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This is the third in an occasional series of interviews with respected journalists who write about faith and religion — both for the secular media and the church press.

I’m so excited that the third interviewee is another of the nation’s premier religion writers: Julia Duin of The Washington Times. Read some of her recent stories here.

(Previously interviewed were Bob Smietana of The Tennessean newspaper in Nashville and Ann Rodgers of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Read Bob’s interview here and Ann’s interview here.)

Name: Julia Duin

Bio: Julia is The Washington Times’ religion editor. She has a master’s degree in religion from Trinity School for Ministry (an Episcopal seminary) and has covered the beat for three decades. Before coming to The Washington Times, she worked for five newspapers, including a stint as a religion writer for the Houston Chronicle and a year as city editor at the Daily Times in Farmington, N.M.

She has published five books. One of them, “Quitting Church: Why the Faithful Are Fleeing and What to Do about it,” was reviewed in The Christian Chronicle. She has won many regional and national awards for her writing and has been nominated twice by the Times for a Pulitzer. She has covered events ranging from the election of Pope Benedict XVI in Rome and sex-selective abortions in India to the huge popularity of Christian colleges in the United States and a “new sanctuary” movement in mainline Protestant churches involving aid to illegal immigrants. She has learned seven foreign languages to aid in researching her stories.

BR: Tell me a bit about your personal faith and religious background.

Julia Duin: Grew up Episcopalian but became born again at age 16 through a combination of reading Catherine Marshall’s book “Beyond Ourselves” (which showed me that folks raised in mainline Protestant churches like me still needed to personally accept Christ) and attendance at Young Life, an evangelical club for high schoolers. That decision really did change my life. I segued into the charismatic two years later at the age of 18. Have stayed in the evangelical/charismatic/Episcopal/Anglican grouping ever since although I like attending Assemblies of God churches for their unapologetic theology on the Holy Spirit which they refuse to change even though it’s no longer fashionable.

BR: How does your faith contribute, if at all, to your professional endeavors? Do you consider what you do a ministry? Why or why not?

Julia Duin: “I don’t consider my work as much a ministry as do a lot of people who read my stuff. People keep on telling me how tough it is to find journalists who report on what I do (for instance I do a lot on religious persecution around the world which a lot of reporters ignore) or who have my point of view. For instance, I just came out with what will be the best book I ever write: “Days of Fire and Glory: The Rise and Fall of a Charismatic Community.” It was 20 years in the writing and it took everything I had to write it, i.e., spending four years in true poverty. The people who read it are so surprised to find someone who journalistically assesses the charismatic movement and one of its greatest leaders and accepts the basic idea of it while criticizing some of the corrupt people therein. The fact that I actually believe not only the Nicene Creed but in the spiritual gifts really surprises people who rarely find a reporter who accepts the idea of moral absolutes and the supernatural.”

BR: What would be the headline and lead paragraph on your life story?

Julia Duin: “Hmm..at this point: ‘She finished her race.’ The sub-head would be ‘and it was a tough go.’ Lead paragraph…. ‘When Julia Duin converted to evangelical Christianity in her teens, she thought her life would follow her mother’s template: College, marrying a great guy, a few years of a career, then life as a stay-at-home mom while writing the Great American Novel. Reality was far different. The college part worked out fine but Prince Charming never arrived. A lifelong career as a reporter for five newspapers proved tougher and rockier than she would have liked. She did produce books, but it took much longer to write and sell them than she’d bargained for. She also produced a child — via adoption, that’s true — and what began as a decision criticized widely by her family and friends turned out to be one of the best life choices she ever made.“

BR: How familiar are you with Churches of Christ? What is your perception of this fellowship of 13,000 non-instrumental congregations in the U.S.? What questions do you have about Churches of Christ?

Julia Duin: “I encountered them while in college in Oregon but since then, I never run across a CoC congregation nor do they ever make news. Sorry.”

(Note to Julia: I’d humbly suggest that the 1.6 million adherents of Churches of Christ nationwide do make news, whether or not secular journalists choose to cover it. I will grant that covering Churches of Christ requires a journalist to attempt to understand a fellowship of autonomous congregations with no central denominational headquarters or annual convention to produce ready-made headlines. The Fairfax Church of Christ and the East Capitol Street Church of Christ in the D.C. area are interesting congregations that you might check out sometime. Anyway, my apologies for digressing …)

BR: You have the microphone. What else would you like to say?

Julia Duin: “I’ve had my share of reverses in life and if there’s anything I’d like to pass on, it’s learn how to make your misfortunes work for you. I had a horrible church experience 10 years ago and ended up walking out for about six years. I used all the insights from that unpleasant experience to build the “Quitting Church” book which is the bestselling of all my works so far. I used the misery of singleness as the basis for my first book about sexuality and singleness. If you can make money from your suffering – why not?“

Please leave a comment to thank Julia for her interview and offer any questions or reflections of your own.

— Bobby