Are you “Spiritual but not religious?” You are not alone. There are millions of people like you. Your ideology is common enough for some people to even make an acronym for you: SBNP.
I am always curious to talk with SBNR people. Each story is unique. How did you come to be SBNR? What motivated you to become SBNR? Why do you not want to be considered religious? Is it because of “organized” religion? What is disorganized religion?
My assumption is that you dislike the gross amounts of money spent on organizational maintenance. Many churches have large bureaucracies. Perhaps you are bothered by the WASPy preacher. Maybe you are annoyed by the inauthentic. Reasonably, you could be done with meaningless ritual. Maybe you simply want to seek your own joy and not be bothered by others. Each SBNR person intrigues me. SBNR people are typically open, kind, joyful, and loving people. I want to know why.
The reason I want to listen is because I am incredibly religious. I like to think of myself as SARBIAGW: Spiritual and Religious, but in a good way. This is because I believe the best understanding of religious is scrupulously faithful; contentious.
At the Anchor we want to be scrupulously faithful to God and one another. We do this by meeting together for communal worship on Sundays. Here we eat donuts, share coffee, sing songs, read ancient works, and participate in ancient rituals. We also gather in homes and businesses for times of study, reflection, and service. We have systems and patterns, but they are flexible. We hope that people participate religiously knowing that the goal is not sustaining our organization or making people more like us. The goal is for people to be more like the gracious creator. We are Spiritual and Religious, but in a good way.
Want to discuss how and why you are SBNR? Is this essay incomplete or misunderstand the SBNR? Let us buy you coffee and have a conversation.