I would like to invite you on a journey with me. A journey I call “Finding Faith.”

Now, I don’t want to imply that I am at present searching for my own faith, as I currently experience more confidence in my own faith than I ever have. Nor, do I promise that I can help anyone else find their own faith. For that is a grand mystery that I don’t claim to know the answer to. It is a hubris that I don’t possess.

However, it is my hope that we can explore faith together. And for some that might mean digging deeper into our faiths. For others that might mean just trying to figure out what faith means. And for still others, this journey might just serve as fodder for their scientific arguments that those fanciful “God believers” just will never learn. But I’ll leave all of that up for you to sort out.

But, maybe I’m getting ahead of myself here. … First, how about an introduction?

My name is Devlyn Brooks, and I have been writing the “Finding Faith” column for newspapers in six states for three years now, and I have been serving Faith Lutheran Church in Wolverton since 2017.

My aim in this column is to explore with you where we find “faith,” which for me often is in everyday, ordinary scenarios, things and people.

So why do I use the term “faith” versus “religion?” … Great question!

And the answer is that I think the Big “R” word — as in religion — scares off too many people, or has done too much damage to so many people for quite some time, that it is not helpful. So I settle on talking to people about their faith. Because everyone has faith in something. It might not be the same Christian God in which I have faith, but they have faithing in something.

Full disclosure: A theologian, I am not. I went to seminary with a pastor’s heart, and came out of seminary with a love of parish ministry. And so where I lack the academic credentials to be considered an expert in theology, I believe that I am very busy earning my credentials to write as a pastor.

I hope that we can enjoy this faith journey together — Whether it’s talking about issues that intersect various faith traditions, or telling the story of the many faith communities here in the region, or sharing a moving faith experience I’ve had, I hope this space can become one of sharing, one of learning, one of growth for all of us.

So how about it? … Are you willing to come on this journey of faith with me? I’d be thrilled if you are!

Devlyn Brooks is the CEO of

Churches United, a homeless shelter in Moorhead, and an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, serving Faith Lutheran Church in Wolverton. He blogs about faith at findingfaithin.com, and can be reached at devlynbrooks@gmail.com.