The Beaty Beat Begins

A guide map for detoxing the American church + rants, recs, and bits of lady wisdom.

Welcome!

Welcome to the Beaty Beat - a newsletter where the aforementioned Beaty (pronounced BAY-ty) reflects on news and trends in the American church, plus pass along the occasional book review, movie recommendation, podcast episode, and bits of lady wisdom.

If you’ve read my writing over the years — either my bylines at various magazines and news outlets, or my two books — you know I write about the church because I love it. While many people identify as “spiritual but not religious,” I sometimes quip that I’m religious but not spiritual. I believe the church is the manifestation of God’s good news to a watching world. Participation in a local church has always been important to me, and I’m grateful to have found a congregation in New York that is historically rooted, liturgically rich, and personally nourishing.

And also, the capital-C Church has really broken my heart in recent years. Abuse of women and children and institutional coverup thereof; bullying leaders who evade accountab…