(RNS) — Tunja L. Morton, 54, couldn’t put a finger on what it was she was looking for when she tore up the picture of Christianity she had been raised in in the South.

While she still identifies as Christian, the Mississippi-based self-care coach knew she wanted “religion” and “church” to look different for her two daughters, now 18 and 22. She wanted to model what that might look like for them.

Two decades later, Morton said, she’s finally found language to express what it is she’s been seeking in The Nearness, an online community that aims to foster connections among the growing population of spiritual but not religious.

“In hindsight, what The Nearness has taught me up until this point is, first of all, everybody needs a space that is welcoming, affirming, honest, real and filled with compassion, and that was the opposite of my church experience,” she said.

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The Nearness, launched last fall by Casper ter Kuile and Alec Gewirtz, aims to bring together people of all religious and nonreligious backgrounds as they nurture and define what spirituality looks like for themselves outside of traditional religious institutions.

It offers eight-week courses that bring together small groups of five to six people for weekly online discussions around themes like “Letting Go,” creating community for those finding meaning outside of a church, synagogue or other house of worship. That can be a lonely pursuit, its website notes — a podcast here, a spiritual self-help book there.

There is guidance from spiritual teachers of various traditions as well as prompts for reflecting, asking questions, finding connection and experimenting with new practices and rituals.

“One of the things that really strikes me is that we’re all drowning in content, but what we need are containers for connection,” said ter Kuile, a Harvard Divinity School researcher who has written about ritual and explored spiritual practices as co-host of the podcast “Harry Potter and the Sacred Text.”

The idea for The Nearness grew out of conversations ter Kuile had with Gewirtz, who first reached out to ter Kuile when Gewirtz was studying and building nonreligious community at Princeton University. They thought at first about creating a magazine before realizing people were hungry for connection more than the content.

They started piloting what would become The Nearness last spring.

Its third round of courses, also called “journeys,” began this week. About 250 people have signed up, ter Kuile said, coming to the community from more than 37 states, 15 countries and a mix of religious backgrounds.

“What’s fascinating is that we thought we would be designing for people who are kind of spiritual but not religious, and it was surprising to us the number of people who have shown up who are still affiliated, but not connected to a congregation,” he said.

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Ter Kuile points to the data: Participation in institutional religion is declining, the number of friendships people have is declining, feelings of disconnection and isolation are increasing. At the same time, ways to connect online exploded as people sheltered at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It felt like kind of the needs of the world and then these new tools illustrated a path forward,” he said.

While many people may have left traditional worship spaces, their desire for connection — with themselves, with each other, with a sense of something bigger — continues, he said.

That’s “all the good stuff,” he said. It’s the way people make meaning out of the joy and suffering they experience.

Rituals help, too, by marking transitions or helping people notice what’s important to them. Ritual is integrated into The Nearness courses, with each small group meeting following a kind of liturgy of its own that involves lighting a candle and reading a community covenant before diving into discussion.

“Though we travel different paths, may we find comfort and hope in the gift of each other’s company,” the covenant reads in part.

Cari Meffle loves the ritual of lighting a candle together at the beginning of each meeting. It “feels really sacred,” she said.

The 36-year-old flutist, who lives in Virginia, has been part of The Nearness since its pilot.

Meffle grew up Baptist and now works part time as a youth minister in a small Disciples of Christ church. You could call her an exvangelical, she said, but she’s most comfortable referring to her “heritage of Christianity.”

All of that fits into The Nearness, she said, whereas she never was comfortable with the certainty of the tradition she grew up in or worries she might overintellectualize small groups at her church now.

“It’s what was missing for me, so I hope other people can find what they were missing there as well,” Meffle said. “But I also love that what I’m missing isn’t the same as what someone else might be missing.”

