When I accepted the role of Religion Correspondent in December 2019, I was searching for something. Having been raised in a strict Seventh-day Adventist home, my knowledge of our faith was vast, but my relationship with God was shallow. I didn’t feel connected to it and had intentionally stopped participating in the ritual of religion.

I made the decision to search for God outside of the four walls of the church I was raised in, and this role gave me the perfect vantage point to do it.

I have had the privilege of writing over 150 articles, meeting some of the most interesting and inspiring people I know and learning more about religion and faith than I could have ever imagined.

Over the course of three-and-a-half years, we have briefly studied all 12 major world religions, discussed controversial topics like mental health, race and religion, worship in public schools and gender equality in ministry. We’ve confronted common misconceptions and fallacies about faith and found the beauty in our shared differences.

I intentionally set out to diversify this column and give each religious group present in Bermuda the same level of respect, interest, and reverence as Christianity. My mission was to change the way we viewed religion and each other.

Ironically, it turned out to be a life-changing experience for me. And in the end, while I still do not subscribe to any theological doctrine, my faith has been strengthened and my relationship with the God of my understanding is solid.

I’m so grateful to have shared this space with you. For the new friends found and the countless readers who have journeyed with me.

I am now excited to pass this experience on to Chelsea Crockwell, my niece but also an incredible woman of faith. I can’t wait to see the way God uses her and this space in the future.

I hope that as a community we continue to search for God in unconventional places and become inspired by the stories of faith from our neighbours.