Clay Farrington
Hi friends, I’m Clay. Forty-something. Married. Three kids. They’re awesome.
I grew up United Methodist: the church folks who baptize babies and don’t hide their beer in the grocery cart under a loaf of bread. My grandmother was Episcopalian. My granddaddy’s sanctuary of choice was a fishing pond.
I went to elementary school on the northwest side of Chicago and graduated high school in small town Alabama, which means until over a decade into the 21st Century I’d never seen any of my teams win a championship. Go Cubbies. War Eagle.
I made it through six years of youth group, four years of seminary and over a decade of ministry before reading the Bible all the way through. Every time I tried I hit a Leviticus-sized wall. Funny thing… reading scripture cover-to-cover changed what I think about God. Turns out less than half of the Bible is read on Sunday mornings. And *pause for dramatic effect* that well-worn half doesn’t tell the whole story.
I launched @ArmchairTheo in 2012 because I thought it’d be cool to have an anonymous account to make sarcastic comments about scripture that wouldn’t get me fired from my church job. Since then we’ve written amateur commentary on every chapter of the Bible twice over, done a lot of growing up and had a ton of fun in the process. Thanks for joining us.
Ross Furio
Hey team, I’m Ross. Twenty something Married. One kid.
My grandfather was a United Methodist pastor, so to say I didn’t have a choice in the matter is an understatement. Luckily, I think us Methodists come pretty close to getting it right, not to mention our love for Hawaiian bread.
I grew up in Birmingham, went to college in Birmingham, and finally ventured away from the Steel City for seminary where I spent 3 years in Dallas. Living in Dallas turned me into a wannabe Cowboys fan, an amateur yogi, and solidified the fact that the Birmingham Barons are the best minor league team around. Go Barons.
Like most pastors, my youth was spent at church, going on mission trips, beach retreats, and caring way too much about fast pitch whiffle ball tournaments. If you know you know. Despite growing up in church, reading the Bible cover to cover in college changed my life, and if anything, taught me that I know way less than I thought I did. It sparked a fire within me to never stop reading, asking questions, or wrestling with Scripture.
Clay started @ArmchairTheo without me in 2012, which was a big mistake. Fortunately, now he has my guidance and good looks as we take on the big book one chapter at a time.