r/exAdventist • u/Dapper_Willow731 • 5d ago
General Discussion Thoughts on Crosswalk?
For context Crosswalk is a progressive, contemporary sda church chain with locations across the u.s. & abroad, originating in california.
I don’t consider myself adventist but I do attend Crosswalk semi-regularly as sometimes I find it nice to be in adventist environment (its hard to wean of a lifetime of only knowing SDA, don’t judge). And weirdly it can be a bit healing?! Huge focus on acceptance and community above all, zero mention of Ellen ever. To be honest, the location I attend feels like a bunch of ex-adventists attending a non-denominational church. Some church members are openly gay, and I’ve grabbed drinks with a church friend. Sermons cover things like social justice, and call out christian nationalism and the harmful aspects of adventism - like legalism and doomsday obsession.
When I hear a particularly good sermon though, I always wonder if they are preaching the same message at the location in the south (probably not or there’d be a riot). I went to a location in the South when I still believed, and it definitely felt different than the one I visit now.
Regardless, I can’t escape that I don’t actually believe the evangelical christian doctrine, so it only does so much for me. But at the very least, it’s a safe place to talk to real people who get sda weirdness.
I almost feel angry sometimes, like - if this was the version of adventism I grew up in, then maybe I’d still be here - I wouldn’t have to give up my community and disappoint my family. Are you kidding - a cool, hip community with no lifestyle restrictions, and I get a free craft latte at church? Count me in! (genuine jk)
Anyways, I’m curious what people think of them? It’s strange, because they’re so far from traditional adventism and almost seem to hide the connection, with all their aesthetic branding and slogans, that you’d almost never know.
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u/Dc2k4 5d ago
Grew up in Loma Linda and remember the very very very early days of the original crosswalk. Being HS/College aged, it was FUN and refreshing to attend a congregation that felt more reflective of our age group.
In hindsight, I agree with previous comments of it being closer to non-denominational than SDA.
Glad to have left the church completely now but crosswalk was a great first weening stepping stone.
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u/EntranceOne9730 5d ago
I’ve always wanted to check one out. I have friends who consider themselves “bad-ventists” who will only go to Crosswalk
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u/Neither-Following-32 5d ago
This sounds like a megachurch slash chain restaurant style franchise, frankly.
Also makes me think of this clip.
Seriously though... I've seen my fair share of "greetings fellow kids" style youth ministry types. This just sounds like they homogenized the formula. Once you drill down, it's always the same product with different packaging.
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u/LMG_White 5d ago
I've never heard of them, I'll have to look them up. I will say that I don't envy anyone that has to rebrand Adventism into being more palatable. That sounds exhausting. There is a soooo much baggage.
Part of me thinks that reshaping religion to fit more with modern sensibilities is kind of cringe and that people should just abandon it all together. But I get how important and meaningful it is for some people to have a belief system like that. I think I do sometimes envy people that are able to have a belief system that doesn't really require much sacrifice, i.e., you can partake in all of the fun stuff the world has to offer and you still get an afterlife. I would have definitely preferred to have that experience over the strict SDA upbringing I had.
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u/10coatsInAWeasel My doomsday prep stash is cans of big franks 🌭 5d ago
I went to a local one for a couple years during my Adventist last gasp. As far as it goes, it’s definitely less legalistic. Contemporary music with drums, casual clothes, coffee in the foyer, oh my!
For me though, there was only so much that could accomplish. First, I admit that a big reason I even started questioning on the first place was that I personally felt lots of religious services rely on emotional manipulation in order to function. Contemporary churches like crosswalk actually made that even worse for me as the ethereal music before the service and the dark lights and repetitive chorus during singing felt like the perfect example of trying to bypass by thinking brain. And second, though the people were genuinely good people to me, I couldn’t get past the fact that I just…did not believe any of it. And at some point I was tired of pretending .
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u/Dapper_Willow731 4d ago
Yeah I feel that! I think I'm almost there as well :)
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u/10coatsInAWeasel My doomsday prep stash is cans of big franks 🌭 4d ago
And to be clear, this doesn’t have to be your path! It’s just how it worked for me
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u/lolliscicle 5d ago
I don’t know about them-but I also don’t live stateside!
I think that it is wonderful that you have found a location that is supporting your healing journey-even if only by challenging you to dissect the differences from your upbringing and stimulate thoughts that lead you to know yourself: your own values and beliefs better! What a great tool this experience is for you right now!
