Pastor writes of faith ‘fundamorphosis’

Pastor Robb Ryerse shares his journey of faith in Fundamorphosis. Emerging through doubts and struggles, Ryerse said he found a new way of looking at Christianity with hope and humility.
Pastor Robb Ryerse shares his journey of faith in Fundamorphosis. Emerging through doubts and struggles, Ryerse said he found a new way of looking at Christianity with hope and humility.

— Like a caterpillar gradually changing into a butterfly, Robb Ryerse also underwent a transformation, shedding his fundamentalist background for a new way of being Christian.

He calls it his “fundamorphosis” and writes about his journey in his new book Fundamorphosis: How I Left Fundamentalism But Didn’t Lose My Faith, published by Civitas Press.

Ryerse, 37, is pastor of Vintage Fellowship, an “emerging church” in Fayetteville. “Emerging” is a term used by congregations that aspire to appeal to the postmodern generation. The website for Vintage Fellowship sums it up with this statement: “Rooted in the ancient faith, bearing fruit in the postmodern culture.”

The church has an eclectic mix of members - rich, poor; young, old; sharp dressers and tattooed jeans wearers.

“If it weren’t for Jesus, this group of people would not get together,” Ryerse said.

The focus is on exalting Jesus, but the atmosphere is one of open dialogue, where questions are welcome and no one is expected to have all the answers and not everyone has to agree on everything.

It’s far different from the church of Ryerse’s childhood. He grew up attending what he calls fundamentalist Baptist churches, where the sermons often focused on the“dos and don’ts” of Christian life - don’t drink, don’t swear, don’t go to the movies. It was not a place for questions or doubts, he said.

“We were always in church dressed up in our Sunday best,” Ryerse said. “It was very traditional with hymns and organ music.”

Despite the strict nature of the church, Ryerse followed the rules and followed the path of his grandfather and father to become a preacher in the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches. He attended Baptist Bible College in Clarks Summit, Pa., where young men were expected to wear suits and ties to class and young women wore skirts and dresses - unless the temperature fell below 27, at which time pants were allowed. He went on to graduate from Biblical Theological Seminary in Hatfield, Pa.

As he began his life as a minister, Ryerse had questions about faith and the Bible, but he pushed on. The tipping point came in 2005 while he was serving as pastor of a church in Michigan and working on a sermon about the book of Genesis.

“As I was doing my studying, I was overwhelmed by the number of questions I had about the early chapters,” he said. “All the pat answers just didn’t resonate with me anymore.”

He began to question the idea of a literal seven-day creation, as well as the Garden of Eden with its talking snake.

At the time, Ryerse said, he didn’t have the freedom to ask such questions, much less search for different answers.

“I would have been fired,” he said. “So I stuffed all that, and I essentially became what I hate the most - a hypocrite. I preached it, knowing in my heart that I didn’t believe it.”

The experience plunged Ryerse into a deep depression, a “dark night of the soul.”

“I realized I needed to be in a different church community where I could be myself and everyone else could be themselves,” he said. “Rather than forcing the church to change, we decided to leave and start a church ourselves.”

Ryerse envisioned a church where people could be real. He founded Vintage Fellowship with that vision in mind.

“We wanted a place where people don’t have to have all the answers, where there’s room for disagreement,” he said. “Where they can find a community who will walk with them as they follow Jesus.”

The family moved to Northwest Arkansas and opened Vintage Fellowship, where Ryerse has kept the focus on uniting the congregation in Jesus instead of focusing on differences and disagreements. Today, Ryerse’s transformation isn’t just internal. He has a tattoo, like a good many in his congregation. It’s a symbol of the Trinity on his wrist. He also has an earring.

Ryerse said his parents have been supportive during his spiritual journey, but not everyone has embraced his new way of thinking.

“I have been shunned and de-friended by a lot of people in my old life,” Ryerse said.

Despite the fallout, Ryerse was determined to share his story because he doesn’t think he’s alone in questioning his faith. He hopes his story will help others and keep them from abandoning their faith altogether.

“I’m not the only one with these doubts and struggles,” he said. “A lot of Christians are struggling and giving up on their faith. I struggled, but I emerged on the other side with an approach to my faith that I think makes sense.”

Ryerse said instead of viewing the Bible as an owner’s manual for life, he sees it as a family scrapbook.

“It tells the story of God’s people,” he said. “There’s the matriarch, the crazy uncle, and at times God seems dark and scary and other times loving. That’s a true representation of the experience people have had with God. It’s like a family history.

“I was taught the Bible is the most important thing. Now it’s a means to an end, which is knowing God. That’s the most important thing.”

A party celebrating his book’s publication will be from 7-10 p.m. today at Vintage Fellowship, 3416 N. College Ave. The public is welcome.

Ryerse and his wife, Vanessa, have three children. He blogs at thegrenzian.com.

Religion, Pages 12 on 11/17/2012

Upcoming Events