I keep meeting fellow church leaders, artists, and other stakeholders who share a feeling of estrangement from some of the dominant expressions of American Christianity. We feel homeless for a few reasons.
While Evangelicalism is the theological and cultural tradition that formed many of us, and we're grateful for the gifts it gave us, we find its boundaries too narrow for our experience of God and its politics corrupted by an un-Christlike vision.
We believe that every person is made in the image of God, and sometimes naming each person's inherent worth has led to our own loss of belonging.
We want a more just and inclusive expression of faith, but we're also wary of the temptation to simply trade one exclusionary stance for another in the process.
We see the Spirit moving through new ideas and theological and liturgical visions, but we also embrace the depth and breadth of historical faith and worship.
We believe art and beauty are essential for vibrant spiritual community, but have also seen how highly-performative expressions of church can crowd out our authentic humanity.
We believe in the importance of deconstruction, but we also believe in rebuilding faith, and we're excited about inviting others into this way of life following Jesus.
We don't just want to take our cue from national church trends; we take our cue from our local contexts. We believe our churches should look and sound and taste more like the neighborhoods they serve than the latest church trends emerging from high profile places.
And we want faith to be a gateway to the Mystery, rather than a boundary around it.
-- Jason Miller