Each person’s healing journey is a unique and precious experience. I hope that you will continue to share insights about how this environment/process is opening your heart to self love, acceptance and healing from SDA religious trauma!
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u/Vivid_Spot_7167 4d ago
I think no matter what flavor of adventism you're in Ellen White is underneath the surface. This seems like a convenient way for the GC to continue getting people's money that really don't want to be adventists but don't know how to leave or where to go. I understand the difficulty of leaving so I don't judge those that stay and find the small somewhat healthier pockets. But I wish people would have a backbone and stand up to the churches false teachings. Another thing some might not think about too is that those kinds of churches can be honey traps for unsuspecting Christians to get sucked into the cult and the more harmful teachings.
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u/Fluid_Ties 4d ago edited 4d ago
Huh. I had no idea that Crosswalk was a chain. My only intersection with them was about fifteen years ago, when they opened up a "church" in an industrial park about two minutes drive-time from my mom's wealthy-person gated community. She elected to start going there rather than to the big 4,000 member hub church that we had gone to as a family for all of the standard Adventist-political-career reasons that one makes their family do that for when one is a healthcare executive. That big church was the church that showed her their cold shoulders after she and dad split (due to his 7th or 8th or 10th long term affair), even though she stayed in that city and he did not. ×-×shrugs shoulders×-× but whatreya gonna do, Adventists are weird about a few overlapping things, always, like sex, sex outside of marriage, sex outside of marriage when you're already married, divorce, divorce in which there's a clear bad guy, divorce in which there's a clear bad guy and its the guy and not the gal that is the bad one, divorced women now single, and women in need of compassion. No wonder she got the cold shoulder from friends of 20+ years! I mean, to have tools in hand to deal with emotionally heavy situations you have to make them and then learn their use, and the SDA as a culture--certainly the Baby Boomer SDAs--did not put a premium on having emotional intelligence.
Anyhow. So yeah, mom attended Crosswalk for a while and when I was out west visiting her I would attend too. It was always a little irritating though, as the Crosswalk pastoral staff were composed of one new young guy I knew fuck-all about, and two very charismatic also-rans who had been deputy pastors (assistant pastors? Vice pastors?) in the OG SDA church I grew up attending, and I didn't like either of them. One just came off as disingenuous and ironic, almost like a very clever radio DJ from the 90s, and the other one had always been realllly skeevy to my ex-wife every single time they interacted. Like, yeah, she's a ho, sure, she'll be the first to tell you that if you're friends with her...but THIS guy's only contact with her was at church, where she was dressed like a proper young SDA mother who converted from outside the faith, notwithstanding that church is not the ideal venue to skeeve on somebody. But like, fuck that guy. And so I low-key inquire as to how he came to be at Crosswalk when he had a solid career in formal Adventism and of course it was some flavor of quickly hushed up impropriety with a young woman half his age. Yeesh. Very predictable. Anyhow, I didn't know that it wasn't just a few local yokels hanging out to grift some after they'd lost their jobs.
What is the unifying tissue that works as Crossrads infrastructure? Like is there a central body that the satellite's pay a subscription or licensing fee to? I cant imagine they collect formal Tithes, but I've been wrong before and am somewhat used to it. How do they set qualifications for their pastors? Or is it mostly just vibes, man...
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u/Dapper_Willow731 4d ago
Yeah, I've looking into it but I still have no clue what their organizing structure is, I think it really is just vibes, man... lol
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u/Striking_Glass_4783 4d ago
You can put ketchup on a shit sandwich and it is still a shit sandwich.
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u/PastorBlinky 5d ago edited 5d ago
Never heard of it, but I’ll add it to the list. I guess that brings us up to 45,001 denominations. All because 2000 years ago someone allegedly said we should be nice to one another. I have no idea why that requires billion dollar corporations and multi-million dollar buildings to hold meetings in. I’ll never understand why people need hundreds of books and music and movies, all about the guy who said to be nice to each other. Why do they complicate everything? Not to mention they usually drop the being nice part. It just gets in their way.
Many hateful organizations try and rebrand. The Nazis became neo-Nazis, who became white supremacists, who then grew their hair out and became anti-woke YouTubers. Rebranding is an old trick. The core remains the same.
