really started wrestling with some some theological things in that season. The main issue, I'll I'll go in deep dive just for a minute here.

SPEAKER_00 6:02

Yeah, that's what I was. It was on my list to ask anyway, so my own.

SPEAKER_01 6:06

All right, so so one of one of the main issues for me was and it you know, there's different different things for different people, but for me, I had a really hard time wrestling with the violence that we saw, we see in the old testament, and comparing that to this enemy love that we see with Christ. And so I really couldn't reconcile the two. And so it sent me on a journey, again, to reading books I hadn't ever picked up before, and and started wrestling with how we read scripture. And for me, that was kind of the I call it the thread that it began to pull on a on the sweater and it began to unravel essentially being raised in an environment that took a very literal approach to scripture and um held to inerrancy of scripture. You know, I really started to question some of those things. And uh at the same time, I also saw this church tradition that I was raised in, people I loved and admired and respected, and still do, and I'm and I'm grateful, you know, not everybody, it's people like you that I think you know have have allowed me to cling to some sort of faith that that planted seeds of what I think what true faith looks like. But for the most part, there was this kind of denomination that I was raised in that really hitched its wagon to a political party that I found kind of repulsive um in some ways, and and I really had a hard time reconciling that as well. You know, the faith I was taught was to love our neighbor and to um you know to be kind and to um advocate for the poor and the the least of these. And what I found was this faith that I, you know, was raised in really was now advocating for the opposite, it felt like. And I couldn't reconcile that. So the 2016 election, you know, I'm I'm also wrestling with some theological things, um, and that was a long journey.

SPEAKER_00 7:56

So that was started in about 2016, and then and I bet the congregation wouldn't be terribly excited about that, maybe not oppositional, but sure, you know, as a senior pastor, the people want certainty for the most part, and not knowing that the pastor is is well, I say that I I think there's a balance for sure.

SPEAKER_01 8:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:20

Uh but I can see how that might have been difficult to tread for you.

SPEAKER_01 8:24

It was, it was really challenging because I it was really the first time in my life I had begun to question some of those things and really wrestle with some of those things. And for the most part, I did it kind of in private. You know, I didn't really, you know, bring those kind of things to the pulpit very much. I would kind of sprinkle in some some things I was wrestling with, but for the most part, I was kind of trying to figure out where I was privately or through conversations with people that I trusted. But it was still difficult for me in that season because it felt like I was entering the pulpit sometimes or or leading in some ways that was inauthentic. You know, I was sharing things that were hard for me, and that's anyway. I was kind of working through that in that season. And so 2022, so I pastored through COVID. Obviously, that was really challenging as well for for everybody being a senior leader, and our church was very diverse, and so there was a lot of varying opinions on how that season should have been handled or should not have been handled. Um that was challenging. We also had some issues with our staff. We had a and I had a small staff, it wasn't a really large church. We had about anywhere between three, we had about actually close to 400 before COVID and then dropped down. So it wasn't wasn't a you know a massive church, but we had a small staff, and and what's interesting is when you have a small staff, they're they almost become like friends too. And so we had some issues on our staff team, some um you know, questionable decision making by by some of our leaders, and that was uh after COVID. And so going through COVID, then dealing with some staff issues, I was really just feeling burnt out. Um, you know, and so we decided to step away uh from ministry in 2022. Along with that, my mother-in-law had been diagnosed with early onset dementia and Alzheimer's back in about 2016 as well, but it had progressed by 2022 pretty pretty heavily, and she was needing a lot of care. And so my wife and I decided to uh head back to Amarillo and uh you know, where uh both of our parents live and uh help care for her, and that was a really special season of our life. We were really grateful that we made that move, and um but it also you know not only just to care for her, I needed a break from from pastoral ministry as well. And so we may talk more about that that season of what that looked like in a little bit. But so we took a little bit of a break and then now jumped back into ministry in a completely different context, and that's really what a lot of my content is centered on now. I'm at a United Methodist church, so I kind of went from Southern Baptist to non-denominational now to the mainline UMC.

SPEAKER_00 11:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:05

A lot of my work is centered around helping evangelicals navigate maybe what faith might look like after evangelicalism or maybe post-evangelicalism. But I'm I'm just so thrilled and feel so honored to be a part of what uh this church is doing here in Kansas City. It's uh Church of the Resurrection, um, and we are the largest mainline church in North America. We have nine locations across Kansas City, and uh I serve as the adult discipleship director at our downtown location. So I'm in the heart of the city, very urban, um, very diverse. We've got folks that live in high-rise, you know, apartment buildings, and then folks that are sleeping on the street join us for worship every every Sunday, so it's a lot of fun. I like to call it unpredictable church. So it's a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_00 11:54

Only imagine.

