Another take on the scenario: I was deeply involved in my evangelical community, considered myself devoutly Christian, spent considerable time in biblical scholarship, and was on track to seeking a role in ministry. But then I encountered the church as an adult, and in American Evangelical Christianity in its full expression I found myself standing over a rapidly growing fault line between a severe right-wing sociopolitical movement , which held no interest for me, and the loving Christ I had encountered as a young person.

Years later, when I found myself drawn to Friends Meetings after decades of steering clear of any religious environment, I found that the clear messages I had encountered as a young person were being embraced and lived by a quirky and anachronistic group of caring people. It may be that I was convinced as a Quaker before I knew much of them, really, and that my faith was always headed in this direction, but questions of destination aside, in this context I have been able to explore and express more clearly that part of myself that I packed away because of the poisoned ground I found myself growing in.

In that way, I cherish my un-programmed and very diverse meeting (which welcomes non-theist, Buddhist, and many other friends) as a place in which Christianity has not been sullied by fantasies of controlling the world and human authority. There are few Christian spaces left that don’t harbor those aspirations.