Welcome back to another edition of Progressive Christianity Watch. It’s not often that I get to write something with such a distinctive theme, but our friends at Protestia have shed some light on a bizarre trend among some progressive churches: an obsession with Winnie the Pooh and bringing Pooh into church services.
Don’t get me wrong; I love Winnie the Pooh. He and his mates from the Hundred Acre Wood are classic characters, from A.A. Milne’s original stories to Disney’s movies and shows. But I wouldn’t base a church service around him.
Let’s start at First Presbyterian in Burlingame, Calif. This church did a Pooh-themed service for some reason. In what I assume is the sermon, Rev. Dr. Elizabeth Frykberg (of course, a woman pastor) uses the characters from the Winnie the Pooh stories to say, well, something.
Clutching a stuffed Pooh and sounding an awful lot like Carol Burnett’s old woman character, Frykberg tries to make an analogy between Pooh’s pursuit of hunny — sorry, honey — and believers’ pursuit of God’s love. See if you can make sense of it.
For Pooh, every encounter with the Hundred Acre Wood companions and pathways, there is a promise, and the promise is honey. He might have to meander or get into a balloon in order to find a beehive, but honey is everywhere for those who seek.
Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. How can Pooh do anything but sing? Pooh never doubts, and somehow his honey pot and his insatiable appetite for the golden syrup is always filled.
I wonder, is honey a metaphor for God? For love? For both combined? Pooh reminds us that God’s love, honey, is the only thing that matters.
It gets better, and by better, I mean worse. Here’s what she has to say about Rabbit:
Okay. Rabbit lives by the motto, “We’ve always done it this way.” Ever said that?
Hmm. Rabbit is a little xenophobic too, which means he’s suspicious of strangers or anything that’s unfamiliar. Rabbit’s first response to newcomers is anxiety and mistrust since they could be a threat to our way of life.
At first, Rabbit is clear that the single parent, Kanga, with her little baby, Roo, they need to get out of the Hundred Acre Wood. They don’t belong. But in time, Rabbit sees their beauty.
Oh, bother. You know there’s always got to be a dig at the non-progressives.
I’ve heard elementary school kids make better theological sense. This woman has a doctorate and serves in church leadership, and this is supposed to serve as sound doctrine?
First Presbyterian Church of Burlingame does a ‘Winnie the Pooh’ themed service, where God is the honeypot and His love is the honey. pic.twitter.com/DfetY4RoS9
— Protestia (@Protestia) March 16, 2025
Related: Progressive Christianity Watch: Music (and Rap) Edition
The service ended not with a hymn or worship song, but with a performance of “Forever and Ever,” a song from the 1997 direct-to-video not-classic “Pooh’s Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin.” (Don’t get me started on Michael Eisner’s “cheapquels” and direct-to-video movies.)
“As we close this morning, Christopher Robin and Pooh will help us to understand just how long the forever and ever of our Christian community is,” Frykberg introduces the song. “As you listen, I want you to think of Winnie the Pooh as a metaphor. In that metaphor, Winnie represents believers, you and me. And Christopher Robin, well he’s a lot like Jesus.”
She really said it, y’all. And then two young men came up to sing this musical masterpiece with all the enthusiasm of a 12-year-old whose parents forced him to clean his room.
🎶”Forvever and ever is a very long time, Pooh”🎶
Winnie the Pooh-themed psalms, hymns and spiritual songs from First Presbyterian Church of Burlingame pic.twitter.com/cKJVlGExRU
— Protestia (@Protestia) March 17, 2025
That is something. Even the introverts are like, “Y’all need to perk up, guys.”
Related: ‘Glitter Blessings’ and Women Pastors Who Say ‘Queer’ a Lot
Next, let’s head north of the border to Calgary, Alberta, where the “LGBTQIA2S+ Affirming” Hillhurst United Church features streamers on the sanctuary ceiling in a rainbow pattern. Recently, Rev. John Pentland hosted a Winnie the Pooh-themed enneagram tutorial at Hillhurst. Seriously.
For the uninitiated, proponents of the enneagram bill it as a simple personality test, but it’s based on dangerous occult and New Age teaching. It reminds me a lot of how people put faith in astrology and their birth sign. (Beyond the heretical aspects of it, there’s also a danger that people pigeonhole themselves based on what the enneagram says about them and not what God says about His faithful people.)
The wicked history of the enneagram hasn’t stopped progressive Christians from embracing and promoting it. The radical Fr. Richard Rohr, the pope of progressive Christianity, endorses it heavily, and even some non-progressive megachurches rely on it.
For detailed descriptions of the enneagram and its dangers, watch these two videos from Alisa Childers. But enough background — I’ll let the video speak for itself:
For his sermon, Hillhurst United Church impastor Rev. John Pentland leads his church through a Winnie The Pooh-themed Enneagram tutorial. pic.twitter.com/EkqwBLuiMn
— Protestia (@Protestia) March 15, 2025
And here’s the graphic that accompanies the tutorial:
— Protestia (@Protestia) March 15, 2025
We can make fun of these people a lot, but it’s so sad the level of sinfulness and dangerous wickedness these progressive churches embrace. Let’s pray for repentance.
Last but not least, I’ll leave you with whatever this is:
🎶”I’m trading my sorrows…I’m trading my shame”🎶 pic.twitter.com/kpEPlKMeqm
— Protestia (@Protestia) March 14, 2025
That’s it for today. In the immortal words of the great theologian Tigger, “TTFN: Ta-ta for now.”
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