Church for ‘nones’: Anti-dogma spiritual collectives emerge across the U.S. - The Washington Post

ATLANTA — Twenty minutes outside downtown Atlanta, Vinings Lake sits by a humming thoroughfare connecting Veterans Memorial Highway to the affluent suburbs north of the city. With its white steeple and brick exterior, it could easily be mistaken for another Southern Baptist church adorning America’s Bible Belt. But facade aside, the community no longer thinks of itself strictly as a church. “We’re an ever-evolving spiritual collective,” the pastor, Cody Deese, said to those gathered in the dimly lit sanctuary on a rainy Sunday in early December. “If you’re a Christian, wonderful. If you’re post-Christian, wonderful.” Vinings Lake is one of a handful of spiritual communities across the United States sprouting from the soil of the exvangelical and deconstruction movements. While their Sunday morning gatherings retain the basic structure of many Christian services — music, teachings, fellowship — these collectives reject dogma, prefer questions over answers and have no intention of conver

ATLANTA — Twenty minutes outside downtown Atlanta, Vinings Lake sits by a humming thoroughfare connecting Veterans Memorial Highway to the affluent suburbs north of the city. With its white steeple and brick exterior, it could easily be mistaken for another Southern Baptist church adorning America’s Bible Belt. But facade aside, the community no longer thinks of itself strictly as a church. “We’re an ever-evolving spiritual collective,” the pastor, Cody Deese, said to those gathered in the dimly lit sanctuary on a rainy Sunday in early December. “If you’re a Christian, wonderful. If you’re pos

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• Adam Cheairs