In 1973, at the age of 5, I sat on the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s lap and received a “walking mantra.” I was raised spiritual, but not religious. When I was 26, I enrolled in Union Theological Seminary and began to shift my identity from SBNR to Christian. It was a process of becoming.

Having gone through this process, I would like to mine my own journey from SBNR to Christian for insights into how to minister to the SBNR in my community, and how the church can be a safe place for these strangers in a strange land. As the narrative of decline consumes the attention of the North American church, I wish to explore ways to change the dominant story about church, beginning with the church I serve. How can the church adapt so that spiritual seekers feel welcomed to step inside and then stay? By including testimony about faith formation in worship, including my own testimony of how I came to church, as well as the testimonies of lay people and seekers from the community, I will study if and how our local church culture changes and track the presence of seekers in our midst.