Faith Drives Direct Action in Nebraska

The clanking sounds of an espresso machine pulling its next shot swirls with the hissing steam, frothing oat milk for a latte ordered by the waiting stranger at the counter before you.

Stickers adorn the back of the machine – advocating for queer rights, stating that Black lives matter, calling for unity in their community. Nearby, murmuring voices get a little louder as those browsing the bookstand behind you find a title they’re excited about. In the cafe, teens relax on a couch while an older couple in the corner talks quietly over their small table. Walking in from the street, you may never know you’ve just stepped into a church.

A choice made deliberately by its founders.

Located just off of Old Market in downtown Omaha, Nebraska, The Urban Abbey is a Methodist Church, coffeeshop, book store, and gathering space for the city’s progressive community. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellowscene)

The Urban Abbey is a gathering space, a safe place, for the marginalized and ostracized in Omaha, Nebraska. Deliberately established between the gentrifying luxury condos in the historic downtown and the spaces where the poor and unhoused gather and camp, the coffee shop and bookstore are set up to be a catch-all for anyone looking for a third place and community.

Walking through the door, you do see less-than-subtle hints of the house of prayer. Holy water sits in a baptismal font, there are bible verses hanging framed on the exposed red brick wall. On the neatly arranged bookshelves titles like A People’s History of the United States sit only feet away from Marsha P. Johnson’s biography, on a shelf next to the gospel according to Mary Magdalene.

Finding the inclusive restrooms, you stroll past a corkboard laden with fliers and notes including locations for anarchist-organized free kitchens, emergency contraception services, an upcoming 5K race in support of medical care and liberation for the Palestinian people, and the weekly Faith in Action services right there in the coffee shop chapel.

Founded by ordained Methodist minister Rev. Debra McKnight, Urban Abbey’s mission is to be “a space of radical hospitality connecting people to God and one another in everyday life.” They set out on a mission to not only reach people who felt disenfranchised or unrepresented by their church but to hear their needs and help see them be met. Even if it meant taking an activist’s approach.

Driven by a diametric division between conservatism and contemporary principles of acceptance and community, most religious organizations have seen a steady decline in active attendance and congregation attendance over the past 20 years.

While there has been a growth in polled people stating that they simply don’t believe in a monotheist almighty ruler, the majority of those who responded to Pew Research assert their lack of attendance is rooted more simply in feeling a disconnect between the teachings in their texts, and how they seem them wielded by church leaders.

“To see something vibrant and alive and growing and attracting younger folks and families, it’s the like mindedness of the passion for social justice and the progressive theology that people are looking for,” Reverend Dr. Jane Florence, the Abbey’s Spirtual Formation Pastor, said while sitting at one of the cafe tables under the Abbey’s picture window front after the morning’s services.

Reverend Dr.Jane Florence speaks from the lectern during the Faith in Action Sunday morning church services at The Urban Abbey, in Omaha, Nebraska. “I had my own, calling into ministry, and it was undeniable…my own spiritual journey led me and it’s been good,” she reflected later to Yellow Scene while remembering her path to this progressive pulpit. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene).

“People who don’t align, there’s lots of other opportunities, but for folks who have been wounded by the church in the past, or it just doesn’t make sense anymore, they are typically very grateful to find us.”

A growing group of those like-minded civically engaged worshippers come to the Abbey’s dual Sunday morning services. The small cafe overflows, kids playing amongst the bookshelves on laid-out cushions while strangers share their tables with one-another, making space for the folks still coming in the door.

Some found the Abbey when they saw them marching in Omaha’s PRIDE parade or organizing groups of parishioners to offer comments and testimony at their City Council and the State House in the nearby capital city, Lincoln. Another had moved to downtown Omaha three years ago and simply searched for the nearest church to a new home, now she drives past many to return every week, watching the live stream when she travels.

“One is not a Christian just for oneself,” the Reverend said, reflecting on the church’s mission of allowing scripture to build community and to motivate direct action. “It’s not about personal salvation. It’s about the care and wholeness of all, to let go of the notion of separation. We are not separate. We are one.”

While the Abbey has found a mostly peaceful existence in the River City, when topics like drag queen storyhour became an outrage flashpoint in conservative media, they faced backlash for hosting the events. Threatened with violence, including bomb threats, the staff and attendants prefer to stand by their principles.

“I have been labeled unchristian and a witch and everything else,” said Reverend Florence while reflecting on those times, some still recent in the memory. “You know, everybody’s where they are.I would like to think that people are doing the best they can with the information that they have, and that it is not up to me to judge them.”

The church focused their sermons this summer on the small screen, combining allegories from the Gospel of Mary with popular culture. Today, Reverend Florence talked to her flock about The Golden Girls, highlighting the groundbreaking strides the show had platforming queer storylines during Prime Time.

By using their privileges – “how can you censor grandma” a producer once quipped – Dorothy, Rose, Blanche and Sophia could model for the average American tolerance and kind curiosity, to learn about and not fear the new or unknown. A jaunty sing-a-long of the familiar theme song “Thanks for Being a Friend” transitioned the congregation from contemplation through communion.

The Director of Ministry took the lectern and the weekly political and news update was given. Updates on the threats to Omaha’s cultural institutions with a move in the U.S. House to dismantle the Institute of Museum and Library Services, a workshop series centered on the city budget, an upcoming youth tour of a local news station, and a book discussion on urban planning; there were going to be opportunities provided to be engaged.

The service ended and conversation continued. Friends shared stories from their recent travels while other groups went to look one more time through the book stacks. Fliers were distributed to those curious about events, a space was set up for those who needed an ear or a shoulder. The coffee bar re-opened and the sounds of steam again filled the air.

This Sunday morning in Omaha, community came together to not just discuss hope, but to harness it for collective action.

With concerns of outgrowing their space, each service is now averaging an attendance of 50 congregants in the small coffee shop space, the spiritual leadership at The Urban Abbey is adding more service options and discussing expanding in to a larger space in tandem with the Abbey’s bookstore outreach. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene).

Best known for capturing striking content from the frontlines of social movements, Heartland EMMY-nominated filmmaker and photographer Vince Chandler has spent 20 years creating art and documentary visuals across the U.S. They served as Communications Director for Denver City Councilwoman Shontel Lewis, and Vince has earned national recognition for their work as a visual journalist for The Denver Post. Vince was the principal cinematographer for the feature documentary film Running With My Girls, which premiered at the 2021 Denver Film Festival.

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What does resistance & resilience look like in the Heartland of America?

Sometimes it’s a protest outside an ICE detention center. Sometimes it’s a rural nurse explaining how Medicaid cuts will shutter the town hospital. Sometimes, it’s a law professor teaching systemic racism at a University in a state where CRT is banned in public schools.

As Trump’s second term unfolds — and the One Big Beautiful Act guts healthcare, empowers ICE, and reshapes American life — independent journalism is more vital than ever. However, the national press rarely shows up in the places where policy has the most impact.

We do.

These American Crossroads is a collaboration between Vince Chandler, Emmy-nominated visual journalist, and Yellow Scene Magazine, Boulder County’s only independent newsroom.

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