For Skeptics
An Invitation from Pastor Joel Wentz
I love the religious culture in Portland. You read that correctly. I love the secular, post-Christian, skeptical-of-the-institutional-church mindset of our city. A major reason for this affection is because I have found that it creates a context for lively and honest conversations about God, truth and meaning, and these are precisely the conversations and interactions I most long to explore, as a pastor and leader of a church community. In other words, I’m not a pastor because I want to have dry and repetitive interactions in which I stand in a room full of people to simply affirm what we all already believe. Instead, I long for us to be a community that is meaningfully and genuinely engaged with the actual questions of pressing spiritual concern in our city. Questions about justice, beauty, truth and the spiritual dimensions of human flourishing. In my experience, all of us, whether Christian, post-Christian, agnostic or outright skeptical, wrestle with these questions at some point in the journey of life. So why not wrestle with them together?
The problem is that it can be hard to convince skeptics that they truly are welcome in a church, which is why I wanted to write this short invitation. If you are reading it, and you consider yourself skeptical of the claims of Christianity, I hope it convinces you to at least give our community a try.
So here’s my invitation: if you are someone who is deeply skeptical of religious practice, or even the notion of God, but you resonate with the search for spiritual depth and meaning, then I invite you to visit our Sunday gathering, or to simply reach out to meet over a meal or coffee. I’m confident that you will find a community that respects your experiences and views, and welcomes you precisely where you currently are on your spiritual journey.
**Interested in learning more? Check out other short writeups like: What is the Gospel? What to expect on a Sunday morning; Our Purpose and Values; or reach out to admin@mdchurch.org if you want to connect with someone in-person.
An Invitation from Pastor Joel Wentz
I love the religious culture in Portland. You read that correctly. I love the secular, post-Christian, skeptical-of-the-institutional-church mindset of our city. A major reason for this affection is because I have found that it creates a context for lively and honest conversations about God, truth and meaning, and these are precisely the conversations and interactions I most long to explore, as a pastor and leader of a church community. In other words, I’m not a pastor because I want to have dry and repetitive interactions in which I stand in a room full of people to simply affirm what we all already believe. Instead, I long for us to be a community that is meaningfully and genuinely engaged with the actual questions of pressing spiritual concern in our city. Questions about justice, beauty, truth and the spiritual dimensions of human flourishing. In my experience, all of us, whether Christian, post-Christian, agnostic or outright skeptical, wrestle with these questions at some point in the journey of life. So why not wrestle with them together?
The problem is that it can be hard to convince skeptics that they truly are welcome in a church, which is why I wanted to write this short invitation. If you are reading it, and you consider yourself skeptical of the claims of Christianity, I hope it convinces you to at least give our community a try.
So here’s my invitation: if you are someone who is deeply skeptical of religious practice, or even the notion of God, but you resonate with the search for spiritual depth and meaning, then I invite you to visit our Sunday gathering, or to simply reach out to meet over a meal or coffee. I’m confident that you will find a community that respects your experiences and views, and welcomes you precisely where you currently are on your spiritual journey.
**Interested in learning more? Check out other short writeups like: What is the Gospel? What to expect on a Sunday morning; Our Purpose and Values; or reach out to admin@mdchurch.org if you want to connect with someone in-person.