Conventional is not a word that comes to mind when you meet Nadia Bolz-Weber. The tattooed, ordained Lutheran pastor is an author and founder of House for All Sinners & Saints in Denver. The journey to her calling as a minister was a winding path from youthful rebellion and substance abuse to compassion for those on the fringes of society.

Bolz-Weber says her experience of being bullied and alienated when she was young allows her to minister with compassion.

“Grace, mercy, compassion, and forgiveness…these are the things I’m obsessed with…these are the things that have transformed me,” says Bolz-Weber about the way she sees the world around her.

Bolz-Weber is author of three New York Times bestselling memoirs: “Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint,” “Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People,” and “SHAMELESS: A Sexual Reformation.”

As part of the annual Writer’s Symposium by the Sea, director of Point Loma Nazarene University’s journalism program Dean Nelson has a funny and heartwarmingly candid conversation with Bolz-Weber.

Watch An Evening with Nadia Bolz-Weber – Writer’s Symposium by the Sea 2022.