Hopefully it’s obvious that Dune Buggy Abbey is not your answer for religious jokes. Actually, not having answers is exactly why this space exists. It’s kind of our thing: fewer answers, more mystery.

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It all began with a chance conversation about church and a question neither of us could quite shake: What is this whole thing going to look like 25 years from now?

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Rev. Michael McNamara and John Skomski met while John and his wife Natalie were looking for a church. John was burned out on evangelicalism, cynical about Christianity, and reasonably convinced that it was time to put church in the rearview. Mike, a mainline pastor, came at many of the same questions from an almost completely different religious world.

And somehow, the more they talked, the more it worked.

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We found ourselves agreeing on a surprising amount while getting there by very different roads. Mike brings a lifetime inside the church and a belief that there is still something worth tending. John brings the perspective of someone who has spent years pulling apart what he inherited and isn’t interested in putting it back together. That tension isn’t a problem to solve so much as it is a space to explore.

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We’re not interested in defending the church as it is, nor are we looking to tear it down for kicks. We’re also not pretending we know exactly what should replace it. We simply want to gather people who sense that something is changing and want to talk honestly about where we go from here. Clergy, mystics, skeptics, scholars, and fellow travelers are all invited to participate.

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And we're not looking to make “a show.” We want to build a conversation and, hopefully, a community around it. The cameras and microphones are just how we invite more people in.

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The church may be a useful vehicle. Hell, it may even be a beautiful one. But we believe it was never supposed to be the destination.

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So if that notion resonates with you, join us at Dune Buggy Abbey and let's see where the road goes.