SPEAKER_01 11:56

But anyway, that's kind of uh my story, a little bit of my spiritual journey.

SPEAKER_00 12:01

Wow, what and I think I think just the idea of having a spiritual journey is a little bit foreign to a lot of people. I think that let's say someone who grows up in a church of any kind, those early experiences are to build certainty in their lives, to build a platform, a system that they can buy into, hopefully for their entire life. And I don't think there really is a presentation of the fact that, okay, every year, every season of experience, you're going to be on a journey spiritually that will cause you, challenge you perhaps, maybe reinforce some of what you've done, but there is going to be that evolutionary process. And I don't think we have in the past, including myself, expressed that and given people the permission to be on a journey.

SPEAKER_01 13:33

Yeah, yeah, I would say that was similar for me. You know, I kind of equate it to being raised in an evangelical bubble that really has foundational layers that are non-negotiable, you know, like so when you begin to kind of push against some of those that that framework, like asking questions, oftentimes my questions were met with just have faith. You know, it wasn't there wasn't this sense of reason or you know, embracing science might have been discouraged, you know, and but you're exactly right. Like it is a journey, and giving people space and freedom to ask questions, to maybe even seriously consider doubt and what that might look like, and the importance of doubt, the importance of questions, the importance of wrestling with your faith and really figuring out what you believe in why, I think is is so healthy and so good. And and you're exactly right. I spent a bulk of my career not really creating that kind of space for people. But it's a growth moment for me too, though. You know, so yeah, kind of come full circle there.

SPEAKER_00 14:36

So I have to stand convicted on all of that. I think the growing process for me goes back to pastoring that church that you were a part of there in Amarillo, when I had a similar perspective develop in the late 20th century as the Southern Baptist Convention devolved into this bitter fighting, warring denomination and then embracing a uh right wing. Yeah. So that really by the time uh I had spent 27 years as a pastor and the church had gone through some troubles, uh I was looking for something different. I I didn't know whether I could find it in another pastorate or whether something different would open. And for me, the difference in moving from that to become the director of the chaplain's department at that large hospital in Amarillo was a time of exploration and growth for me. I had never anticipated it, but it became a tremendous blessing and certainly changed my life and career in a big way. So the journey is there. So let's just let's just hold on to that for a moment. What kind of a lot of people are struggling today in their spiritual life? So what kind of questions do people come to use with? What what's really tricking popping the bubble or causing them to devolve from what they've been and look for something better, different, wider, larger, however you would express it? What are you hearing from people that are you're in touch with?

SPEAKER_01 16:23

Yeah, I think a lot of the conversations that I have with people today, there's there's probably two kind of big categories of folks. I hate to put people in categories, but just for the sake of of conversation, I feel like, you know, there's spiritually curious people who you know I'm having conversations with all the time that don't really have a church background, but they're they're searching for meaning, they're searching for community, um, they're searching for something that's that's transcendent. You know, they and those those folks, you know, I I I have interactions with those kind of folks all the time online. You know, we're not seeing those kind of folks really walk into a traditional Sunday service. I think there's some hesitation there. Just you know, I think they can't quite navigate what's healthy and what's not, you know, because they just kind of see Christianity as a as a whole. And I think that's anyway.

SPEAKER_00 17:22

So the the nuance is way beyond what they can do.

SPEAKER_01 17:25

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:26

So there at that kind of basic what is spirituality, how do I connect to something that's meaningful for me?

SPEAKER_01 17:33

Yeah, yeah. And so I'll start there and then I'll I think there's a whole nother group, and then I'll I'll kind of talk about how they're both similar in ways. But I think there's another group of people who maybe were handed a faith, whether that was like evangelicalism or you know, a version of faith that they can't really reconcile anymore, whether that be because of things like Christian nationalism or uh the culture war or maybe like gatekeeping around who's in and who's out, type type things. And and those folks, I'm finding they haven't really lost a belief in God or even really have an issue with Jesus. I think they're having more of an issue with kind of a particular institution. Um, you know, and okay. But I think both of those groups are really looking for something similar. And I think it's a faith that's honest. I think it's a a faith that doesn't require you to check your brain at the door. I think it's one that actually looks like Jesus, one that's maybe big enough to hold their questions. And I like to talk about, and in fact, I'm I'm kind of writing about this right now, and I like to talk about providing people a faith that's durable, one that can withstand kind of the issues that we face in life. But really, that's it. I think I think both groups are looking for a faith that's honest, something that doesn't, again, require you to check your brain at the door, one that looks very much like Jesus. I think that's what people are really interested in, that type of faith. And a lot of times, whether that be again they're spiritually curious, I think they're looking for that, or they've been handed a faith that they can't reconcile anymore. I think that's still what people are looking for. At least that's the conversations I have. So Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:14

Yeah. Yeah. Well, those are pretty significant, no question. You being right there in that urban area. And also being a part of an online community in some way that is giving uh a gateway for people to come and and find someone they can ask something with.

