Our Story
Beginning in 2023, we set out to create spaces for college students to learn about and experience the deep roots of Christianity, regardless of their faith background.
“Why did I never know what the first centuries of church leaders wrote?”
This is one of the questions that fueled our beginning. We were bothered by our own lack of awareness of what church leaders and heroes of the faith (like St Justin Martyr, St Athanasius, and St John Chrysostum among so many others) wrote and we wanted to introduce college students to these writings and commentaries on Scripture. So, we set out to create a relaxed space where students could gather every week and hear about the roots of Christianity, choosing how the faith and teaching of these early Christians would impact their life today.
Are you saying there exists a church today that actually looks like how the apostles worshiped?
Yes! Early churches engaged all fives senses. You would have smelled incense, seen iconography, touched your own forehead as you made the sign of the cross, tasted the Eurcharist, heard prayers, bells and ancient hymns. In the Orthodox Church today, these still exist.
“Why does it matter what the early church looked like?”
The church, established by Christ and lived out by the apostles, was meant to serve the world in helping us develop a closer relationship with God. When we lose the connection and understanding to early church life, we lose a very significant opportunity for healing— healing we need from the disfigured life of sin. We are meant to live a full life, with God. Everything that the Church does guides us towards Christ, life with him, and is the path for cultivation of this relationship. At Rooted, we desire to help college students begin to rediscover this healing faith that can bring anyone closer to God.