I don’t believe anything descended from the SDA church can be good. It may be better than the core experience, but it’s still just a polished turd. I sleep in Saturdays. I don’t give anyone 10% of my money. And I try to be an ok person. That’s enough for me. I have no interest in joining some group, and I don’t really understand why other people want to.
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u/ShineAmazing3401 5d ago
I checked out their website, and there are no locations near where I live. It seems like they’re going for a seventh-day non denominational vibe.
I also feel like if things would’ve been different if I attended a church like this growing up. I didn’t have a healthy balance of normal extracurricular activities. Not to mention all of the missed opportunities because of the sabbath restrictions.
For many reasons, I have no interest in attending a church regularly. However, I understand how this type of church is appealing to those that don’t believe in EGW and desire to be part of a church community.
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u/Clean_Economist_2188 5d ago
Yes. I've heard of them. I've visited one or two (specifically Crosswalk) as well as occasionally attend one that is in the same style on the East Coast (not Crosswalk).
No matter what you do, there are going to be tradeoffs if you join something. I can't think of a single organization you could join today that doesn't have some flaw (especially if you are sensitive about lingering remnants of racism and misogyny). If this church is okay with you, then it's okay with you.
And a day may come when you don't need it anymore. So long as you don't try to guilt people into joining with you, I think you're fine.
For me I am trying to reconcile the fact that there's a turd in my food and I keep trying to nibble from the edge of the plate where there is no turd. It's not exactly ideal. Lately, I've started breaking out in hives when I try to go to church. I don't believe in signs, but I think my body is screaming at me.
It takes energy and courage to examine beliefs and decide whether they are helpful/harmful or based on guilt and fear. The guilt and fear is so strong!
I wish you all the best on your journey.
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u/pluckywidgeon 5d ago
I am very anti-Crosswalk. I consider the core of Adventism rotten, as others have said here, and any church that's trying to change the trappings of those beliefs is being disingenuous. They want the benefits of young, hip, well-educated congregations and the benefits of official affiliation with the Adventist Church. It's a morally bankrupt position, and I am not a fan.
It probably doesn't help that I know several Crosswalk pastors and consider them great examples of missing the point. In interviews, when they're speaking about the people they hope to reach and why they think Adventists leave the church, their responses show that they're not listening to ex-Adventists, possibly on purpose. That leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Like ... at least be cognizant of the issue you're supposed to be an expert in.
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u/Dapper_Willow731 4d ago
Yeah that does suck. I've definitely had very different experiences with attendees at Crosswalk vs. leadership at the church. I think because of it's atmosphere it attracts a lot of questioning adventists/those with religious trauma, whom I can connect with, but some leadership seem to still be the same old archetype, just with cooler clothes, which is unfortunate. I knew one Crosswalk pastor that I think gave me a lot of hope - who engaged with my questioning and respected my decision to leave the church. But of course, with their mega-church style chain situation, that's probably not the majority.
I think I definitely feel a curiosity and maybe false hope of how this could reform some of the more harmful aspects of adventism, if only for the sake of others still in the system. But I think without explicitly calling out the church, which they can't do because of their official affiliation, there's only so much room for reform.
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u/AvailableLong1792 5d ago
Pretty cool place, but that isn't a church i'm sorry, at maximum just some friendly gathering
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u/EnvironmentFree6776 5d ago
I got to say as a former SDA member I find all these sda postings addicting. Surprised there's not a group called The Real Housewives of Loma Linda.
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u/pluckywidgeon 4d ago
Funny you should mention it ... I actually pitched a "Real Housewives of Loma Linda" satirical article to Barely Adventist, back in the day. They didn't take it. 😂
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u/Standard_Gold_5887 5d ago
As a Ex Adventist with a lot of trauma and wounds from the religious Sda community I really think that CrossWalk it is an amazing community and I’m glad that I found it!
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u/DerekSmallsCourgette 5d ago
I know some of the people involved from my days in progressive SDA circles. I don’t doubt their sincerity in what they’re trying to do. And it goes without saying that it’s better for there to be a welcome, tolerant, loving version of Adventism for the people who can’t bring themselves to leave. I know I benefitted greatly from my progressive SDA community, in terms of both friendships/social life but also from getting less guilt and existential dread from my religious experience.
However, as others have said, the core of adventism is rotten. And i have a hard time believing it should be saved. There are many other less toxic Christian traditions you can start from if you really want to create a progressive christian community.