Posted on 10/24/2025 7:55:12 AM PDT by Cronos
I have a niche hobby of looking at church websites.
I consider myself a super sleuth, combing through church websites to figure out their theology and politics. Though I am not especially religious anymore, there is nothing I love more than uncovering secret, conservative evangelicals.
Church Clarity. It was also born of necessity. I’ve lived in Boston for over a decade where you must be able to read between the lines on a church’s website or social media as more conservative churches try to fly under the radar in this notoriously secular city.
As a scholar of religion, I’ve also long been interested in how churches market themselves — what they highlight versus what they hide in order to attract new members in the religious marketplace.
Unfortunately, a lot of churches don’t want to be upfront about some of their strongly held beliefs, in particular when they hold conservative views on the role of women in ministry or on the existence and acceptance of LGBTQ+ people. In Boston, in my experience, a church typically doesn’t want to come out and say, “Oh yes, we’re Southern Baptist” or “Oh yes, we believe women and gay people can’t serve in ministry.” Instead, these beliefs are manifest in subtler ways.
My friends know I love to look at church websites, and they ask for my help and advice when they encounter a church in the wild and need some insight into the church’s theology. A few recent examples:
Last year, a friend received a mailer from a new church in her neighborhood. The flyer had vaguely evangelical vibes, but the church’s denominational affiliation or theology weren’t clear. She sent me a picture of the flyer, and I went straight to the church website and social media accounts. I started by looking at their pastors and staff and the congregation’s statement of faith. A few potential red flags, but nothing glaring. It wasn’t until I did a deep dive into their sermon archive that their conservative evangelical theology became clear.
Red flags I tend to look for? All white men in leadership positions. Or only men in leadership positions. Women in leadership roles but only those aimed at women and children. No clear statement on LGBTQ+ issues. If a church is not explicit about this, it generally means they have a conservative stance. In my experience, churches that fully support, embrace, and welcome LGBTQ+ people are more than happy to openly share that information on their websites.
A big part of the reason I enjoy this hobby is because I feel so strongly that it’s disingenuous for churches to obscure their beliefs or make them hard to find. It comes across as preying on vulnerable people who are simply looking for connection and meaning. If people aren’t familiar with Christian churches, denominations, and the nuances of Protestant theology, they easily miss these subtle red flags. They might attend, become involved or join a church that ends up denying their call to ministry or their very existence, dignity, and personhood.
People shouldn’t have to have a PhD in American religious history or have to mine the depths of a church website to understand their basic theological beliefs, particularly those beliefs related to women and LGBTQ+ individuals.
It feels like a trap meant to lure unsuspecting people into the pews by making these churches seem more progressive than they really are. And while it is fun for me to explore church websites to dig up this dirt, I’d much prefer churches be honest and forthcoming about their beliefs so that people know exactly what they’re getting themselves into.
Though I do agree that on most non-Catholic/Orthodox/Oriental Orthodox churches website it is nearly impossible to figure out where they stand on theology
Strange hobby. Sounds likes he wants the Church to adhere to her personal belief system and lifestyle. She has it completely backwards.
And finding the “Statement of Faith” on church websites is not hard to do. It’s typically front and center.
All you have to do is walk by the church on a Sunday morning during services. If it is nearly empty, you know it is woke.
Created in God’s image, we humans return the favor and recreate God in the image we like best: the one in the mirror.
100% pure BS if she's not religious. That'd be like Stacey Abrams claiming her friends are all the time asking her for weight loss advice.
This summer another friend mentioned a church the person she was dating was involved in. She couldn’t get a clear read of his religious beliefs or politics. This was a fun one because she also couldn’t remember the name of the church, only that it met in an old theater and had some sort of small groups that featured heavily. But with these few details and a couple of Google searches, I quickly found it.
She claims straightforward Christian beliefs are “red flags”.
That sort of claim is very much a “red flag” for Christians.
Church Clarity, the organization, is a doxxing site to target conservative churches under the guise of “just wanting to know their real doctrine.” It’s mainly meant for homosexual activists to launch attacks, i.e. start a social media post about how they were not allowed to “get married” at the church because they wanted to “marry” someone of the same sex. Or that they were forced to used the restroom corresponding to their true sex.
These activist have no interest in learning biblical theology about the sins they have such a problem with. I say, good riddance to them.
That said, many popular evangelical mega-churches use weasel words to address their biblical theology on sexual and family matters. I find this to be deceitful and best. THey are hirelings only looking to score a possible tithe-providing human who has no intention of embracing their doctrine. Might as well be up front about it.
I would be interested in those that have taken a deep dive into the Books of Hebrews and pondered the identity of the Author.
Suggested authors have included-
Paul (doubtful)
Luke (again doubtful)
Barnabas (strong candidate)
Clement of Rome and
Priscilla - The same Priscilla introduced to us as the spouse of Aquila. Luke introduces and refers to the couple using her name first (that would be a clue as to deference)
Priscilla and Aquila took Apollos aside to privately discipled him, explaining “the way of God more accurately”
I bring this up since I also use a church website in an effort to determine “what they really believe”. Most fellowships avoid the word denomination. But if they mention other churches with which they have a fellowship, perform a background on those other churches. I have found some groups where all the pastors have attended the same obscure seminary, not well known to others. Again, a clue
In the End, we must answer as to how we relate to the King of the Kingdom. He will sort out the sheep from the goats. Our personal case we should be a Sheep, not a goat, and certainly not a wolf.
Mentions of Jesus, Jesus’ love, Jesus’ grace gives a clue. The more, thye better.
She is not looking for a church but a woke club house.
But, the point of looking at churches advertisement is interesting. Used to look in the yellow pages and God and Jesus were seldom mentioned.
To be honest, churches are club houses. That is not all bad but clubs have one thing that unites them (sewing, gardening, etc) What is the one thing that unites them?
I used to belong to an all mens Toastmasters Club that met at 6:30 am on Saturday morning. I could has each man WHY they were there and get the same answer.
Try that at a church sometime.
Mmm, maybe. I’m sure there are plenty of packed out churches that are filled with self-righteous lefties who equate doing good (whether it’s really good is debatable) above everything else because deep inside, they think doing good is how they are getting to Heaven.
Peach
I have a niche hobby of looking at church websites.
Allison (with an agenda) desperately looking for churches (without one)
Allison does hit a simple truth here.
Any church that obfuscates, submerges, or subsumes their doctrinal positions is being disingenuous.
Said church is more into marketing themselves than in preaching the Gospel.
A pox on these so-called “evangelical” churches for they are not really “evangelical” to begin with.
what do you mean by weasel words
Weasel words like: "Homosexual behavior is not the best God has for you." It is soft pedaling of sin at best.
We’re in the early stages of finding a new church due to a serious disagreement with leadership at our current place.
I recently heard a pastor speak at a Charlie Kirk memorial and liked what he had to say. When we looked up his church it was all slick marketing.
Not a word about their statement of faith which is the first thing I look at.
Immediately decided it’s not an option.
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