Jesus Rode a Dinosaur

Growing up a conservative Southern Baptist, Mike McHargue loved science. He would drive his youth pastor and Sunday School teachers “insane,” he said, with difficult questions in his quest to reconcile his faith with science.

Eventually, his youth pastor handed him a book, said McHargue, whose questions led him to embrace atheism before he returned to a more progressive Christianity.

But what he needed, said McHargue—host of “The Liturgists” and “Ask Science Mike,” podcasts—weren’t necessarily answers but a listening ear and an ability to assume a less defensive crouch: “I needed someone to help me lower my guard.”

Getting comfortable with questions was a theme shared by many speakers at “Jesus Rode a Dinosaur and Other Silly Tales,” a youth ministry conference aimed at talking to teenagers about science held earlier this month at Colonial Church of Edina outside Minneapolis.

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