WHY ARE WE OFFERING THIS ALTERNATIVE NARRATIVE BELIEVED BY EARLIER CHRISTIANS?
Why We Began.
Recover Christianity was born out of a deep concern for those who felt their tough questions about faith were left unanswered, leading many to drift away from Christianity. We recognized the need for a space where these challenging questions could be explored openly and honestly, without rigid certitude. Our mission is to help individuals rediscover their faith in a non-judgmental and understanding environment. By addressing these concerns with empathy and insight, we aim to reconnect people with the profound and enduring truths of Christianity.
About The Founder – Vance Brown – My Story
I grew up deeply immersed in the Southern Baptist tradition, right in the heart of the Evangelical movement in North Carolina. Church wasn’t just a Sunday event—it was life. Sunday mornings, Sunday nights, Wednesday nights—I was there. My father attended Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary but dropped out because of the emotional pressure. His father was a Southern Baptist fundamentalist preacher and Christian author in the Smoky Mountains. My uncle was on the original team of 13 scholars who translated a new evangelical Bible called the New International Version (NIV) translation, and he was on the advisory board for the International Council on Biblical Inerrancy.
I remember that when I was a teenager, my parents left our Southern Baptist Church when, after attending for over 10 years, they learned that the pastor did not believe in the absolute inerrancy of scripture - specifically that Jonah may not have literally been swallowed by a large fish. My entire family lived and breathed the “inerrant” scripture. Faith, for us, was about believing the right things, following the right biblical rules, and making sure you were on the right side of eternity.
My personal moment of evangelical "salvation" came after watching Billy Graham on television. He asked the question that sent a jolt of fear through my young heart: “If you died tonight, do you know where you would go?” That night, I accepted Jesus as my "Lord and Savior"—because, well, the alternative sounded terrifying. I studied the course materials, checked all the boxes, and did my best to live up to the purity codes and moral expectations that came with it.
Yet fear was my constant companion—fear of sinning, fear of punishment, fear of somehow not believing the "right way." Anxiety ran deep in my family, and over time, I realized that this fear-based spirituality wasn’t just affecting me—it was shaping generations of my family tree.
I stayed within the Evangelical world for years, moving to Colorado at the age of 32. In Colorado Springs, another evangelical hub, I dove deep into the terrifying spiritual warfare narratives that were entrenched in the community. I even started a ministry called Band of Brothers (bandofbrothers.org) and authored an evangelical book, No Matter the Cost (published by Bethany House). My life was dedicated to fighting the good fight—resisting sin, proving my faithfulness, and holding tight to the certainty of my beliefs. But the reality was that I could not resist all sin—never have and never will. I failed miserably at times, as I shared in my book.
But my world changed about ten years ago.
A Crisis That Changed Everything
My oldest son, fresh out of college and working in Denver, asked me to meet him for a conversation that would shake my world. He told me that he had become an atheist.
He simply could not believe in a God who commanded genocide in the Old Testament, nor could he reconcile a supposedly loving Father who would torment people forever—without any redemptive hope—simply for not believing the right things.
My gut sank. I had wrestled with some of these questions myself, but now the stakes were higher—this was my son’s eternity at risk. I begged him to take me through his journey, to show me what had led him to this place. After some resistance, he agreed—but under two conditions:
I couldn’t check my brain at the door.
I had to be willing to change my beliefs if the evidence and my heart pointed me there.
That conversation launched me into a relentless search for truth. As an Evangelical Christian, I had never studied any church history before Martin Luther. In fact, many in my circle believed Catholics were destined for hell—a perspective I later realized was so bizarre given that we came out of the Jewish and Catholic traditions. As a lawyer, I decided to approach the questions of faith, scripture, and historical theology with the same rigor and passion I brought to my legal training. I wanted to understand why we believe what we believe, where those beliefs originated, and whether they truly reflected the heart of God.
I pored over history, theology, and scripture—not just to find answers, but to experience some healing. To find some freedom from the fear-based theology that had dominated my worldview for so long.
Recover Christianity
Throughout my working career as an entrepreneur, CEO, and lawyer, I’ve taken on big challenges, but none have ever been as important as this one. Nothing has mattered more to me than my understanding of who God is, who we are, and what it really means to follow Jesus.
Recover Christianity was born out of this journey. I know I’m not alone in questioning the fear-based, transactional version of faith that so many of us inherited. This project is about rediscovering the heart of Jesus, embracing the mystery of faith, and letting go of toxic narratives that have driven so many away from Christianity.
If you’ve ever felt like you had to choose between your heart and your faith, your intellect and your beliefs—this space is for you. If you have a child who is leaving the Christian faith, or is considering doing so and you are concerned—this space is for you.
A More Beautiful Ending Than I Expected
Both my son and I went through a long, difficult season of deconstruction—asking hard questions, challenging old assumptions, and wrestling with doubt. But what we found on the other side wasn’t the absence of faith, but its restoration.
We both emerged with a deeper, more vibrant faith in Jesus—one rooted in love, grace, and the vast mystery of God. Today, we are both passionate followers of Christ, more convinced than ever that the true gospel is good news for all.
This journey didn’t destroy our faith—it deepened it. If you find yourself in the wilderness, wondering if there’s a way forward—know that there is. And it’s more beautiful than you ever imagined.
Let’s recover Christianity together.
ABOUT OUR LOGO.
The Recover Christianity logo intertwines an infinity symbol, a wave, and a heart, using two shades of blue to visually encapsulate our core mission.
The infinity symbol represents God's infinite love—boundless, unchanging, and ever-present. It reminds us that grace is not a transaction but an eternal embrace. (Romans 8:38-39)
The wave, composed of three strands, reflects the trinitarian flow—Father, Son, and Spirit—guiding us through life’s uncertainties. It also symbolizes the movement of faith itself: ebbing, flowing, evolving, yet always connected to the Source. (John 7:38)
The heart embodies the essence of the Gospel: Love. Love for God, love for others, love for truth. (Matthew 22:37-39)
The two shades of blue represent the union of the old and the new—ancient wisdom and fresh revelation, deep tradition and open exploration. Recover Christianity seeks to hold onto what is eternally good, true, and beautiful while embracing the Spirit’s movement in the here and now. (Matthew 13:52)
Together, these elements visually declare our passion: to recover a faith rooted not in fear, but in love; not in exclusion, but in belonging; not in getting it right, but in transformation.