Friends,
A few weeks back, I shared that I was working on a series of four pieces for Christians for Social Action, exploring what makes church communities feel safe or unsafe and how churches can do better.
I wanted to know: In a time when lots and lots of churches are wondering things like, Where have the younger generations gone? Why are our numbers shrinking?—Are there better questions we can ask? Questions that might acknowledge more of the reality of what people have gone through and are going through—and our political reality too, and how all this intersects?
I shared more in that initial Substack post about what interested me in the topic. (Spoiler: I spent some time in a church that made a lot of lofty claims about being a “safe place” but ended up feeling like nothing of the sort to me.)
Many of you responded to the questions I was asking in that post, questions about what makes a faith community feel like a safe or unsafe place to you. Which is amazing.
I hope you know I’ve been holding onto and metabolizing all of the thoughts and experiences you shared, whether or not they end up making it into the series with any kind of directness.
Please continue to share, if you like. I think we hold so many of these experiences in common, and it’s always good to be reminded of how very not alone we are.
On that note, I wanted to share that the first piece of the four-part series is now live! It’s called The Invisible Baggage We Bring to Church, and I’d love for you to read it.
It draws on a few interviews I did with some very kind and generous friends who talked to me at length about their experiences in churches and why they left—or in some cases, stayed.
It casually works in some Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) research that I find fascinating and mind-boggling.
It reflects on the different kinds of wounds we carry, and how churches can ask questions that better honor our experiences and who we are—so that churches might have some chance of becoming places of healing and not further harm.
Thanks for reading Growing Into Kinship! This post is public so feel free to share it.
If you get a chance to take a look, I’d love to hear what you think. What does or doesn’t resonate? What would you add?
I hope there are some things to think about that feel fruitful, whether you’re a church leader (like former me), churchgoer (like current me), person who’s left a church or a stream of Christianity (also like me), or something other or in-between.
In this with you.
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