A Concerned Community Comes Together

Hundreds of Coronado residents turned out to learn more about the Christian nationalism threat to our democracy and how our community is being directly impacted by an aggressive "megachurch".

May 21, 2024

Coronado Performing Arts Center, May 20, 2024

It was a packed house Sunday at the screening of the God & Country documentary at the Coronado Performing Arts Center.

People in our community truly care.

We are concerned about the threat of Christian nationalism. We are also alarmed by the Awaken megachurch, a radical political hate group, whose founder, Jurgen Matthesius, adheres to the false gospel of Christian nationalism.

He calls us unholy, unclean demons, threatens to run us out of town, has attempted to take over our school board, is trying to exploit our military, and vows to "take the crown of our Crown City."

Jurgen Matthesius also posts an endless stream of hate, vitriol, and disinformation on social media. Included in his feed are posts accusing John McCain of being a traitor. He calls for the reinstatement of waterboarding and public executions. He spreads QAnon disinformation and wild conspiracy theories. He demonizes and condemns any who dare disagree with him.

I had the opportunity this month to interview Evangelical Pastor Doug Pagitt about Awaken. Pastor Pagitt is a prominent voice in the God & Country documentary, and this video was also shown at our special screening of the film.

Sunday’s event was moderated by World Religion Professor Peter Bolland. Here’s an interview I did with Peter several months ago in which he aptly characterizes Awaken as an “invasive species”.

After the screening of God & Country, Professor Bolland led a panel discussion with three local pastors, JT Greenleaf of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, Steve Mather of the Coronado Council of churches, and Reverend David Rodriguez of Graham Memorial Presbyterian Church. It lasted more than an hour and covered a lot of territory.