The Story

Institutionalized Christianity has been going through a massive shaking these past few years. Escapism has been put to the challenge by realism. Sacred vs Secular dualism by a more integrated approach to life. Status quo by social activism. Judgmentalism by compassion. Exclusion by inclusion. Male dominance by gender equality. Hierarchy by egalitarianism. Racism by the flourishing of BIPOC leadership. Colonization by the rise of former colonies, both geographic and spiritual. The building and the leveraging of ‘spiritual brands’ for mass-influence by a call to return to the way of Jesus, the way of servanthood. On the opposite end of the spectrum we are witnessing the brash doubling down of White Christian Nationalism, its misrepresentation of the teachings of Christ, its rabid pursuit of political power, and the dissonance and polarity that it is creating in our world. In all of this, an emerging generation of forward-thinking artists and thought leaders have been experiencing an increasing disconnect from the religious industrial complex, the ‘overground’, and been finding respite in what we call the ‘spiritual underground’. They have come to the conclusion that it is not going to be possible to rewrite the narrative using the existing operating system, and have been digging deep in search of a theological imagination that could prevent Empire from being replaced with yet another version of Empire. Notwithstanding, their voices are exceedingly important, with the potential to help us grab a hold of the future and drag it into the present.

With all of this in mind, Common Hymnal was created as a virtual library to help people navigate these uncertain times and find safe passage into the future by loading them up with insightful content from the spiritual underground.

History teaches us that the future is innovated at the margins. Therefore, our efforts to treasure-hunt the periphery of the Christian world to find these displaced artists and thought leaders, and to stock this library with their songs, stories and ideas, exposing the broader community to the important conversations and philosophical shifts that are happening on the fringe. In providing an outlet for these changemakers, Common Hymnal has been able to curate a catalog that is, for the most part, free of colonial residue - with content that centers life, justice and spirituality; that embraces both praise and protest; that treasures healing, restitution and reparation; that has the potential to both comfort the disheartened and embolden the courageous.

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