Duluth

How women of color with Christian and progressive values keep the faith – outside the church – The Journal

Eira Gwyneth August 26, 2024

Ellen Lo Hoffman, co-founder of Soul Reparations, a nonprofit that provides free spiritual support to women, poses for a portrait near her home in Bothell, Wash., Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Brandi Brown hasn’t found a black church that feels right for her near her home in Southern California, so when she wants to talk about God, she relies on someone more than 1,000 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 church, but for the past three years, Hoffman has supported Brown, a former pastor, through monthly virtual chats.

“The way black women and women of color experience God is different than the way other people experience God,” said Brown, who is black. “When I imagine myself sitting on a bench, for example, trying to talk to God, Ellen is there too – sitting on the bench with me, pointing out observations and letting me interpret things that I’m experiencing.”

For some Christian progressives, the lack of recognition of the racial reckoning of 2020 by their churches or congregations was the final push to look elsewhere. Some women of color are disappointed and angry with evangelical Christian churches — both predominantly white and multiracial — whose leaders have failed to openly denounce racism or homophobia. Traditional pastors and other leaders often view congregants’ concerns through a patriarchal lens, leaving many feeling dismissed or overlooked. Still others said they felt alienated by evangelical supporters of former President Donald Trump with whom they disagree on policy issues.

Many now find comfort and affirmation of their faith in their own way through what are called “spiritual directors.” These are not necessarily priests, pastors, counselors or therapists, but they can help others explore their thoughts about God or broader concepts surrounding a higher power.

Hoffman has nearly 24 years of experience in church leadership and has been an independent spiritual director for seven years. The death of Michael Brown at the hands of a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014 was a life-changing event for her. As the assistant regional director of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, she gathered employees of color for a discussion.

Hoffman vowed to be a better ally.

As the murder of George Floyd and anti-Asian hate crimes soon dominated the national debate, Hoffman wanted to do more than just attend protest marches and provide training to passersby. 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.

“The people I was already meeting with were constantly talking about the impact of racial trauma in 2020,” Hoffman said. “And then the people who were reaching out to me looking for a spiritual companion were all women of color looking for spaces to process all of this.”

Sessions are confidential one-on-one conversations in person or via Zoom. It is the client who leads the conversation. Often there are no Bible discussions or sermons from Hoffman. Discussions may be more philosophical in nature.

“Just allowing them to tell their story, giving them space to share their pain, is really healing for them and gives them back a sense of identity,” Hoffman said. Churches, religious leaders and officials do not have the final say on how women express their Christianity.

Since then, she has recruited seven more women of color as directors. In total, they have helped around 70 women over the past three years, including queer women. Demand is unabated. Hoffman recently had to close a waiting list of 60 people.

This number does not surprise Jessica Chen of Los Angeles, who meets with Hoffman virtually once a 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. “I think there’s a real need to reimagine what community can look like for women of color.”

Only in recent years has Chen felt she was limiting herself by listening only to male pastors whose specific perspectives were “universalized,” she says. Although her last church was diverse and multigenerational, she felt she wasn’t growing as a person.

“I want to hear from black women, Asian women, indigenous people… queer people. What has been your faith experience and how can I learn from your experiences too?” Chen said. “And I think that really enriches our understanding and our relationship with God or spirituality.”

In 2020, Rebekah James Lovett of Chicago tried to raise the issue of social justice with her evangelical pastor. She stayed up until 4 a.m. to write a petition to him. The pastor met with her, but she felt afterward that he was just trying to appease her.

Raised in Christianity by Indian immigrant parents, she said she realized “I can never go back” to white-male-dominated churches that don’t consider other perspectives.

She felt liberated – but also a little disorientated. Then she listened to Hoffman’s podcast “Reclaiming My Theology.”

“The idea of going to a woman who is also trained as a pastor was interesting to me,” Lovett said. “Christianity as we know it is based on the certainty that someone has the answer and you just have to look in the Bible to find out everything. For Ellen, on the other hand, it is an invitation to wonder. That has never been done before.”

After putting her name on the waiting list, Lovett became a regular customer at Hoffman’s in the fall of 2021.

Hoffman’s rates for spiritual guidance range from $85 to $100 per session – in some cases it’s even free. Her paying clients, the “guides,” don’t seem to mind. They compare it to a normal check-up or therapy session.

“I feel like it’s both a wellness and 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 United States in recent decades. According to a 2023 AP-NORC poll, about 30% of Americans identify as “the unaffiliated,” or people with no affiliation to an organized religion. This includes atheists, agnostics, and people who are “nothing special.”

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 “continue to be exclusive and promote hate narratives that weaken the human spirit and degrade 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.

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

The spiritual guidance has indeed given Brown new strength and he does not give up the search for a church.

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

Ellen Lo Hoffman, co-founder of Soul Reparations, a nonprofit that provides free spiritual support to women, poses for a portrait at her home in Bothell, Wash., Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Ellen Lo Hoffman, co-founder of Soul Reparations, a nonprofit that provides free spiritual support to women, works at her home in Bothell, Wash., Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Ellen Lo Hoffman, co-founder of Soul Reparations, a nonprofit that provides free spiritual support to women, walks down the stairs of her home in Bothell, Wash., Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Ellen Lo Hoffman, co-founder of Soul Reparations, a nonprofit that provides free spiritual support to women, makes tea at her home in Bothell, Wash., Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)