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Top Ten Cities for Christian Hipsters

As an entirely unscientific but perhaps accurate summary of the geographic loci of Christian hipster, here is a list of what I suggest are the ten most important cities for Christian hipsterdom. These may not be the cities with the most or the highest concentrations of Christian hipsters; They are simply the most important—for a number of reasons.

10) Orlando: This seems like an unlikely spot for a high hipster population, and indeed it is. But Orlando is the home of Relevant magazine, which immediately puts it on the Christian hipster map. It is also home of the ridiculously unhip Holy Land Experience, and hip churches with names like H20, Status and Summit.

9) Denver/Boulder/Colorado Springs: Let’s just call this the greater Denver / Rocky Mountain region. It’s teeming with Christian hipsters. Colorado Springs is sort of the epicenter for evangelical ridiculousness, which means there are a lot of post-fundamentalist / post-Focus on the Family hipsters running around. Denver is home to Denver Seminary and Colorado Christian University, as well as hipster churches like Scum of the Earth Church and Pathways. Boulder—“Berkley East”—is a whole other story.

8) Minneapolis/St. Paul: The Twin Cities, like Chicago, are sufficiently Midwestern and yet urbane enough to be highly attractive to Christian hipsters. It’s also the home of John Piper’s church, Bethlehem Baptist, Doug Pagitt’s Solomon’s Porch, Greg Boyd’s Woodland Hills Church and several other hipster churches with names like Spirit Garage and Bluer. It’s also a Christian college-heavy town, with Bethel University, North Central University, and Northwestern College all within the Twin Cities metro area.

7) Seattle: This uber hip birthplace of Starbucks and grunge is also a bastion of Christian hip. The presence of Mark Driscoll’s Mars Hill church is a huge factor, but there is also Seattle Pacific and Northwest Universities, Image journal, the headquarters of World Vision, Tooth and Nail Records, and a whole lot of design and tech companies. And there are other hip churches there too, such as Church of the Apostles or Mosaic Community Church—which at one point met at a bar in Capitol Hill, Seattle’s hipster/gay neighborhood.

6) Los Angeles: Southern California as a region is, and always has been, a hotbed of Christian hip. From Santa Barbara all the way down the coast to San Diego, the greater L.A. area (particularly beach cities, L.A. metro, and Orange County) is full of Christian hipsters. There are countless Christian colleges, industries (film, music, media) that naturally attract Christian hipsters, and oodles of hipster churches, including Mosaic, Rock Harbor, Bel Air Presbyterian, Sandals, Reality, and countless others.

5) Grand Rapids: Grand Rapids is the home of Calvin College, so it automatically makes the list. But it’s also a center of Christian book publishing, and the home of some really hip churches—none moreso than Mars Hill Bible Church, pastored by Rob “Evangelical Steve Jobs” Bell.

4) Kansas City: I might be biased, because I’m from Kansas City, but having traveled all over I can honestly say that, against all odds, Kansas City is one of the most influential cities for Christian hip in America. It’s the place where the International House of Prayer (24/7 prayer) originated, where bands like Waterdeep got their start playing at hip Christian coffeehouses like the New Earth. It’s the home of hipster churches like Jacob’s Well, Beggars Table, Vox Dei, Redeemer Fellowship, and The Gathering. And some of the most high-end and fashionable clothing stores in the city (The Standard Style Boutique, Habitat) are owned and operated by Christian hipsters.

3) Washington D.C.: This city has a remarkably large number of young, just-out-of-college inhabitants. They go there to make a difference in the world, interning in government and nonprofit jobs for little or no money. Christian hipsters—highly idealistic, activist-leaning people that they are—migrate to D.C. in large numbers. Hip churches are not hard to come by in D.C. either, including such congregations as Capitol Hill Baptist, Falls Church, Covenant Life Church (pastored by Joshua “I kissed dating goodbye” Harris), and National Community Church, which features a totally hip coffeehouse, Ebenezers.

2) New York: As it is for any other hipster, New York is the dream destination for many Christian hipsters. Whether they go there to be actors, artists, designers, or factory workers, hipsters love living in New York. Currently, it’s the city where many Christian hipster icons (such as Sufjan Stevens, Welcome Wagon, and Jay Bakker) reside. It’s also the site of dozens of very hip, urbane, trend-setting churches like Redeemer Presbyterian, All Angels Episcopal, and Journey, as well as ministries such as the International Arts Movement.

1) Chicago: There are oodles of Christian colleges in the Chicago area–Wheaton, North Park, Moody, Trinity, Olivet Nazarene, and more. But beyond all that, Chicago is just a super hip place to live. Hipsters of all kinds—Christians included—flock there. It’s the home of Pitchfork magazine, for goodness sake. It also has a hip heritage: the Jesus People USA are located in Uptown; the iconic 1968 DNC riots took place in Grant Park; Wilco is from there… It’s also in the Midwest—a convenient urban enclave in the middle of the Bible Belt. For many Christian hipsters, Chicago is the best option for thousands of miles.

