Betsy Shirley is the editor of sojo.net. She rejoined the editorial staff of Sojourners in 2015 after previously serving as an editorial assistant from 2010-2011. She holds a M.Div. from Yale Divinity School and a B.A. in English from Butler University.
Betsy’s articles and essays have appeared in America magazine, Religion Dispatches, Religion & Politics, OnFaith, Reflections, UTNE Reader, and of course, Sojourners. She is a board member of the Religion News Foundation and the Religion News Association. She is a 2015-2016 recipient of the Handa Fellowship in Interreligious Communication.
Betsy began writing narrative nonfiction at the age of 6, though she now writes less stories about cats than she did back then. These days she prefers to focus on stories that delve into the complexity of contemporary religion — faith, doubt, scandal, schism — and the ongoing tension of believing in an unseen reality while living in this one. She’s especially interested in stories about gender, sexuality, evangelical history, and interfaith collaboration.
When she’s not cooking up story ideas for an award-winning publication of faith and social justice, Betsy enjoys walking tours, refinishing furniture, and sitting around campfires.
Posts By This Author
Sherlock's Best Sermon: What Our Editors Are Reading
A statue of Sherlock Holmes in London on Oct. 18, 2012. Photo: sergomezlo / Shutterstock.com
One of the best things I ever found at Goodwill was a complete set of all Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories — a major coup for middle-school, mystery-loving me. Unfortunately, the books smelled as if they had spent a few decades in the smoke-infused den of Holmes’ Baker Street lodgings. I sandwiched dryer sheets between the pages and read them all cover-to-cover.
Utopias Fail, Forks Endure: What Our Editors Are Reading
The Oneida Community. "Oneida Community, 'raking bee'" by Walter Parenteau is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
I often think about utopias as I unload the dishwasher.
In Case of Emergency: What Our Editors Are Reading
How we respond to an emergency says a lot about who we are. This week, faith-based groups started organizing for disaster relief before Hurricane Ida even made landfall, while health clinics in Texas did their best to help everyone they could before a new law imposed a state-wide ban on abortions.
In Praise of Unfancy Things: What Our Editors Are Reading
The Wonder Bread balloon and several other hot air balloons raising up into a cloudy morning sky at the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, New Mexico on October 8, 2014. Tami Freed / Shutterstock.com
Lately I’ve spent a lot of time appreciating unfancy things: Stretchy pants. Popcorn. Picnics. Walks. Very Important Work Calls instantly derailed by a pet cameo.
Juicy Confessions: What Our Editors Are Reading
In his spiritual memoir, Confessions, St. Augustine spends the better part of a chapter recounting how, as a teenager, he and his buddies once “filched immense loads” of pears from a neighbor’s tree. This and other confessions drew our attention this week.
Bitter and Beloved: What Our Editors Are Reading
We work hard for diplomas and degrees, and yet as Jes Kast reminds college graduates, no title is more important — or utterly unearned — than being beloved.
Thou Really Shalt Not: What Our Editors Are Reading
The stories I read this week on the internet reminded me of the Ten Commandments, so please indulge this loose paraphrase of Exodus 20.
A Week of Villainy: What Our Editors Are Reading
iku4 / Shutterstock.com
In Shakespeare's plays as in real life: When evil makes itself known, pay attention.
A Year of Imaginative Thinking: What Our Editors Are Reading
A year ago, I thought it’d be a stretch to get most folks to take abolition seriously. Then the pandemic hit.
It's All Impossible: What Our Editors Are Reading
Stories for all of us who’ve had the courage to admit that nope, we’re not okay, and this is hard.
Our Collective Chess Match: What Our Editors Are Reading
Stories about folks responding creatively to whatever is trapping them.
The Crack In Everything: What Our Editors Are Reading
Healing and repair must start with holding the damage, not hiding it.
Old Sins, New Apocalypse: What Our Editors Are Reading
"Free stuff pile or post-Rapture?" by quinn.anya / CC BY-SA 2.0
It was unclear to me why Jesus took the bodies but left the clothes, but as a middle schooler, the prospect of meeting my Lord and savior buck naked was horrifying.
Who Feels at Home in America? What Our Editors Are Reading
Pro-Trump protesters storm into the U.S. Capitol during clashes with police. January 6, 2021. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo
An attempted coup, theological reflections, and how the internet's algorithms help radicalize young Americans.
Don’t Read This If You’re Baking Cookies: What Our Editors Are Reading
Web traffic slumps in mid-December, that’s just the way the internet works. And we — the people who make the internet, or at least, Sojourners’ humble corner of it — never much mind because we assume it means you are busy doing wholesome things like baking cookies, building snowfolk, or calling your elected officials to voice your support for the newest bipartisan COVID-19 relief bill.
Unbelievable: What Our Editors Are Reading
The Macy's "Believe" sign on the side of the 34th Street Herald Square flagship store. DW labs Incorporated / Shutterstock.com
Believe it or not, here we are. In the 10 stories below, you’ll see people wrestling with — and sometimes accepting — all the changes life throws our way.
Shared Anger, Shared Values: What Our Editors Are Reading
The CDC urges Americans to avoid Thanksgiving travel, delayed election certification, tips for countering misinformation, and other stories our editors are reading.
Time for New Traditions: What Our Editors Are Reading
New rituals to bury our dead, how political candidates engage with religious voters, our tendency to doomscroll, and other stories are editors are reading this week.
It's Spooky Season: What Our Editors Are Reading
Halloween decorations and support for President Donald Trump in Warren, Ohio. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
Techno-authoritarianism, Christian nationalism, election fairness, and other stories about things we fear and how to get us all through safely.
Flying in the Face of Injustice: What Our Editors Are Reading
Vice President Mike Pence speaks during the vice presidential campaign debate on October 7, 2020. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson
This week’s picks from our editors include a little bit of humor (a new film that satirizes evangelical media? Yes please!) and stories to remind us of our collective power to overcome the forces of evil and enemies of justice that are so readily on display.