EDITOR'S NOTE
MAY 8, 2008

A test of faith
While one journalist was clinging to prayer, another felt his belief in God slipping away.

Two summers ago, my husband fell seriously ill. For three days, Art lay unconscious in a hospital bed, and the doctors couldn’t offer any words of encouragement. I reached out to everyone I knew and asked for their prayers. William Lobdell, the subject of our Cover Story, was one of those people. I’d known him for more than a decade – he’d been my boss, my mentor and a friend. He was also a devout Christian, and as a result of covering the religion beat for the Los Angeles Times, he had access to prayer groups all over the country. He asked them to pray for Art (who, by the way, recovered).

I had no idea that while he was emailing those prayer groups on my behalf, the last remnants of his own faith slipped away. I didn’t find that out until July 21, 2007, when the Times ran his very honest account of how the beat had destroyed his belief in a personal God.

The revelation saddened me, but I wasn’t surprised. I’d read just about every piece he’d written – the stories of sexual abuse within the Roman Catholic Church; the deception and scandals that plagued the Trinity Broadcasting Network; the countless victims of both religious powerhouses. How could his faith not have been tested? His coverage revealed the dirty secrets of an industry that appeared untouchable.

His story is compelling – so compelling that HarperCollins is publishing his memoir, “Losing My Religion: How I Lost My Faith While Reporting on Religion in America,” due out in February.

Earlier this spring, as he reached the end of his book leave from the Times (he’s since returned to the newsroom as a staff writer covering a newly created “people” beat), we asked him if he’d sit down with former Executive Editor Craig Reem. The story you see on CLICK HERE is the result of that interview. OCM