Frequently Asked Questions

Questions, Doubts, and the Sacred Journey

You do not have to leave your questions at the door.

The Urban Pilgrim Nun is a space for seekers, believers, doubters, mystics, skeptics, spiritual wanderers, and people who simply aren’t sure what they believe anymore.

We believe that honest questions can be sacred.

Our guiding conviction is simple:

We are one.

Our objective is eternal progression.
Our goal is a fuller life for everyone.
Our slogan is Live and help live.

What is the Urban Pilgrim Nun?

The Urban Pilgrim Nun is the ministry and spiritual work of Sister Abigail Hester, OFC.

It brings together progressive Christianity, Franciscan and Clarean spirituality, interspiritual practice, contemplative living, social justice, mystical exploration, and respect for the wisdom found throughout the world’s religious traditions.

The pilgrim does not pretend to have arrived.

She keeps walking.

Do you believe in God?

Yes—but perhaps not in the way the word God is sometimes understood.

We do not insist that God must be imagined as a supernatural person sitting somewhere above the universe.

God may be encountered as the Ground of Being, the Sacred Mystery within existence, the depth of love, the movement toward justice, or the divine presence permeating creation.

Different people use different language for this Mystery.

We leave room for that.

Do I have to believe in God to belong?

No.

Believers, agnostics, atheists, humanists, mystics, and people who simply answer “I don’t know” are welcome.

We are more interested in how our beliefs shape the way we live than in demanding intellectual conformity.

Can we become more compassionate?

Can we seek justice?

Can we care for one another and the Earth?

Can we help life flourish?

Those questions matter deeply to us.

Are you Christian?

Yes, but ours is a progressive and non-dogmatic Christianity.

We seek to follow the way of Jesus while recognizing that Christianity does not possess a monopoly on truth.

Our Christianity is willing to learn from Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hindu traditions, Pagan and Earth-centered spirituality, humanism, philosophy, science, and other sources of human wisdom.

Following Jesus does not require us to stop listening to everyone else.

What do you believe about Jesus?

Jesus stands at the center of our Christian spiritual path.

We encounter Jesus as teacher, prophet, wisdom figure, healer, mystic, liberator, and revelation of what a life radically surrendered to love can look like.

People within our community may understand the divinity, resurrection, and historical meaning of Jesus differently.

Uniformity is not required.

What matters is taking seriously the way of Jesus: compassion, liberation, forgiveness, justice, peacemaking, radical hospitality, and solidarity with people pushed to society’s margins.

Do you believe Jesus is the only way to God?

We do not teach that every person must become Christian in order to encounter the Divine or live a meaningful spiritual life.

The Christian tradition gives us our primary language for following Jesus, but Sacred Mystery cannot be imprisoned within one religion.

There are many paths through the human search for truth, love, liberation, and transcendence.

Our task is not to conquer those paths.

Our task is to meet our neighbors upon them.

Do you believe the Bible is the literal Word of God?

We take the Bible seriously without requiring biblical literalism or inerrancy.

The Bible is a library of ancient writings produced by human beings wrestling with God, community, suffering, liberation, morality, identity, empire, hope, and meaning.

Because the Bible contains many voices, genres, historical settings, and theological perspectives, it should be studied critically as well as devotionally.

Scripture becomes most life-giving when it helps us love more deeply, resist oppression, seek justice, and become more fully human.

What happens when the Bible and modern knowledge disagree?

We do not abandon reason, science, history, or human experience in order to protect a particular interpretation of scripture.

Our understanding of scripture can grow.

Faith should not be frightened by knowledge.

Do you believe in hell?

We reject the use of hell as a weapon of fear or religious control.

We do not teach that a loving God eternally tortures people because they belonged to the wrong religion, held the wrong theology, or failed a religious test.

Whatever lies beyond death remains Mystery.

Our responsibility is to create less hell here—less hunger, violence, hatred, exploitation, loneliness, oppression, and despair.

Do you believe in heaven?

We remain open to the mystery of what may exist beyond death.

But spirituality should not become an excuse to neglect this world while waiting for another one.

The spiritual life asks us to participate in creating glimpses of heaven here and now wherever compassion replaces cruelty, community replaces isolation, and justice overcomes oppression.

What is interspirituality?

Interspirituality goes beyond simply tolerating other religions.

It means encountering the wisdom and practices of multiple traditions with respect while remaining honest about their differences.

We can learn from one another without pretending that every religion teaches exactly the same thing.

Unity does not require uniformity.

Does “We Are One” mean all religions are the same?

No.

Religions contain genuine differences, disagreements, beautiful wisdom, complicated histories, and sometimes harmful teachings.

We are one means that beneath our differences we share a common humanity, a common Earth, and a common responsibility for one another.

Our diversity does not have to become division.

What does radically pluralistic mean?

