A Lifeline For Rev. Mark Sandlin
Donation protected
Hey this is Charles Toy, co-founder of The Christian Left dot org.
When I purchased The Christian Left domain name and started the social media outlets 5 years ago almost immediately I noticed a dude eagerly participating in most of the social media threads on a daily basis. He always had great insights. Then I noticed he wrote his own blog called “The God Article.” He even wrote a blog entry stating how important he felt “The Christian Left” was. I also discovered he was a graduate of the Wake Forest School of Divinity and an ordained minister.
I couldn’t pass up on that level of enthusiasm so I asked him if he’d like to help me moderate the Facebook page. Without hesitation he accepted. That was one of the best decisions I ever made in the early days. Rev. Mark Sandlin is a full fledged co-founder of The Christian Left because his participation and involvement in this effort have been equal to mine in every way. It’s been a combined endeavor on all levels with Mark and I, Roger Smith (the three co-founders), our admin team, our regular content contributors, and you, our social media community partners. You inspire us every day and much of our content is driven by your input.
If The Christian Left had a Chief Pastor it would be Mark Sandlin. In fact, I’m thinking it’s time we bestow that distinction on Mark. He’s earned it. He deserves it. Done. Chief Pastor of The Christian Left he is, from today forward.
Mark has been a trusted and loyal servant of our community on a daily basis from the beginning. He spends several hours moderating our Facebook page every day, he writes “TCL’s Morning Message” every morning, and he’s been involved in every decision we’ve made every step of the way. For the first couple of years we carried all this out without ever having met in person. Since then I’ve flown to North Carolina twice and spent a week with Mark and his wife each time. Both of our in person meetings were around The Wild Goose Festival, which The Christian Left sponsors each year.
(TCL Co-Founders: Mark Sandlin, Roger Smith & Charles Toy)
I consider Mark one of my closest friends. We have had a wonderful time together doing this thing called The Christian Left.
Of course this isn’t all Mark has been doing over the course of my knowing him. Not even close. Last year his personal blog, The God Article, was named as one of the “Top Ten Christian Blogs.” He also writes for The Huffington Post, Sojourners and has recently had two of his pieces published in TIME magazine online. In 2013, Mark received the “Award of Excellence” from the Associate Church Press. He’s been featured on PBS’s “Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly” and on NPR’s “The Story with Dick Gordon.” Not long ago he was asked to join the team at Patheos Progressive Christian portal so he moved The God Article to their site. Now he blogs with Progressive Christian heavyweights from around the world.
As if all this wasn’t enough Mark has also pastored a Church in Greensboro, NC along the way, a full-time job. That’s where the plot thickens. Some of Mark’s colleagues and members of his congregation haven’t exactly been pleased with Mark’s progressive activities over the years. He’s taken some heat for his involvement with The Christian Left and other projects. His stance has always been, “If I can’t preach and teach what’s in my heart and on my mind then I’m just wasting my time and everyone else’s being a minister, so I’m going with what’s in my heart and on my mind.” Very admirable course of action, and it essentially got him railroaded out of his Church and his job as minister.
There’s just one problem with that, well, maybe several. Ministers don’t get unemployment and Mark has a family, a house, and bills and stuff. He’s been putting in a serious effort to find another job or another Church call but none have come his way yet.
That’s where we come in. Mark has a “virtual congregation” of 183,000+ people from all different walks of life with The Christian Left. He has served us all well for a long time and now he needs our help. Let’s return the favor and give Mark a lifeline while he transitions to the next phase of his growing pastoral footprint.
If you'd like to know more of the back story of The Christian Left check out this Huffington Post article. It made the top of HuffPo Religion's front page.
When I purchased The Christian Left domain name and started the social media outlets 5 years ago almost immediately I noticed a dude eagerly participating in most of the social media threads on a daily basis. He always had great insights. Then I noticed he wrote his own blog called “The God Article.” He even wrote a blog entry stating how important he felt “The Christian Left” was. I also discovered he was a graduate of the Wake Forest School of Divinity and an ordained minister.
I couldn’t pass up on that level of enthusiasm so I asked him if he’d like to help me moderate the Facebook page. Without hesitation he accepted. That was one of the best decisions I ever made in the early days. Rev. Mark Sandlin is a full fledged co-founder of The Christian Left because his participation and involvement in this effort have been equal to mine in every way. It’s been a combined endeavor on all levels with Mark and I, Roger Smith (the three co-founders), our admin team, our regular content contributors, and you, our social media community partners. You inspire us every day and much of our content is driven by your input.
If The Christian Left had a Chief Pastor it would be Mark Sandlin. In fact, I’m thinking it’s time we bestow that distinction on Mark. He’s earned it. He deserves it. Done. Chief Pastor of The Christian Left he is, from today forward.
Mark has been a trusted and loyal servant of our community on a daily basis from the beginning. He spends several hours moderating our Facebook page every day, he writes “TCL’s Morning Message” every morning, and he’s been involved in every decision we’ve made every step of the way. For the first couple of years we carried all this out without ever having met in person. Since then I’ve flown to North Carolina twice and spent a week with Mark and his wife each time. Both of our in person meetings were around The Wild Goose Festival, which The Christian Left sponsors each year.
(TCL Co-Founders: Mark Sandlin, Roger Smith & Charles Toy)
I consider Mark one of my closest friends. We have had a wonderful time together doing this thing called The Christian Left.
Of course this isn’t all Mark has been doing over the course of my knowing him. Not even close. Last year his personal blog, The God Article, was named as one of the “Top Ten Christian Blogs.” He also writes for The Huffington Post, Sojourners and has recently had two of his pieces published in TIME magazine online. In 2013, Mark received the “Award of Excellence” from the Associate Church Press. He’s been featured on PBS’s “Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly” and on NPR’s “The Story with Dick Gordon.” Not long ago he was asked to join the team at Patheos Progressive Christian portal so he moved The God Article to their site. Now he blogs with Progressive Christian heavyweights from around the world.
As if all this wasn’t enough Mark has also pastored a Church in Greensboro, NC along the way, a full-time job. That’s where the plot thickens. Some of Mark’s colleagues and members of his congregation haven’t exactly been pleased with Mark’s progressive activities over the years. He’s taken some heat for his involvement with The Christian Left and other projects. His stance has always been, “If I can’t preach and teach what’s in my heart and on my mind then I’m just wasting my time and everyone else’s being a minister, so I’m going with what’s in my heart and on my mind.” Very admirable course of action, and it essentially got him railroaded out of his Church and his job as minister.
There’s just one problem with that, well, maybe several. Ministers don’t get unemployment and Mark has a family, a house, and bills and stuff. He’s been putting in a serious effort to find another job or another Church call but none have come his way yet.
That’s where we come in. Mark has a “virtual congregation” of 183,000+ people from all different walks of life with The Christian Left. He has served us all well for a long time and now he needs our help. Let’s return the favor and give Mark a lifeline while he transitions to the next phase of his growing pastoral footprint.
If you'd like to know more of the back story of The Christian Left check out this Huffington Post article. It made the top of HuffPo Religion's front page.
Organizer
Charles Toy
Organizer
Hillsboro, OR
Begin your fundraising journey