SPEAKER_01 19:33

Yeah. And and we'll engage their questions, right? I mean it's not just yeah, it's not just like, oh, like just have faith, just you know, just believe it. You know, it's uh you know, we'll we'll engage that with intellectual curiosity, we'll engage it with further questions, you know, are willing to explore other methods that maybe outside of traditional avenues of of belief. And and I think that's important for people. You know, just you know, opening the scriptures and saying, well, the Bible says that I believe it, that settles settles it, really just isn't isn't it's not doing them any any favors, you know, that that type of attitude.

SPEAKER_00 20:13

Uh-huh. Uh-huh. And you mentioned about durability. I I I think that's an exciting word. It's one I haven't really heard or used very much, but in responding, a durable faith to me sounds one that can withstand and navigate all of the challenges, the chaos right now, the chaos, and and make it through to something that is on the other side of the struggle.

SPEAKER_01 20:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:45

Is that how you're picturing this durability or how do you look into yeah, yeah, I think so.

SPEAKER_01 20:51

You know, and obviously, you know, especially, I mean you have you have experienced this both inside the church and then doing, you know, chaplaincy work. You know, life is hard. It's it's it's challenging in so many ways, whether that be um, you know, maybe maybe a parent uh their child's walked away from faith. Or maybe um there's financial struggles or any number of of issues that humans experience. I think, you know, when we see in the New Testament, there's a lot of language of like building your house on the rock, and so that when the storms of life come, you're not washed away. But the question then becomes, well, what is that rock? You know, how how do we build a faith that can withstand things? And it and it goes directly with what we're talking about. It's embracing doubt. It's embracing that life will be hard, not necessarily, you know, faith shouldn't be looked at as this way to protect us or insulate us from the struggles of life, but no, no, no, no, like God is with us in it. God is with us every step of the way. God isn't necessarily the cause of those pain and that struggling, but God can certainly use it and God is with us in it. And uh I feel like that's a just a much healthier reframe, you know, than than maybe what people were handed as far as thinking that God maybe causes or uses trials and and struggles in our life to teach us a lesson. You know, I I just I've kind of let go of that thinking. I don't think that's how God God operates. And what's interesting is we my wife and I, uh Sarah, just a quick little story. We we experienced a couple miscarriages. After moving from West Texas to East Texas, and we had a family member tell us that we were then outside of God's will. Like we shouldn't have made that move because we'd experienced a couple miscarriages on the on the other side of that. And I yeah, that just really, really bothered me. So um, you know, but I think back to how many people maybe have been told something similar that that, you know, based on a choice or a decision or even just experiencing just what can happen in our in our physical life, just the way nature works and just how the world is set up and the brokenness and the you know, and people experiencing those things and then being told that somehow God is punishing them or God is doing something to you know to teach them a lesson, I think is so so harmful, you know. But I think you know, again, building a faith that can withstand some of the things in life that that throws our way, I think is really important for people too, because as you know, I mean you mentioned the beginning of 20 2026, it's a lot of challenges today.

SPEAKER_00 23:36

A lot of challenges. Well, uh you you're using the word durability. The word resilience is close to me right now. Um we'll talk about your book in a little bit. Uh I'm finishing up a book on resiliency and trying to bring in uh about ten of the skills that psychology has identified to build resiliency, and connecting it with the faith journey that we're on, uh, and using the motif of Noah as resilient person or not in scripture. It's really been a great topic for me to work on, and so your concept of durability, especially, I think. Speaking to that, I want to go back and pick up something you said just a moment ago. And that's the the concept of God is that we're in person watching and ready to punish us now and forever if we stray outside of the line. I'm a part of a Bible study group at my current church, and we're working through a John with Pablo. Put the right syllable there, Pablo. If God is love, don't be a jerk. And he is one of many voices who say we've got to refrain and regain a biblical perspective of God as to the God of Jesus who exhibits the love and that we need to change ourselves in the world. Thomas Orde is one of the theologies that I followed very closely and references work as bringing a love-centered theology that is such a fresh breeze. But man does it shake up a person who has come through faith in the way that you talked about. A God who judges us, who excludes many, and who keeps us on the right path with threats and punishments. So kind of pivoting from that just a little bit. If someone comes to you personally trying to get into a church, a loving church, what are the what are the avenues that you give a person that would help them re-enter or enter for the first time a real vivid faith, a durable, resilient, growing faith?