It means we do not merely tolerate religious and philosophical diversity—we expect it.

People can encounter truth through different traditions, cultures, philosophies, sciences, experiences, and spiritual practices.

No single institution owns the Sacred.

What does anti-dogmatic mean?

It does not mean that we believe nothing.

It means that beliefs should remain open to examination, experience, scholarship, reason, and growth.

A belief should never become a cage.

We would rather have a community filled with sincere questions than one filled with compulsory answers.

What does democratizing religion mean?

Spiritual wisdom does not belong exclusively to clergy, theologians, institutions, or religious authorities.

Every person deserves the freedom to explore life’s deepest questions.

Teachers can guide.

Communities can support.

Traditions can provide wisdom.

But nobody else gets to own your conscience.

What is eternal progression?

Eternal progression is the conviction that spiritual life is a continuing process of growth.

We are always becoming.

There is always more to learn, more compassion to practice, more prejudice to unlearn, more wisdom to discover, and more deeply to love.

The pilgrimage continues.

What does “Live and help live” mean?

It means seeking a fuller life not merely for ourselves but for others.

Live fully.

Help others flourish.

Protect life.

Practice compassion.

Resist systems that crush human dignity.

Leave the world a little more alive because you passed through it.

Is doubt a sin?

No.

Doubt can be an important part of spiritual maturity.

Sometimes doubt destroys an inadequate understanding of God so that something deeper can emerge.

Faith and doubt can even live in the same person.

Questions are welcome here.

Are LGBTQ+ people welcome?

Yes.

LGBTQ+ people are not problems to be solved, theological debates to be conducted, or exceptions to God’s love.

They are human beings possessing inherent dignity.

They are welcome to participate fully in the spiritual life and leadership of our community.

Do you support women in ministry?

Absolutely.

Gender is not a qualification for—or barrier to—spiritual leadership.

What is the Order of Franciscan Clareans?

The Order of Franciscan Clareans (OFC) is a progressive Franciscan-inspired religious community drawing particular inspiration from St. Francis and St. Clare of Assisi.

Its spirituality emphasizes simplicity, compassion, peace, care for creation, solidarity with marginalized people, contemplative practice, and courageous love.

What is the Interspiritual Order of ChristoCorrellians?

The Interspiritual Order of ChristoCorrellians explores spiritual bridges between Christianity and the Correllian Nativist Tradition within a broader interspiritual framework.

Its purpose is dialogue and spiritual exploration rather than declaring that two distinct traditions are identical.

What is Kilubansa?

Within Sister Abigail’s spiritual practice, Kilubansa is associated with healing spirituality and ritual.

Practices connected with Kilubansa emphasize healing, prayer, reverence, compassion, and relationship with the sacred dimensions of life.

Are you trying to create one world religion?

No.

Interspirituality does not require eliminating religious differences.

We are interested in relationship without erasure.

Christians can remain Christian. Buddhists can remain Buddhist. Pagans can remain Pagan. Muslims can remain Muslim. Humanists can remain humanist.

The table becomes richer because everyone does not bring the same dish.

Do I have to agree with Sister Abigail?

Absolutely not.

If everybody agreed with the nun all the time, something would probably be terribly wrong.

Spiritual community should encourage thought rather than manufacture conformity.

Disagreement conducted with compassion, humility, curiosity, and respect can help everyone grow.

Is science compatible with your spirituality?

Yes.

Science helps us understand how the universe works.

Spirituality explores questions of meaning, value, wonder, relationship, purpose, and transformation.

When scientific evidence challenges an old religious interpretation, we should be willing to reconsider the interpretation.

Truth has nothing to fear from investigation.

What is your position on religious authority?

Religious authority should serve people rather than control them.

Clergy and spiritual teachers can offer wisdom, scholarship, pastoral care, ritual, and guidance.

They should never demand unquestioning obedience.

Your conscience belongs to you.

Is this a church for people who have been hurt by religion?

We hope it can be a safe spiritual home for people carrying religious wounds, but we do not claim that a religious community can substitute for professional mental-health care when that care is needed.

There is no requirement to rush back into religion.

You may question.

You may disagree.

You may explore.

You may rest.

You may take your time.

What is the mission of the Urban Pilgrim Nun?

Our mission is to encourage spiritual exploration, radical compassion, interfaith understanding, justice, peace, human dignity, care for creation, and the lifelong transformation of the human person.

We seek a spirituality big enough for questions, brave enough to confront injustice, humble enough to keep learning, and compassionate enough to make room at the table.

Still Have Questions?

Good.

A spiritual community without questions is probably a museum.

The Urban Pilgrim Nun exists for pilgrims—people still walking, wondering, learning, doubting, discovering, loving, and becoming.

You don’t have to possess perfect beliefs.

You don’t have to have everything figured out.

Come with your questions.

Come with your story.

Come as you are.