Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Godless In Eden? : The Metroscape's Post-Modern Religious Life, Patricia Killen

Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies Publications

An independent proprietorship focused on eclectic spiritual quests, a fading historic Protestant denomination, a thriving suburban mega church, and a home base for organized atheism—these seemingly disparate entities are both old and new on the religious landscape of the Portland metro area. They exemplify long-standing patterns in the ways people in Oregon compose individual and corporate religious journeys—fluid, unfettered individual spiritual quests that for some coalesce into communal forms that provide structure, interpersonal connections and spiritual resources. At the same time, like the growing cone on Mount St. Helens, these groups are the crust of deeper activity, three decades of …