Who We Are

The Slate Project is an experiment in re-imagining church. Take a piece of slate rock. From the ancient Romans, we get the concept of a Latin tabula, heated and wiped clean as a symbol of a fresh start: the hope to begin anew, with a clean slate. But as a kind of rock, slate is remarkable in other ways. Because of the process by which it is formed, even cleaned slate has fissures, echoes –– ancient things left before. These indentations are powerful symbols of a radical movement twenty centuries ago that changed the world.

We are interested in a Christianity without the crap, a slate as clean as we can get it. We care less about agreeing on doctrine and dogma, and more about helping each other follow Jesus in our everyday lives.

A large part of this project is self-critique of our church institutions, theologies, and practices. We know there is a lot that needs to be cleaned off the slate — all the ways racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, classism, xenophobia, colonialism, patriarchy, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and disrespect for other religions –– all of these have been a part of the structures of the church and the way we relate to one another for far too long. 

This doesn’t happen overnight. We are committed to having deep, meaningful and transformational conversations. And taking the time to lament and repent of these sins, as well as the hard slow work of reconciliation and restoration that God’s justice requires. 

The Slate Project was founded as a mission of the Delaware-Maryland Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and is also a mission of the Diocese of Maryland and Baltimore Presbytery.  It is truly amazing what three ecclesiastical bodies can do when they come together. We remain incredibly grateful for their support.