Welcome to Sugar Creek Theology!

Who thinks the world needs more writing? And if we do, don’t we have a machine for that? And for the Amish-adjacent among us who still bull-headedly insist on reading sentences written by someone, what makes you, Layton, of all people, think you should be the person talking?

I don’t know about that. I suppose all writers have to struggle a tad with a bloated sense of self-importance, just to put themselves out there. But it is what it is, and I am sure you will put me in my place when that is needed.

I do want to say something, and this web-page is a way to talk. I see things that make me glad and make me mad and here I will say them. Mostly, I am now 55-plus and feel the quiet desperation of someone considering that the world might soon not have them in it. I seem to have a lot of theology in me, for good or ill, and I want to get it out before death finally says enough with you. Some of this will be light and folksy, some will be grumpy or earnest. Some will be academic, most will be readable.

I also want to hear you talk. Please respond nicely in the comments under your real name. I will post pieces here about two times, gusting to three times, a month. If you don’t want to miss one, and be caught outside the group who know what Layton just said, you can subscribe. That way you get an email whenever I say something here, which must be tantalizing. If you think of friends who should read this, please forward.

I will say it, what this world needs is more theology: biblical theology, evangelical theology, Anabaptist theology, catholic theology, lived theology, contagious theology, spoken theology. “Theology”, as the Puritan preacher William Ames said, is “the knowledge of how to live in the presence of God.” I hope you find writing and conversation that helps you live in the presence of God.

Welcome to Sugar Creek Theology!