About Colorado Springs
Colorado Springs & the Pikes Peak Region
We were recently named by U.S. News & World Report as the 3rd-best place to live in the country: not bad! Outdoor recreation abounds, and even with the temperate climate of the high desert, Pikes Peak and the Rocky Mountain foothills are just 5-10 minutes away. Colorado Springs was one of the few Western towns founded not as a mining or commercial center, but as a resort devoted to physical healing. We believe the Spirit is using us and other churches here to help return the Springs into a place of deeper healing!
The Springs (also called COS) is growing rapidly because of the quality of life. This creates a high degree of transience, and therefore loneliness. Youth suicide rates are some of the hightest in the nation, and homelessness is a signifcant issue. Since so many have moved here from somewhere else, we are a “city of self-imposed exiles,” in a sense. The culture’s orientation towards recreation creates a laid-back, pleasure-seeking mentality: if you’re asked, “what do you do?,” the questioner is as likely to be asking about your preferred form of recreation (hiking, rock climbing, etc.) as your job!
Spiritually, although the city was known as the “Evangelical Vatican” in the 1990’s and 2000’s, that reputation is now legacy. 40% of Colorado Springs are “nones,” confessing no established faith (twice the national average). Although churches abound here, there is also a deep hunger for depth of relationship, robust teaching, and real vulnerability. Culturally, there is a growing pessimism towards conservative Christian political activism that marked much Christian engagement in previous seasons of the city’s life. It is being replaced – within the church – by a desire to be a faithful presence of the gospel in the cracks of crevices of our city. Service-focused movements like COSILoveYou (COSILoveYou.com) are an example of the “leading edge” of how the Spirit is stirring churches in the city.