How women of color with Christian and progressive values are keeping the faith — outside churches

Brandi Brown hasn’t found a black church near her Southern California home that feels right for her. So when she wants to talk about God, she relies on someone more than a thousand miles away.

Like her, Ellen Lo Hoffman, who lives just outside Seattle and is Chinese-American, is a progressive Christian. They have known each other for six years through a Christian fellowship. But for the past three years, Hoffman has supported Brown, a former pastor, through monthly virtual chats.

“How Black women and women of color experience God is different than how other people experience God,” said Brown, who is Black. “When I imagine myself sitting on a bench and trying to talk to God, Ellen is there too — sitting on the bench with me and pointing out observations and allowing me to interpret things that I’m experiencing.”

For some Christian progressives, the lack of recognition from their churches or ministries of the racial reckoning of 2020 was the final push to go elsewhere. Some women of color have expressed disappointment and anger at evangelical Christian churches — both majority white and multiracial — whose leaders have failed to openly condemn racism or homophobia. Traditional pastors and other leaders often frame congregants’ concerns through a patriarchal lens, leaving many feeling dismissed or overlooked. But others said they felt alienated by evangelical supporters of former President Donald Trump, with whom they disagree on policy.

Many are now finding solace and affirmation of their faith on their own terms through what they call “spiritual directors.” These aren’t necessarily priests, pastors, counselors, or therapists, but they can help others explore thoughts about God or broader concepts surrounding a higher power.

With nearly 24 years of experience in ministry leadership, Hoffman has served as an independent spiritual director for the past seven years. 2014 death of Michael Brown by a Ferguson, Missouri police officer was a pivotal moment for her. As assistant regional director of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, she gathered staff members of color in a discussion.

Hoffman concluded that he would be a better ally.

So when the killing of George Floyd and anti-Asian hate crimes quickly dominated the national conversation, Hoffman wanted to do more than just march in protests and facilitate bystander trainings. She said she noticed that many people of color “needed care in the midst of racial trauma.” So she and her husband founded Soul Reparations, a nonprofit that provides free spiritual support to women.

“For the people I’ve met, the impact of racial trauma in 2020 has been resonating throughout,” Hoffman said. “And the people who were looking for a spiritual leader were all women of color who were looking for spaces to process.”

The sessions are intimate one-on-one chats in person or via Zoom. The client leads the conversation. Often there is no Bible talk or sermon from Hoffman. The discussions can be more philosophical.

“Just letting them tell their story, giving them the space to share their pain — it’s really healing for them and it restores a sense of identity,” Hoffman said. Churches, religious leaders and officials don’t get “the final say” on how women choose to express their Christianity.

Since then, she has recruited seven other women of color to serve as directors. In total, they have served about 70 women, including queer women, over the past three years. Demand has not abated. Hoffman recently had to close a waiting list of 60 people.

That number doesn’t surprise Jessica Chen of Los Angeles, who meets with Hoffman virtually every month.

“I see this kind of movement of women of color who have left the traditional church environment to create these spaces for other women of color,” Chen said. “So, kind of reimagining what community can look like for women of color, I think that’s very much needed.”

It wasn’t until the last few years that Chen considered that she might be limiting herself by only hearing from male pastors who have a specific perspective that is “universalized,” she said. Even though her last church was diverse and multigenerational, she felt like she wasn’t growing as a person.

“I want to hear from Black women, Asian women, Indigenous people … queer people. What is your faith experience and how can I learn from your experiences as well?” Chen said. “And I think that makes our understanding and our relationship with God or spirituality so much richer.”

In 2020, Chicago resident Rebekah James Lovett tried to broach the subject of social justice with her evangelical pastor. She stayed up until 4 a.m. writing a petition to him. The pastor spoke to her, but she came away with the feeling that he was just trying to appease her.

She was raised Christian by her parents, who were immigrants from India, and she came to realize that she “can never go back” to white, male-dominated churches that do not consider other points of view.

She felt liberated — but also a little rudderless. Then she heard Hoffman speak on a podcast, “Reclaiming My Theology.”

“I found the idea of ​​going to a woman who also has pastoral training interesting,” Lovett said. “The Christianity that we’ve been sold is based on this sense of certainty that someone has the answer and you just have to look at the Bible and it’s all there. Whereas Ellen is invited to question. That’s never been done before.”

After joining the waitlist, Lovett became a regular client of Hoffman in the fall of 2021.

Hoffman’s spiritual counseling rates range from $85 to $100 per session — or in some cases, it’s free. Her paying clients, or “directees,” don’t seem to mind. They compare it to a regular checkup or therapy session.

“I feel like it’s a wellness practice, but it’s also a spiritual practice. It’s something that keeps me centered,” Brown said. “I’m not trying to achieve a goal. My only desire is to deepen my personal relationship with God.”

Many have left churches in the US in recent decades. About 30% of Americans identify themselves as “the non-humans” or people with no organized religious affiliation, according to a 2023 AP-NORC poll. They include atheists, agnostics and people who are “nothing in particular.”

The Rev. Karen Georgia Thompson, who last year became the first woman and woman of color to be elected general minister and president of the socially liberal United Church of Christ, agrees that churches are often patriarchal. They “remain exclusionary and present narratives of hate, diminishing the human spirit and denigrating people’s humanity,” she said. While UCC congregations have become more racially and ethnically diverse, Thompson wants that diversity to be reflected at the top, too.

“We continue to include the voices of everyone in leadership – as best we can – and pay attention to those whose presence and voices have been historically underrepresented in the life of the UCC,” Thompson said in an email.

The spiritual guidance has given Brown the strength not to give up in his search for a church.

“I’m excited to join a church that talks about justice, that cares about LGBTQ+ people,” Brown said. “I want to be part of a community.”