Today we’d like to introduce you to Luke Bricker
Luke, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I grew up as a pastor‘s kid and began vocational ministry at 21 years old. In 2016, at 26, my family (wife and, at the time, 2 babies) moved from Indianapolis to San Diego to start a new church. But, there was a pretty big problem: I was completely deconstructing what I believed about God and therefore myself and my purpose in this new city. This led to a deep “dark night of the soul”. Who I thought I was and everything I thought I knew was completely rattled and turned upside down. In 2017 I began my spiritual exploration and ventured into many different philosophies and world religions, primarily from the East. After some years of being a “spiritual nomad” (I had a podcast under that name as well that is still use from time to time), I felt a divine invitation to revisit my faith of origin, but through a completely new lens informed by my lived experience, actual spiritual practice, and (truthfully) recovery from despair. It took some time to really be authentic in our expression of church (we had a couple ‘false starts’), but in January 2024 we launched our spiritual community Current Collective in full transparency of who we are and how we can be of service to spiritual seekers. We consider ourselves to be a spiritual home for Christ-centered mystics (emphasis on mystic!). We don’t hold any dogma, are not bound by any denomination, and are openly curious when it comes to our beliefs. For Americans, Jesus is a very familiar figure. Virtually everyone has some sort of relationship or opinion about him, whether good or bad. Our hope is to show people a different side of this too-well-known character. Our aim is to reimagine the potential of what church could be and revisit the wisdom teachings of Christ that often get overlooked or dismissed because of our wide-spread cultural assumptions and expectations about Christianity. For us, we less interested about systematic theology and more about themes and symbolism of the Christ narrative that have universal truths that speak to the deepest parts of our human experience and our interconnectedness with the divine. Our community is comprised mostly of open minded contemplative Christians who are excited about a fresh breath in this faith as well as spiritualists and new age folks who have an interest in Jesus, but have been turned off by, or blatantly denied participation in a traditional church. We are a space for anyone who has an affinity for the teachings of Christ to find like-hearted friendship in-person and learn to live into the fullness of who God is in them and through them.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Not smooth at all! Lol. I believe anybody who is truly seeking to do something meaningful will always face difficulties and struggles. But all of that is just the refiners fire, purifying or motivations, and keeping us focused in the right direction. Even at times closing doors that need to be shut so that others can open. At a certain point in the journey, realize struggle is not something to fear, but a helpful guide. When you make friends with struggle, that’s when doors open that you never thought could.
To be more specific in my personal life, though, some of the struggles along the way have been with loved ones not quite understanding our philosophy and mission. Especially being a pastor‘s kid with a father who is still actively leading a church that is quite different theologically than us. I think also a struggle has been to find the courage to be the most authentic and vulnerable version of myself, and realize that in itself is a gift to give I can give to myself and others. As well as practical difficulties, too, of course. Like funding for such a niche nonprofit like ours, and raising a family while leading a growing community.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My work is art, wrapped in spiritual packaging. My craft is to take familiar stories and topics and reimagine them in symbolic and spiritual ways that inspire new possibilities of interpretation, and therefore integration into our lives. As a community we are known for helping people actually experience transformation in their life. Not just adopt some new concept or adapt to another group; we help people drop down into the core of their own being, to become familiar with their own soul, to have an awareness of the ever-loving presence of God, and then provide spiritual, psychological, and emotional tools that provide access to the true self within and become the best versions of ourselves as an act of love.
I’m proud that we are such a unique and different community than virtually any other church or spiritual space in the area. We really tried to find another space that already existed, but we had to create our own if we were going to truly find what we were looking for. And I am proud to say that so many in our community report this is truly something they’ve never experienced before or thought was possible. There’s a lightness about us and what we do. We really see life as a gift and seek to honor our true self.
I believe our specialty is helping people learn who they are so that they can live out an abundant and meaningful life.
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
Not so much for us since we really took off in 2024.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thisiscurrent.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/this.is.current
