Graduation

There is no ceremonial rite of passage when one concludes their time with church. In the churches, there is no celebration, no recognition of transition, no certificate or award. Consequently many who have left the church do not have a sense of having graduated. They lack the recognition that they’ve moved on to a next stage in the world at large — whatever that may be.

Varieties of Graduation

Many church alumni phased out of their former church life gradually, and their absence drew little attention. Some have left abruptly under dubious circumstances; some have left turmoil and shame in their wake; some have simply been drawn to explore the broader world of spirituality and faith traditions from around the globe. And some found the whole church thing insanely irrelevant and chose to abandon their local church affiliation.

For many, learning about other religions has been a pathway to attaining a deeper understanding of their own set of beliefs.

Emergence

Do you count yourself among the graduates? Are you on a spiritual journey that has taken you beyond church?

We invite you to tell your story here at Church Alumni Forum, and learn from others. Life is a grand process of continuous emergence, and we are all experiencing some degree of this emergence in our daily lives. It has a spiritual component that is very real but hard to describe. It is a kind of solumn reverence, or ecstatic wonder, at the fact that we are alive here and now, experiencing the world in the fullness of it’s diversity and mystery.

Our graduation from church may have gone unnoticed, but the next phase of our spiritual lives is hard to ignore. So let’s explore, and find a new community, knowing we are not alone, and there is important inner work to do.