Honorable Mention: Portland, San Diego, St. Louis, Dallas, Las Vegas.

Comments

So being a "hip" Christian is cool and "evangelical" is not (i.e. Focus on the Family=not hip). Ok, I can see the non-Christian world agreeing with you there. But since when is Christianity about hipness? How can you judge churches by their "hipness"? Shouldn't they instead be judged by how solidly they are presenting the Bible, God, the truth?

Focus on the Family is presenting the Bible much more solidly than many of those churches ever will.

Jesus was never about being hip. Ever. Neither was Paul or any of the others in the Bible. Read Hebrews 11. None of those people were trying to be "cool" or the most "urbane" or "trendy."

I won't deny that I'm sure people have come to know Jesus as a result of these churches or "hip" Christians. But I'm sure many people have also been led astray into thinking Christianity can be posh, and that it's more wishy-washy go-with-the-current-Christian-trends than what it is supposed to be.

I can't speak for the author but I take this article as a bit tongue-in-cheek. It's more about young people (like me) who are yearning for community (which is important) and finding it in churches and cities which welcome them with open arms, an experience they may not have had in their parents' churches or more traditional churches. My church is open to all, young and old, hip and unhip, whether you have pink hair and tattoos, no matter how you look. So if you show up to my church on a Sunday night, you will see mostly 20 somethings who look like "hipsters", so it's going to get that label.

I'll have to disagree with you that "Focus on the Family is presenting the Bible much more solidly than many of those churches ever will." You're presenting this in black and white terms when it's really a matter of opinion. I am sure you can't be objective unless you have attended every single one of these churches listed. As a member of one of them, which has changed my life, being an atheist before and solidly born-again Christian after.

I’m definitely not holding up “hipster Christianity” as a good thing to be emulated… it’s just a phenomenon worth discussing. So lists like these are not in any way meant to hold “hip churches” in some sort of esteem as much as they are to get us thinking about what the whole idea of “cool Christianity” actually means. I agree with you 100% that churches should be judged by "how solidly they are presenting the Bible, God, the truth" rather than their hip quotient. My whole point in writing the book on Hipster Christianity is to raise that point.

i'd say Atlanta deserves and honorable mention as well. you'd be surprised at the subculture here.

i would still disagree w/ colorado springs, as i lived there and there is still much older generation/billy graham generation influence in that city

and by the way- @ guest one: the "hipster" term (which i personally am not fond of, rather "hippie relational" or something equally dumb)- isn't about making jesus "hip"- it's a culturally accepted attitude, cultural look/fashion, and common thinking that unites people of their 20s/30s- and then guess what? they all believe in following jesus in a way, perhaps that our parents before us did not. each generation will wrestle on its own how it ought to be the hands and feet of the creator. if focus on the family isn't reaching our generation - then so be it. it doesn't make them horrible, it just makes them irrelevant to us. and btw? jesus WAS relevant to his generation. he taught people in a way that they would understand things in their time....he used symbols they understood. so there's nothing wrong w/ the face of jesus changing, just as long as the heart we display him in, remains.

@ guest 2- welcome to the family

Seriously, how is Portland NOT at the top of the list. I can't walk more than a block anywhere in the city (excluding suburbs) without winning at hipster bingo. And of the churches I've visited, that's who's attending them, twenty and thirty something hipsters. I love it!

Huge oversight: Nashville is the world center of CCM. It is as hip as you can get in some quarters. Come on, guys. Not saying being hip is a good thing, it's pretty shallow and inward focused, methinks. But if that is your parameter, there is a problem in your data.

I have just become aware of hipster churches (I'm not able to say that it's a religious movement, but it seems like it to me). Hipster churches are signigicant, I think, because they appear to relate to our more instinctual need for religion, rather than our cultural need. While there are some beliefs in the hipster churches that I might not agree with, nevertheless, I think it is imperitive, as an ordained christian minister, to listen and observe without prejudice. I hope to hear more in the future so I can learn more about the spiritual needs of all people.

I live in Chicago. We are planting a church here (called The Line), though not so much with the hipsters. I think it is amusing that you chose The Chi as #1, but couldn't really come up with any notable hipster churches, unlike all other nine cities. I love the commitment though. I think it just goes to show that much work needs to be done so for all you reading, COME TO CHICAGO AND PLANT SO WE CAN KEEP OUR #1 RANKING!

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About
Brett currently works full-time for Biola University as managing editor for Biola magazine. He also writes movie reviews for Christianity Today and contributes frequently to Relevant magazine.


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