SPEAKER_01 26:17

Yeah, yeah, that's a great question. And I think I would encourage people, it's hard today to just say really tell somebody that maybe wants a safe uh Christian community to belong to, to just say, well, just jump and start trying churches. I I kind of get hesitant with that. Um and and I think that is a healthy step, but right away I think I might encourage folks to just start reading the gospels. And if you're looking for like an authentic faith, a great place to start, read the gospels and notice the type of people that Jesus pays attention to. Notice maybe the type of people that Jesus calls out, notice where Jesus spends his time and the things that matter to him. I I encourage that a lot to folks I have conversations with. And now if they if they end up, you know, coming to our church and are interested in that, of course, you know, our church is safe and we have parameters, and there's there's so many good healthy qualities about our church that kind of make it a little bit easier for somebody to feel safe and comfortable, but that's not true in in other contexts, and so it's hard for people to navigate maybe what the church context looks like. But I think before you get integrated into a church, and I think that's a secondary conversation we can we can talk about in a little bit, but um you know I I would encourage somebody to just start reading the gospels and really then once maybe you are ready to take that next step into a church, find one that really centers on those same things that Jesus tended to focus on. Is the message you're hearing one of love, like you mentioned? Is it one of grace? Is it one of you know laying down of power rather than trying to keep it tight or um you know an advancement of some political you know power move, you know, is is that church you know willing to center Jesus over anything else? Anyway, that's just kind of probably what I would I would recommend, starting with just reading the gospels and noticing some of those things about Jesus.

SPEAKER_00 28:18

Those of you who are watching who might not be familiar with Bo's subtack, it is entitled Becoming My Line, and uh there's been a wealth of material published this year. And are you do you have other handles on other social media at this time?

SPEAKER_01 28:34

It's just just my name on social media. Yep. So Instagram or TikTok or Yep, I'm actually not on TikTok, but um Instagram, just at Mostwinger, and then I'm I'm very active on threads as well. So those are the two kind of main ones. I'm on Facebook, but I don't I don't post as much there.

SPEAKER_00 28:55

Alright, well, that's kind of my generation back on Facebook. I think the graphics uh show that there's a division of my age.

SPEAKER_01 29:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:05

Well, before we get away, this explosion of your opportunities has brought about an invitation to continue some writing in public. So tell us a bit a little bit about that and what we can expect in the month ahead.

SPEAKER_01 29:21

Yeah, thank you. I'm excited. Yeah, I just kind of finalized everything, but um, I'll be writing a book. It's called, well, the title right now I could change, but it's called Uh A Different Kind of Christian. Um the subtitle is a guide to church, faith and scripture, and faith after evangelicalism. And so uh again, it's just a book that I maybe I wish I had whenever I was considering that that move of leaving evangelicalism and finding a home in the mainline church. So really the journey that the book will take readers on is validating the evangelical experience, so just naming that there's grief that comes with it. There's um, you know, there's uh naming the hurt and the harm that a lot of people have experienced in that world, so validating their experience. And then uh there's uh moves to translation. So translating some of the you know the questions you might have around liturgy, um, you know, translating some of the ideas on prayer, you know, what does it look like to be involved with written prayers, pre-written prayers, you know, and navigating some of that that world. So yeah, so we validate, we translate, and then integrate. So it'll it'll kind of help people figure out a way to integrate their life into a new new faith community, and with that comes maybe having difficult conversations with family or you know, other pain points that might come along with that, but helping them find a really way to integrate their life into a new new faith community. So that's kind of the hope of the book, and uh it's gonna be really personal, it's gonna be again really authentic, really raw. I'll be able to share a lot of my own journey in the book, and so I'm excited about that, and hopefully it'll be helpful to folks that are looking for, you know, a different kind of faith. Maybe they haven't given up on faith or given up on God, but they want to they want to do it in a place that is different. So right.

SPEAKER_00 31:08

I'm excited with today's world, this 2026 and beyond. That is so challenging. Well, I've asked you a ton of questions. I wonder if there's something that you have in mind that we haven't covered that you'd like to share with my little community that is largely faith-oriented, interested in my tagline is dedicated to your well-being. Psychology.

SPEAKER_01 31:38

What? I I didn't mention the book will be out of all 27, so we have a little bit a little bit to wait, but yeah. I'm working on it, so.

SPEAKER_00 31:48

Well, thanks for having me. A book in progress is a book in progress, and we continue to learn.

SPEAKER_01 31:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:55

All right. Well, thank you so much.

SPEAKER_02 31:57

Yeah, thanks for having me.