He's not literally a man of the cloth, but in the parlance of the initiated, he is a marketplace pastor, one node of a sprawling, vigorous faith-at-work movement.
The church has tried to revive the lost faith through vigorous advocacy.
As the Social Principles of the United Methodist Church state: "In the name of Christ, who came so that persons might know abundant life, we call upon the church to affirm its faith through vigorous efforts to curb and eliminate gun violence".
This is a vigorous attempt to malign my faith...Those are not my words, this is not my voice," he told local media.
Even today, there are vigorous and active communities of faith that speak out publicly to the issues of our time, from #blacklivesmatter to Moral Mondays in North Carolina.
France has formally excluded religion from the public arena, but that has not prevented faith from surviving in vigorous pockets.
Perry, an evangelical Christian and vocal skeptic of the politically charged theories of natural selection, evolution, and climate change, delivered a vigorous address that underscored the primacy of faith and assailed public education.
In a press conference Tuesday, he said the hearings had been an opportunity for the judge "to make a decision that will restore faith in the system that Mr. Syed received a vigorous, complete defense" in 1999.
Although there may be fewer people today than twenty years ago who would put F.S.G. first among American literary publishing houses, Straus's authors have kept faith in him, and in return he is still vigorous in their defense.
Some suggested that vigorous physical exercise might cure men of their yearnings for the family hearth; others put faith in the idea that once they faced battle, men would feel more committed to the cause and less tied to home.
Aides said Mr. Bush's emphasis on using faith-based groups to aid the needy was likely to lead to a vigorous debate over the separation of church and state.
