When I started this blog, it was simply a way for me to document our journey across America… physically, mentally, and spiritually. Our family had endured more than our fair share of spiritual abuse and, honestly, I wanted to embark on a personal journey to see if the things we were being told about our faith tradition were real… and a lot of it wasn’t.
But… SOME of it was.
I’ll always remember the shocking words shared with me the eve of our departure from Maine in 2019. Lois, the matriarch of our church community in Portland, pressed a check into my hands and said,
“Many people in this church want you to fail because if you succeed it will cause them to question everything they believe to be true about Christianity.”
Looking back on that conversation, I’m not sure which is more jolting… people in our church openly voicing a hope in our failure, or the possibility that our families’ willingness to embark on a faith-filled journey would cause others to question their beliefs.
Needless to say, our journey wasn’t a failure. Far from it. But, five years later, we find ourselves in a somewhat similar situation. I won’t unpack all of it here, because my weekly posts over the next year will dive a lot deeper into the “whys” but for now I will layout some of the topics I plan to push into: politics, community unity, self-segregation, women in leadership, and spiritual reductionism (emphasizing spiritual solutions while minimizing, or ignoring, psychology and science).
The “rules” are simply a guidepost I’m planning to stick to as much as possible:
- Attend a different church every weekend, for the next year, with a friend or acquaintance
- Share a meal and/or conversation after church
- Let the conversation unfold from the sermon, but always focus on two important elements: how do we ECUMENICALLY work together to help the most marginalized in our community and what does John 17:20-23 really mean to them.
With regard to #3, I think it’s only fair to share my thoughts:
In these verses, Jesus is NOT calling for uniformity, where everyone is exactly the same in thought, action, or belief. Instead, He is calling for unity, a oneness that mirrors the relationship between Jesus and the Father. This unity is characterized by love, mutual respect, and shared purpose, despite differences. The focus is on being united in spirit and purpose rather than conforming to a single way of thinking or acting.
I’m excited about this year… and also terrified. But that’s how I felt five years ago and it was one of the best decisions of my life.
Searching for Jesus in A̶m̶e̶r̶i̶c̶a̶ Chattanooga 