Spiritual Refugees

Friends, I want to talk today about something many people carry quietly: being a spiritual refugee.

A spiritual refugee is someone who once belonged somewhere—within a faith, a tradition, a community—but who no longer feels safe there. Maybe they were pushed out because of who they are. Maybe they left because of harm, hypocrisy, or betrayal. Maybe they simply outgrew the doctrines that once shaped them. Whatever the reason, they didn’t just lose beliefs—they lost belonging.

Think about what it means to lose not just a church, mosque, temple, or synagogue, but also the friendships, rituals, and stories that frame your world. For many, leaving isn’t liberation alone—it’s grief, exile, and a search for home.

When we speak of spiritual refugees, we are naming the courage it takes to start over. To question what was once unquestionable. To walk away from certainty into the wilderness of wondering. To keep seeking community even after community has hurt you.

Our role, if we wish to be a welcoming people, is not to demand that refugees adopt our way of believing or not believing. It is to provide sanctuary. To offer listening instead of lecturing. To honor their scars without trying to erase them. To say: You belong here, not because of what you believe, but because of who you are.

In a world where so many have been told, “You don’t fit. You can’t stay. You are wrong,”—let us be a community that says instead, “Welcome. Rest. Heal. You are enough.”

Kim Hart