Last August I became a board member for "The Church Lab" (TCL). The mission of this organization is to "explore innovative paths of spiritual growth for all, discovering the Church's future, and the future of faith practice". 

As an exvangelical, finding my way back to my faith practice has been a challenge to say the least. My relationship with God was shaped as a kid in Presbyterian, Baptist, and Non-Denominational Bible Churches. I was taught that if you don't believe exactly what I believe, and if your faith practice isn't exactly the same as mine, then your faith tradition is wrong, mine is right, and therefore I am going to heaven and you are going to hell. I brought this mentality into my relationships, my workplace, my social groups, and held onto this certainty of truth with an iron fist - a fist which could be used as a weapon, as so often religion is.

One day, I was invited by my sister to attend something called "interfaith dialogue". This small group was a group of ladies who identified as a non-practicing Muslim, a practicing Muslim, a pair of conservative evangelical Christians (me and my sister), a Latter-day Saint, and Pastor Carrie, who eventually founded TCL a few years later. In dialogue, I first encountered the idea to "seek to understand before being understood". This simple phrase transformed what I understood of conversation, conflict, difference, and otherness. Dialogue helped me shed the "me vs. them" mentality and taught me the sacredness of humanity in all faith and non-faith traditions - something that church failed to do. I fully believe I am a better human being for the ways The Church Lab, and dialogue, have shaped my life.

TCL is a sanctuary for the religious and non-religious alike, for folks who have left church and for folks finding their way back, for those finding themselves disenchanted with religious institutions and for those whose bedrock is spiritual practice. In short, it's a space for everyone, and that is sacred indeed.

I've been a part of interfaith dialogue and activities since the late 1990s, but so often they were ad-hoc conversations, panel discussions, or ceremonies and vigils that offered the opportunity for fellowship and networking, but didn't focus on growth and spiritual development.  This is not to say that they were not valuable, but they frequently focused on commonalities and solidarity rather than offering the chance to deeply and, perhaps, critically explore both our own faiths (or lack thereof) and that of others.

Growing up Jewish and, later, finding my way into the modern Pagan community, almost everything I have ever done is interfaith.  Even my family was interfaith, with both Christian and Jewish relatives.  I grew up knowing that it was possible to form strong bonds between people of different faiths.

The Church Lab has made it clear to me that these bonds can form without familial relationships to guide them.  For ten years now, I've been in dialogue with members of various faith communities, with the spiritual but not religious, with those questioning their spiritual direction, and with atheists and agnostics.  These efforts have helped to hone my own understanding of my Pagan faith even as it has challenged me to understand the guiding philosophical and spiritual lights that shine for others.  

Three years ago, I was honored to be invited to join the TCL board as its first non-Christian member.  Since then, I have continued to be a part of the dialogue and done what I can to both assist in TCL's operation and to celebrate our successes.  As I begin my second term on the board in August 2025, I look forward to continuing to do so.

Even as I continue interfaith networking and solidarity efforts, TCL offers me a way to accompany them that explores spiritual growth and helps me to discover the future of my faith practices.  They work hand-in-hand to make me a better leader, a better companion, and a better person.