For me, Progressive Christians are people who emphasize the love of God and the love of neighbor as ourselves, and see the world through that lens. It means fighting to make the world a better place, reaching out to those who are oppressed in any way. Progressive Christians believe that God is in charge and judgement is not our job.  Our job is to reach out, to spread the love of Christ, and provide spaces that make everyone feel included.

What I’ve noticed in my life is that creative people, and justice-seeking people don’t always feel as though they belong.  In fact many have been told they don’t fit in, because of sexuality, gender, race, economic differences and more. What I’ve found in connect.faith is a space that connects people across boundaries, in the very place that they haven’t felt accepted.

In these last few years, I’ve felt the need to continue to push myself to grow to understand what I don’t understand about living life in this world as other than who I am.  Some of that understanding has come from reading books with a connect.faith community that pushes me to think outside my knowledge base – like How to Be an Antiracist,by Ibram X Kendi and Caste by Isabel Wilkerson. And some of my growing understanding about life in this world  has come from listening to voices of people different than me on the connect.faith podcast Generation Hope. I’ve really valued the opportunity to hear stories of young people who’ve been vulnerable enough to share their truths.  You can find that podcast here: https://connect.faith/content/listen/generationhope/

Also – the David LaMotte masterclass in justice videos have informed my journey and given me places to connect in trying to make a difference in our world for justice. There’s a playlist on the connect.faith YouTube channel. https://youtu.be/WUS5WVoP9b8.

In my journey as a Progressive Christian, I’m grateful that connect.faith helps me live out my faith and practice what it means to love God and love my neighbors in an ever-growing way.