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END RNS ARTICLE

CRITIQUE POINTS:

The following words in black were copied and pasted from the RNS article on The Nearness; words in red print are my critiques:

• “The Nearness is an online community where people of all religious and nonreligious backgrounds can nurture and define what spirituality looks like for them outside of traditional religious institutions.”
• Mat 15:8  “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 9  in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’” [also, see, CATEGORIES, MISSION STATEMENT for more words from Jesus on these matters, emphasizing that scripture is truth, not the words and ways of men]
• “(RNS) — Tunja L. Morton, 54, couldn’t put a finger on what it was she was looking for when she tore up the picture of Christianity she had been raised in in the South.” … “Two decades later, Morton said, she’s finally found language to express what it is she’s been seeking in The Nearness, an online community that aims to foster connections among the growing population of spiritual but not religious.”
• If you consider yourself ‘spiritual but not religious,’ then you are on dangerous ground. The first video in part 2 of this 2-part series, a video short of a MacArthur sermon, explains the difference between religion and biblical Christianity; in the process, MacArthur clarifies why it is that most people seek out a religion [That video is the second one in this older post from last week, for those who would like to hear it now:  https://sheeplywolves.com/john-macarthur-god-centered-vs-man-centered-faith/    ]
• …” “In hindsight, what The Nearness has taught me up until this point is, first of all, everybody needs a space that is welcoming, affirming, honest, real and filled with compassion, and that was the opposite of my church experience,” she said.”
• I agree with that statement for the most part. And I have experienced that church congregations can be very hurtful: gossip, slander, jealousy; people involved in immoral behavior; and various secret sins and addictions…. People therein are in transition; and many Christians, it seems, do not understand that the Holy Spirit begins to work spiritual poverty into the lives of those who are truly converted. Those who go around criticizing and looking down their noses at others are not born again, or they are at the very beginning of their walks as Christians. The Christian life of self-denial and fighting sin is very difficult and everyone is at a different place in their pilgrimage; so, emptiness is part of the experience of those who are withdrawing from addictions and other, worldly problematic / unchristian ways of living…. Check Psalm 73 for another related problem Christian face that causes similar thoughts and feelings
• The Nearness, launched last fall by Casper ter Kuile and Alec Gewirtz, aims to bring together people of all religious and nonreligious backgrounds as they nurture and define what spirituality looks like for themselves outside of traditional religious institutions.
• Think of Matthew 15:9 above; or think of MacArthur’s video short on the difference between religion and biblical Christianity
• It offers eight-week courses that bring together small groups of five to six people for weekly online discussions around themes like “Letting Go,” creating community for those finding meaning outside of a church, synagogue or other house of worship.
• MacArthur’s video short, the first video of part two in this series, explains very succinctly, how it is that humans seek meaning and spirituality; also good feelings about themselves… [will be posted next, early tomorrow]
• There is guidance from spiritual teachers of various traditions as well as prompts for reflecting, asking questions, finding connection and experimenting with new practices and rituals.
• MacArthur’s video short is again, the simplest answer to the above statement; spiritual teachers, teaching ‘new practices’ is forbidden in the Bible; also, the Bible calls the above, syncretism, the blending of various spiritual traditions in an effort to worship God, He is angered at such systems and judges them
• “One of the things that really strikes me is that we’re all drowning in content, but what we need are containers for connection,” said ter Kuile, a Harvard Divinity School researcher who has written about ritual and explored spiritual practices as co-host of the podcast “Harry Potter and the Sacred Text.”
• The Harry Potter books were ‘channeled’ by J K Rowling, that is an occult process wherein a medium receives understanding from demons and writes it down on paper. Doreen Virtue, former New Ager, converted to Christianity, has videos on Harry Potter, at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/@Doreen_Virtue/search?query=harry%20potter
• At that link, other Christians are interviewed by Doreen Virtue, so there is much on this topic: what I am saying, is that to follow such teachers is to invite evil into your spiritual life, certain doom if God the Holy Spirit does not intervene on your behalf
• The idea for The Nearness grew out of conversations ter Kuile had with Gewirtz, who first reached out to ter Kuile when Gewirtz was studying and building nonreligious community at Princeton University. They thought at first about creating a magazine before realizing people were hungry for connection more than the content.
• It is a notorious strategy of many false Christian teachers these days to focus on feelings, experiences… to draw near to God. The first and fourth videos of part 2 address the errors of this avenue of false, but very popular, ‘worship’
