While I grew up in the South, now I live in Denver, CO, and have off and on for over 20 years. It seems impossible, but many people outside of this region do not know that Colorado Springs, CO, is one of the geographic centers of the American Evangelical Christian movement. The Springs is about 70 miles South of Denver, and we get a lot of its refugees.
I call this specific group of people refugees because many truly are fleeing prosecution and harm. Now illegal statewide, Colorado used to be a popular place to send your gay child to be converted into a straight person. Matthew Shepherd was killed 100 miles north of here 20 years ago for being gay but that kind of physical abuse, while not always fatal, isn’t uncommon. Healing from that kind of deep and systemic trauma can be a long process, not just for individuals and those affected, but for a place itself. So people who can leave, do to seek shelter and safety. And they often come here.
There is still a great deal of hate preached from pulpits all over, but there is less of it here on the Front Range. And it isn’t just the queer community who migrates to Denver, it’s also the deconstructing Evangelicals. These people are often called Exvangelicals.
The Trump election in 2016 was the beginning of a breaking point for many young American Evangelicals. They absolutely could not square the support the church gave to that man with the messages of faithfulness, chastity, and spiritual discipline they were being taught at home and in church.
They had been prepared for spiritual warfare, and found themselves in the middle of it. Temptation to stray, reasons to give into anger, sins of arrogance and sexual perversion -the Trump Presidency held all of it. But none of them had been prepared to stand on the opposite side of that spiritual war from their parents, their pastors, their teachers.
Many walked away from their church communities, and never spoke to their families about it. Not about the politics, not about the not going to church anymore, not about their own sense of loss and confusion.
During the 2020 Presidential election, I worked on a guide to help people -especially young Evangelicals and other religious conservatives- have hard conversations with their families. We met with several of these young people and heard their stories, listened to their thoughts. I was blown away by their gentle spirits, by their deep and functional knowledge of scripture, and by their desire to find a way forward. The people we met with had already found some of this peace. They had already had some of the hard conversations and had been shocked and pleased to discover that many of their family members were having a similar crisis.
I hope that our guide was useful and that difficult conversations were had all over the country. But this experience isn’t yet the norm, the ability to break through entrenchments into underlying concerns. Few have the tools to talk about the loss of faith and surety, the epiphany of hypocrisy, especially when one desires a reconciled relationship.
Again, I have been blessed to have some relationship with those who are finding new ways forward in the unraveling, in the dissolution of their childhood faiths. The movement into spiritual maturity is continually happening, but that growth can hurt. It can feel like a lonely journey, and it will always require facing some things that must change.
But none of those who are unraveling right now are truly alone in that experience. It is individual, to be sure, but it is also collective. It is collective in what is lost to someone -the church groups, the easy conversations, the automatic entry and acceptance. But it is also collective in what is possible for the healing of these losses, for the re-establishment of a spiritual life, for a renewal.
It is generally assumed outside of the Evangelical world that there isn’t much variety within it. And there are absolutely some aspects held in common among Evangelicals everywhere: A literalist interpretation of scripture. A belief in an event they call the Second Coming of Christ. Churches led by men.
When I moved into a more professional stance in the worlds and environmental justice, I cast my net for allies wide, and found a surprising pocket of Evangelicals. I facilitated a panel conversation at a symposium, and one of its members was a national staff person with Young Evangelicals for Climate Action. I was astounded to hear about this group, and its partner organization, The Evangelical Environmental Network.
The movement towards politicizing care for creation is fairly new. Republican Teddy Roosevelt established our National Park System; Nixon established the EPA. As the religious right became more and more politically active and polarized, a dangerous ethic rose up in Evangelical churches. I have heard it said, and I have a deeply disturbing book on my shelves that asserts, that the degradation of the earth is God’s will and will facilitate the second coming of Christ.
But these are Evangelicals who serve as a counter to that perversion (heresy) from within their own ranks. It’s an extraordinary movement of people who have chosen to take their literal interpretation of scripture to mean that God actually intends them to care for and be stewards of Creation. Both groups have chapters around the country and are growing in number.
For those who are fleeing a faith of death and harm, or for whom hypocrisy drove them from their churches but not their love, turning towards Creation may be a real answer. Not only in organizations like EEN or YECA, but in their own life and practice. I said this last week and will say it again. I may say it next week, too. Nature has the capacity to reflect the divine force of the universe back into your soul.
This region gets many people who are seeking a new life, and is home to many for whom faith has unraveled. Perhaps all places host these folks as well. I’m not sure. What I do know is that there are paths forward for those for whom their faith has unraveled.
It’s important to look openly and honestly at what we believe and think, the associations we keep and make, and how these things mark and affect us. And it can be truly scary to do, can trigger bone-deep fear.
I pray that if you are experiencing this, you have resources and help. Reach out to us if you do not. We host a weekly bible study, and all are welcome.
We need not fear the unraveling. It is in truth a necessary process, required for our lives and loves to be ours. May it be so.