Announcing The Center For the Study of Evangelicalism

When Melanie and I created The Sophia Society in March 2020, we were oblivious to the fact we were on the leading edge of a cultural movement. Fast forward four years, and a lot has changed. The faith deconstruction community is suddenly enormous. Millions of us are migrating away from purity culture, patriarchy, partisan politics, and religious fundamentalism in search of something deeply transformative.

Many of you might also know I work for The University of Colorado Colorado Springs. I enjoy it, but my genuine passion is creating spiritual conversations at Holy Heretics. In a strange twist of fate, those two worlds just collided. The conversations Melanie and I started in my basement are now taking place in the ivory towers of academia!

The University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS) recently announced the creation of The Center For the Study of Evangelicalism. The Center is the first of its kind in the world and will act as a think-tank to research and explore the cultural, political, religious, and social impact of evangelicalism. “Given the large role that evangelicals have played in the national and local body politic over the last several decades, along with the deep political divisions that we are currently witnessing in the U.S., a Center that can serve as a hub for scholars and community leaders to examine evangelicalism from varied angles is desperately needed,” notes Center Director Dr. Jeff Scholes.

Created from a generous gift by the Henry Luce Foundation, The Center plans to create a feature documentary film, academic lectures, community roundtable conversations, and research projects for both undergraduate and graduate students.

After laboring in the deconstruction community for over four years, it’s been invigorating to join forces with our faculty, research assistants, and graduate students who are actively analyzing white evangelicalism from a scholarly perspective. What better place to do so than here in Colorado Springs!

Once known as the “Evangelical Vatican,” the Springs is a haven for beautiful scenery and repressive ideologies. Colorado Springs came of age as a conservative bastion during the 1990s. Not only does the city boast six major military instillations, but a high percentage of the population work at evangelical organizations like Focus on the Family, Compassion International, Young Life, the Navigators, and Biblica. In fact, there are over 630 Christian organizations in Colorado Springs generating more than two billion dollars of local economic activity.

The Center for the Study of Evangelicalism opened last night to a sold-out crowd at UCCS. Over 650 Colorado Springs citizens turned out to hear Tim Alberta share a lecture titled, “Evangelicalism, Politics, and the Future.” Alberta, a staff writer at The Atlantic magazine and formerly chief political correspondent for Politico, is the son of an evangelical pastor. He wrote the book, The Kingdom, the Power and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism, which published in 2023.

Last night felt like validation, a coming out party for the faith deconstruction movement. In a way, the Center legitimizes all the work, all the questions, and all the spiritual seeking we’ve done over the last several years. We are not alone. Our voices are being heard. Things are changing. Author Phyllis Tickle was right. Every five hundred years or so Christianity experiences a reformation, or what she called a sort of “giant rummage sale” when Jesus followers look around at all the accumulated dogma, the cluttered theology, the worn-out beliefs, and decide what is worth keeping and what needs to be thrown out to make room for something new. 

It happened 500 years ago when Martin Luther nailed his “95 Theses” to the Wittenberg door. Half a millennium before him, another reformation split the Church into Eastern and Western branches. Like clockwork, 500 years before the Great Schism witnessed the decline of Roman imperial Christianity and the rise of monasticism.

Today, millions of us are looking around at the spiritual house we grew up in and realizing just how much useless, toxic, and harmful junk we have accumulated over the years. Contrary to what evangelicals might tell you, deconstruction isn’t a progressive fad created by liberal Christians, it’s the ancient and cyclical tradition of cleaning your spiritual house, of refusing the temptation toward spiritual stagnation and religious hoarding.

As we move into the scholarly and legitimizing phase of the faith deconstruction movement, what do you hope the Center For the Study of Evangelicalism will accomplish? How might you add your voice to the conversation? If you are interested in learning more about the Center, let me know as we welcome scholarly endeavors in conversation with diverse communities that open doors for reflection, collaboration, and inquiry into the question of evangelicalism.

Gary Alan Taylor

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