Colorado Springs' evangelical evolution
Plus demonic possession, religious groups at Pride and battles over communion
Thank you to everyone who has subscribed to our newsletter so far! We’re really grateful for all the interest and excited to see where this project takes us. If you know anyone else you think might be interested in subscribing, please consider forwarding this email to them.
Last week we mentioned just how diverse Colorado’s religious makeup is, and few things highlight that more clearly than the starkly different responses groups have to LGBTQ rights.
This weekend is Denver Pride, which is mostly virtual again this year due to COVID-19. Two religious groups are listed as sponsors of the parade on Pride’s website: Park Hill United Methodist Church in Denver and The Episcopal Church in Colorado (the governing body for all the state’s Episcopal parishes). At the fest’s virtual marketplace, The Episcopal Church in Colorado and Iliff School of Theology are vendors. The Denver Jewish Community Center is hosting an in-person “hub” on Saturday and Sunday in the afternoon.
Park Hill and Iliff are both affiliated with the United Methodist Church, the largest mainline Protestant denomination in the U.S. and the second-largest Protestant denomination after the SBC. The UMC has experienced increasing tensions over differing beliefs about the place of LGBTQ people in the church, and the denomination is now poised to split into a traditionalist and a more progressive denomination.
In Colorado, the UMC hews more towards the pro-LGBTQ side. The Bishop of the Mountain Sky Conference, Karen Oliveto, is the first openly lesbian bishop in the church and Iliff has a strong reputation as a progressive Seminary. What the split among local churches will look like remains to be seen. If watching a parade sounds more fun than making predictions about schisms, you can stream it online starting at 9:30 on Saturday (though if you subscribed to this newsletter you might be the kind of person who enjoys both).
Here’s the rest of your news for this week:
Chronicling evangelical change in Colorado Springs
This newsletter started so that we could promote the work of other local journalists covering religion — but sometimes that journalist ends up being one of us. Here’s Liam talking about his latest in Christianity Today:
This newsletter started last week because Carina and I have a passion for local news reporting and journalism about religion. It’s not every day that we have a foot in both worlds, which is why I was excited when the editor I work with at Christianity Today approached me about writing a print issue story on evangelicalism in Colorado Springs.
But it’s not like the “evangelical Vatican” hasn’t been written about before. So, I had to tell a new story. One that was set in the present but didn’t forsake the past. I talked to a historian, prominent pastors, evangelical community organizers, a local journalist and progressive political activists. I made a couple trips down there from Denver, one that included a self-guided tour of the headquarters of major evangelical parachurch organizations.
By the end of my reporting, this is what I learned: many evangelicals in the Springs were focused on national brands or the culture wars during the 1990s and early 2000s. Then, after scandals (like Ted Haggard’s) and culture war defeats (like battles over gay marriage), more evangelicals became concerned about the local community, its needs and their reputation within it. Evangelicals and non-evangelicals in the city have noticed.
I didn’t set out to tell the most comprehensive 40-year history of religion in Colorado’s second biggest city. Rather, as a local journalist and religion journalist, I sought to capture a little of the complexity of a vastly storied locale.
Marvel’s demons
Could watching Disney+’s latest TV show Loki make you vulnerable to demonic possession? Colorado-based televangelist and exorcist Bob Larson thinks so. “I know this demon well and he’s no benign trickster,” Larson says on his YouTube channel. On the flip side, check out RNS to hear what modern-day heathens think of Marvel’s interpretation of the Norse pantheon. “Pop cultural references are fine as long as we know it’s entertainment and not historical or religion based,” one practitioner said. “We aren’t Marvel worshippers.”
Religion + politics + conservative media = Western Conservative Summit
As mentioned last week, the Western Conservative Summit took place this past weekend at the Hyatt Regency in Denver. Hosted by the Centennial Institute, a branch of Colorado Christian University, conservative politicians and celebrities including Rep. Lauren Boebert, Rick Santorum, journalist Andy Ngo and Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips took to the stage. In a straw poll of presidential candidates, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (74.12%) had an upset win over Donald Trump (71.43%) for first place. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (42.86%), Mike Pompeo (39.35%) and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott (35.58%) rounded out the top five. As reported by Westword, a group of local activists staged a counterprotest of the conference outside the hotel, which included a “super gay cake in dishonor” of Phillips.
Denver archbishop among Communion-denial campaigners
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops voted June 18 to draft a document on the consistency of the Eucharist. It isn’t entirely clear what the document will do, but it’s been pushed by conservative bishops who want to deny communion to President Joe Biden and other pro-choice Catholic Democrats. Denver Archbishop Samuel Aquila is a leader in that campaign, according to National Catholic Reporter. The Associated Press quotes Aquila saying, “There is danger to one’s soul if he or she receives the body and blood of our Lord in an unworthy manner.”
Briefly noted
Over 700 people attended a vigil for slain Arvada Police Officer Gordon Beesley Tuesday at Peace Lutheran Church in Arvada.
Iliff Seminary hosted a booth at the Juneteenth Street and Music Festival last Saturday.
The Los Angeles Times published a deep-dive into how QAnon has infiltrated California’s yoga and spirituality community. Is this something you’ve encountered in Colorado? If so, we’d love to hear from you.
Cult researcher and journalist Matthew Remski (also quoted in the Times article) published a blogpost about Pema Chödrön’s relationship to Shambhala International.
Pastor Paula Stone Williams of Left Hand Church in Longmont will be joining a “Faith Voices for the Equality Act” virtual webinar on June 30 along with transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg and assistant secretary for health Dr. Rachel Levine. Register for free online.
That’s it for this week. See you next Friday!
“Have Faith, Colorado” is a weekly roundup and analysis of local religion articles in the Centennial State. It’s by Liam Adams and Carina Julig. Liam covers local news for Colorado Community Media and religion news as a freelancer. Carina covers education and other Aurora news at the Sentinel Colorado. To connect with us about the newsletter please email liamadams.journalism@gmail.com and carina.julig@colorado.edu, and follow us on twitter at @liamsadams and @CarinaJulig.