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Keith Curran, former pastor of St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Suffolk, has just published a book, “T.U.L.I.P.  A Kinder, Gentler Calvinism for the 21st Century.”

Curran, a retired Presbyterian pastor, moved to New Kent County in March 2020, just as the pandemic hit. After a year in lockdown, he and his wife were finally able to find a local congregation to join. They attended an outdoor Easter Sunrise Service at a nearby Presbyterian church. It turned out the pastor and he attended Princeton Seminary together, and the pastor is the one who encouraged Curran to turn his thoughts into book form. Curran now serves in a volunteer role at the church.

The book is designed to help answer the basic spiritual questions people today may be asking by using a historic teaching tool developed in the time of the Reformation. The author has updated the acrostic to a more welcoming and grace-filled message, more in line with today’s beliefs and emphases in preaching. Curran puts challenging theological issues into an understandable form for everyday readers.

The historic teaching guide known as T.U.L.I.P. guided Presbyterian and Reformed Christians for generations. Answering the challenging faith questions of the 17th Century, the teaching acrostic guided the faithful into the 19th Century. But its emphasis on the limited and negative aspects of Christian beliefs saw it go out of style early in the 20th Century. Yet the biblical truths behind the old teaching guide still provide a basic primer for Christians today. What might a new T.U.L.I.P. look like that makes sense for today’s seekers and churchgoers? Is it possible to find a new way to express the basics of Reformed beliefs that meet the spiritual needs and answers the faith questions that are dominant now? Can a new T.U.L.I.P. bring in a kinder, gentler Calvinism for the 21st Century?

Curran believes it can and offers a timely opportunity to share the good news of faith in an accessible way. These are the five positive affirmations of a new T.U.L.I.P.: Triune Love, Unselfish Election, Limitless Reconciliation, Inspiring Grace, and Passionate, Persistent Saints.

This brief book will introduce the reader to the historic acrostic, T.U.L.I.P., that answered the theological questions of the Reformation era and then offer a kinder, gentler expression of the faith that answers the questions that today’s seeker and churchgoer may be asking.

Curran is serving in a volunteer role as Minister-in-Residence at Fairfield Presbyterian Church in Mechanicsville. His book can be found on Amazon.com or at Parsonsporch.com.