Free to be Faithful

This weekend...join us

It started simply enough. With so much division, with Christianity being wielded as a weapon, churches becoming places of exclusion rather than invitation, denominations splintering, and people being pushed out, silenced, bullied…we started thinking:

What if we decided to come together?

What if we gather those in who are being pushed out? What if we remember that we’re not alone and borrow courage from one another? What if we stop looking over our shoulders, set aside defensiveness, cynicism, fear, resentment, and lean into the things we hold to be true? Without apology. With confidence. With…joy.

Maybe we could meet up at a pub, we thought at first. Something not super churchy. But maybe it would be too loud. Plus, what if more than a couple dozen people show up?

A church it is, then.

Word spread. Five hundred, then a thousand, then more than two-thousand registrants—all coming together for…what, exactly? To think together about what it means to be free to be faithful. To find fellow travelers—to remind ourselves who we are, to know we’re not alone.

This is what we’ll be up to this Saturday, 7pm ET.

We hope this will be the first of many gatherings—in-person and online. Who are “we”? The leadership team at the Institute for Christian Studies, the Reformed Journal, Nick Wolterstorff, myself, and anyone who would like to join us going forward.

Spending time in Nick Wolterstorff’s beautiful home, with special thanks to Jeff Munroe for capturing the photo.

Earlier this week, Nick and I got together to talk things through, and while I don’t know exactly what will come out of our mouths on Saturday, I can attest that multiple times over the course of the hour I wished I was recording the brilliance and beauty of Nick’s words. We’ll be talking about our own faith formation and about our involvement with Reformed Journal and the ICS, but most importantly, about what we think is possible now, in this fractured moment. What we as people of faith can do together.

And then, the folks at ICS will share some of the opportunities we already have in planning stages to carry this conversation forward. We have bigger plans, too—but only partial plans. That’s where you come in. We’re going to be taking suggestions from everyone in attendance, whether remotely or in-person, listening to your ideas about what you would like to be a part of.

If you can’t make the meeting or the livestream, register anyway so you’ll be on the list for future updates. (Spoiler: one of the first things we have planned is a Summer Read—hosted by me and a super smart friend of mine, on one of the most important books of the moment…)

What do you need to do to join us?

The in-person registration is closed due to capacity. (If you’re coming to the in-person event, please consider carpooling and check the parking instructions sent via email—if you are able, consider parking a few blocks away and enjoying a nice evening stroll to allow closer access for those less able to do so.)

But our livestream registration is still open! If you’re joining online, we’d LOVE for you to gather a group of friends—friends from church, friends who may have left church, friends who’d rather be at a pub than church, or any other kindred spirits you can find—and host a watch party. With drinks. And food. If you want, post pictures on your favorite platform and tag us at #F2BF. (That’s the best way to find future kindred spirits.)

We’ve already heard that many of you have plans for just this. We’ve heard from churches hosting their own watch parties, friends inviting neighbors, families gathering together.

Our goal here is to build something bigger, a way for people to find each other locally and then connect up with others beyond our local circles, and across borders.

There are so many reasons to feel disconnected and isolated these days, but we also have within our power the ability to find each other and hold together in the days ahead.

As someone who has traveled widely these last few years, I know that there are so many of us—scattered across red states and blue states, the US and Canada, and beyond.

But something else I’ve noticed is that many of our institutions don’t seem particularly interested in taking the lead. No one is coming to save us, apparently. The good news is, history teaches us that just a small number of devoted people can effect enormous change. Especially when they are united in a common moral purpose, and strengthened by the bonds of community: a beloved community.

Many in attendance and joining online will be people of faith—Christians in particular—but that’s not a requirement for joining us. To borrow a phrase from my Catholic friends, we’re inviting all believers and all people of good will. We’d love to have you with us and will benefit from your presence.

Also, we think it’s going to be fun.

Where will this go? Join us to find out. We’ll share some first steps we have planned, and exciting partners contributing to initial stages, but we also have ambitious dreams for what this could be.

So…text a friend or two. Mix some drinks, throw together some appetizers or desserts, and settle in for a conversation—or rather, for the start of a conversation.

We’d love to see you there.