High Places Community Church has first ‘Night of Doubt’ on March 26

 

The first annual “Night of Doubt” will be hosted by High Places Community Church at the Historic Grove Theater at 6 p.m. Saturday, March 26. The coffee house-style event is an offering of space to the community for the sole purpose of creating a safe place to ask questions, express skepticism, and share doubt in a group setting.

“There will be no sermon, no rebuttals, and any attempt to answer the doubts expressed will be strictly forbidden,” according to Reverend David Allred. “This is about affirming the reality of doubt as being central to the human experience; it is not an opportunity to debate or argue.”

Allred says the idea came from a Rob Bell book the church read for a recent retreat, but also from an experience he had with a high school girl 10 years ago who openly asked in small group where God was hiding when she was sexually assaulted.

“We were talking about God’s presence and how God is with us when she erupted with powerful emotions surrounding this terrible memory,” Allred said in a press release. “It would have been highly inconsiderate of her experience to even attempt a ‘pat-answer’ about faith in that moment. The doubt, grief, and anger she felt needed a safe release. No answer would have sufficed for that kind of pain as she shared. Sometimes healing comes through just being able to let it out safely and the best ‘Christian’ response is to simply listen.”

The event will have an open microphone and participants who would like to issue questions of doubt will each have opportunity to express them aloud. There will also be a moment of “silent reflection” for those whose struggles are more personal in nature and do not wish to speak publicly.

“My experience with skeptical people, both those struggling with doubt and those who are comfortable in it, is that they ask very good, much needed questions,” Allred said. “At issue is the way the church has traditionally treated them. We too often alienate the skeptic and in so doing, we marginalize members of our community; and if we are totally honest, when we deny a place for doubt, we end up marginalizing some of the best parts of ourselves too.”

Allred said the only rules for the event are as follows:

1. Rebuttals or any attempt to address another person’s doubt is strictly off limits.
2. Where possible, participants are encouraged to use questions rather than statements. We aren’t crafting a thesis, but rather expressing our doubt. Poetry and prose are welcome and even encouraged as healthy expressions of doubt.
3. Speakers are asked to abide by a time limitation (no soap boxing).
4. Speakers are asked to refrain from using profanity and crude speech.

The Grove Theater is located at 123 Randolph Road in Oak Ridge. The “Night of Doubt” begins the Saturday before Easter at 6 p.m. and concludes at 7 p.m. Coffee and refreshments will follow the gathering. All members of the Oak Ridge Community and surrounding area are welcome.