It’s been a while since we’ve done a Progressive Christianity Watch, so I figured we’re due. Let’s take a look at what Christians of the loony left persuasion are up to.
For our first clip, let’s travel down to St. Petersburg, Fla., and check out Different Church. It included a Backstreet Boys quote on one page of its website and calls itself “radically inclusive”:
We are open, loving, and radically inclusive. We also affirm that no matter your age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, socio-economic background, or belief, you are welcome here, and celebrated just the way you are. Yes, Different is affirming of the LGBTQ+ community, and you will never find a ceiling or barrier here. We believe it is our responsibility (and privilege) to clear the way for all people to come to church. In a sea of churches that discriminate, or cloud their beliefs in confusing language, we strive for love and clarity.
The pastor of Different Church is Hannah Siegmund, and she might have the most annoying delivery ever. Oh, and by the way, she points out that the Apostle Paul wasn’t cool with women pastors. To make her point, she cherry-picks verses and doesn’t bother with context.
I'm going to read your scripture verse. Okay, you may have heard it. It's Ephesians 5:22. Says, "Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands...” I love the word "own." Your own husband, not someone else's husband. “…as you do to the Lord.” Everyone's heard this verse, yes?
Okay. Here's another one. 1 Timothy 2:12. “I do not permit a woman to teach or assume authority over a man. She must be quiet.”
Later, she comes back to 1 Timothy 2:
Lastly, there's another weird verse after the verse that we stopped on that says women should be quiet. There's one that says women will only be saved through childbirth. You guys read that part. Also fascinating.
It does not mean that only women who give birth will be saved. That makes no sense, and also that contradicts everything in the New Testament about salvation that we have been taught. So, like, no one, including the most staunchest patriarchal, patriarchal pastor interprets this chapter literally. He's not raising his hands while he prays. He's not married to someone who's like, “Well, you didn't have a kid, so hell, hell for you. That's where you're going.” No, nobody.
I have never, I have never heard a sermon in all of my years in church where they have taught that if you are a woman and you don't give birth, you are not saved. No one has taught that. So why do people pick out verse 12 specifically and interpret it as literal and applying to all women for all time in all places forever and ever? Because of sexism. That's there's no other reason.
It’s not because of sexism, Hannah. Scholars differ on whether the “she” in 1 Timothy 2:15 refers to women in the church or to Eve, since Paul goes back and forth between church women and Eve throughout the chapter, but virtually no scholars interpret the verse as saying that women receive salvation by having kids while men receive salvation through grace and faith.
Check out the full clip — if you dare:
"Because of sexism"
— Protestia (@Protestia) July 16, 2026
Pastor Hannah of 'Different Church,' whose homiletical prowess is perhaps the most grating we've ever heard, (especially at the 2:30 mark) takes some shots at the Apostle Paul for his prohibition on women preaching. pic.twitter.com/GMm7wCOifp
Related: Meet James Talarico’s 'TransQueer,' 'Latinx' Theology, Umm, Bro
The next clip is one that my friend and former boss, Paula Bolyard, sent me. It’s from a sermon at Austin New Church in Austin, Texas. To get an idea of how far off the rails this church is, it has an extensive “LGBTQ+ Affirmation Statement” and doubles as a secular music venue throughout the week.
Austin New Church says it prioritizes “belonging over belief,” and its staff members list their pronouns in their bios. I’m not sure which of the two female pastors delivered this sermon from Mother’s Day 2022 because she doesn’t look much like either one, so she may be someone who’s no longer on staff, but get a load of what she says about God:
We profess that we all bear the image of God, but how can we see God in ourselves if we don't see ourselves in God? If God is only male, if God is only white, what possibilities does that limit for those of us whose identity markers are different? What power structure does that establish in our world? In her book God Is a Black Woman, Christina Cleveland writes about how this narrow view restricts our imagination. She says we are unable to imagine a God who proclaims “Black Lives Matter,” a God who says "Me Too,” a God who stands not atop the social hierarchy but at the bottom with the people who have been cast aside, silenced, and forgotten. When God is solely male, He can only show up as Father Sky God, who is nowhere near us.
The “pastor” then calls on her mother, who talks about how she wanted her kids not to limit their view of God to what His Word tells us. “I was raised and always thought of God as my father,” she says. “However, I really wanted my daughters to both have a rich, robust, accurate picture of who God is…”
Well, Mom, you failed.
ICYMI. The time the first female teaching pastor at Willow Creek (subbed their "çreative pastor") went full Sacred Feminine and gender-swapped Psalm 23 and the Lord's Prayer? All the while calling YHWH "Mother" while citing Christena Cleveland's "God Is A Black Woman"? pic.twitter.com/uT8r0Y7Rct
— Woke Preacher Clips (@WokePreacherTV) July 14, 2026
Related: Progressive Christianity Watch: Full-Contact Baptism Edition
Y’know how leftists like to cry “Christian Nationalism!” when conservatives bring their faith into their politics? How is putting a socialist political rally into your Sunday announcements not Christian nationalism?
A couple of weeks ago, Madison Square Presbyterian Church encouraged congregants to attend a protest hosted by the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) pic.twitter.com/7sC3QkDbSN
— Woke Preacher Clips (@WokePreacherTV) July 16, 2026
Finally, I’ll leave you with this nonsense:
On the Holy Post Podcast, Scott McKnight & Skye Jethanie suggest the Apostle Paul was a 4'6 dwarf who was traumatized and had PTSD, along with being fickle, thin-skinned, sarcastic, angry, self-justifying, unreliable, and defensive man who played favorites. pic.twitter.com/41LzEkgaaT
— Woke Preacher Clips (@WokePreacherTV) July 16, 2026
Progressive Christianity keeps trying to remake the faith in the image of the latest left-wing cause. At PJ Media, we’ll keep calling out the bad theology, political activism, and outright nonsense that too many others are afraid to confront.
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