• About 250 people have signed up, ter Kuile said, coming to the community from more than 37 states, 15 countries and a mix of religious backgrounds.
• Being popular is almost a certain guarantee that it is false; for example, note the stadiums of people that come to hear Joel Osteen and Benny Hinn; these men are false teachers that claim the name of Christ but teach heresy. The Bible states that everyone loved the false prophets because they told the people what the people wanted to hear. God’s truth rebukes the followers of Christ and chastens them in the process of making them righteous: see Hebrews 12. The beatitudes, spoken by Christ about His true kingdom citizens, begins with spiritual poverty and mourning for sin; those are painful experiences wherein one realizes that he / she is void of spiritual merit and must have a righteousness not his / her own, only found in Christ, to be acceptable by God the Father
• number of people who have shown up who are still affiliated, but not connected to a congregation,” he said.
• Just because these people err, should you? Your soul is at stake; should you elevate your feelings, comfort, social acceptance above the value of your eternal soul?
• Ter Kuile points to the data: Participation in institutional religion is declining, the number of friendships people have is declining, feelings of disconnection and isolation are increasing. At the same time, ways to connect online exploded as people sheltered at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The above answer applies to this point also
• While many people may have left traditional worship spaces, their desire for connection — with themselves, with each other, with a sense of something bigger — continues, he said.
• They do not ask participants to believe in any dogma; but they welcome difference
• The Bible stipulates who God is, how He is to be worshiped and states that He will build His church – He appoints teachers preachers… to teach His truth, only found in His word; a person can believe any old thing he or she wants to believe about spiritual things, to what end? If the end goal is heaven, then the only way to that goal is to submit to the authority of Christ and be conformed to His image by His Spirit
• 3 principles: One: There is something larger than us that we encounter in experiences of wonder, resilience and love
• Spiritual encounters are also had by wiccans, mystics, prosperity preachers and congregants… but to be sure a spiritual encounter is from God’s Spirit, one must read His word and know what to expect. The Holy Spirit teaches and rebukes… via the Holy Scriptures. See CATEGORIES, Christian Yoga / Holy Yoga… for information of how people use yogic meditation to encounter their ‘higher spirit’ which many wrongly consider to be the God of the Bible. Therein, scripture references are used to explain such demonic encounters
• Two: this mystery calls on us to love others, ourselves and the world around us
• The human concept of love is very different from love as defined by the Bible; see Categories, Bible Key Word Study, for a post on biblical love by Dr. Duane Spencer. Biblical love is not part of such systems as The Nearness
• Three: the goal of our spiritual lives is to answer this calling
• Better stated: This Man-made goal for our spiritual lives…. God does not think like humans, He is the creator of reality and truth; He has God-given spiritual commands, exhortations… in His word
• Rituals help, too, by marking transitions or helping people notice what’s important to them. Ritual is integrated into The Nearness courses, with each small group meeting following a kind of liturgy of its own that involves lighting a candle and reading a community covenant before diving into discussion.
• MacArthur’s one-minute video short that contrasts ‘religion’ and biblical Christianity, in part 2, mostly explains the problem with the above statement; additionally, sensual worship [described above] is alluded to by Sproul in the fourth video of part 2, the listener will gather that it is an erroneous type of worship; this is true for the following statement also
• Cari Meffle loves the ritual of lighting a candle together at the beginning of each meeting. It “feels really sacred,” she said. The 36-year-old flutist, who lives in Virginia, has been part of The Nearness since its pilot. … grew up Baptist and now works part time as a youth minister in a small Disciples of Christ church… “It’s what was missing for me, so I hope other people can find what they were missing there as well,” Meffle said

Part 2 of this two-part series contains three 1-minute videos and a 25-minute video of an R C Sproul lecture that shows very plainly what is wrong with The Nearness.

Three one-minute videos: John MacArthur explaining the difference between religion and biblical Christianity; one that explains The Nearness, from their YouTube site; and one that explains a new teaching series by them from that same site.

The fourth video, 25 minutes, is Sproul teaching what a biblical encounter with the God of the Bible is like; he uses scripture and personal experience, describing his own conversion.

Sproul’s video is relevant in many more ways than stated above, to this topic.

If you are Christian and have partaken in The Nearness meetings, or you find it attractive, or have lost interest in your faith…, then you should definitely hear what Sproul says about spirituality and encountering the God of the Bible, the only living God.