Students for Progressive Christianity is a campus religious organization promoting new ways of thinking about the Christian faith.

A minister at the Ames United Church of Christ, a member of the Religious Leaders Association at Iowa State and an adviser to Students for Progressive Christianity, Jonathan Page described Christian organizations on campus as he sees them.

“Currently on campus, there are quite a few Christian organizations representing a variety of evangelical student groups,” Page said. “One thing that’s been missing is a strong, progressive mainline Christian voice to balance out the very strong evangelical voice on campus.”

The goals of Students for Progressive Christianity include an emphasis on right action over right belief, or orthopraxy over orthodoxy. Another goal is social justice. Jesus intended to make the world compassionate and loving, and that should be the emphasis of Christian discipleship, Page said.

“Another big tenet is to be welcoming of all people,” Page said. “Unlike other Christian campus organizations … that don’t welcome people who are gay and lesbian, Students for Progressive Christianity welcomes everyone to the table, just as Jesus did.”

Zachary Houborg, senior in landscape architecture, serves as the group’s president.

Catholic, evangelical, agnostic and atheist belief systems have all been represented at group meetings in the past, which creates great conversation about the nature of God, said Houborg.

Michael Tallon, sophomore in architecture, talked about the nature of the meetings hosted by Students for Progressive Christianity.

“You may not ascribe to our beliefs, but you can come to our meeting and we’ll have a healthy discussion,” Tallon said. 

The best thing about the group is that it opens up dialogue, Houborg said.

“One of the reasons I like the group is that, as an LGBT individual myself, it really acts as kind of a bridge, bridging the gap between the LGBT community and the religious community where there isn’t much of a conversation going on,” Houborg said.

Some students want to know what being gay means for their faiths and we try to help with those questions, Page said.

“It has big implications for how you read the Bible, how you wrestle with Christian traditions, and big implications for the nature of salvation,” Page said. “We get an opportunity to think through some of these issues.”

The issues being sorted out are of great importance, Houborg said.

“The last thing I want to see is LGBT students on campus throw out religion because they don’t think it’s compatible [with their lifestyles] because that’s not true at all,” Houborg said.

Tallon talked about the benefits available for new students interested in joining Students for Progressive Christianity.

“It opens your mind and throws some issues at you that you might not have considered before,” Tallon said. “You’ll see things in a new light, which is never a bad thing. Even if you don’t agree … you can still have some lively discussion about it.”

Page also commented on potential benefits for new members involving incorporating faith with contemporary life.

“There’s no reason to run away from contemporary science or contemporary philosophy. If God really did make all of this, then it all works together. It’s a question of trying to see how,” Page said. “I think some of those questions challenge us, and as a result, a lot of people run from them.”

Students for Progressive Christianity meets Thursdays at 8 p.m. at Stomping Grounds in Campustown. Anyone is free to attend, Houborg said.

“It’s a very loose membership structure,” Houborg said. “It ebbs and flows, but everyone is welcome.”