NEWBERRY — Each month, both members and non-members of The Lutheran Church of The Redeemer gather to discuss “geek culture” and how that particular topic relates to stories in the Bible and the life of faith we get to live out each day.

The group, called “Nerd Word,” was created by Rev. Matthew Titus, pastor of Redeemer. Titus said he wanted to do something because he himself, is a geek.

“I love movies, TV shows, video games, books and comics and always find when I approach them, that I always approach them as, what is God trying to tell us in this? How can we see God present in this?” Titus said. “I wanted to be able to share that. I have a friend who is a pastor in North Carolina — that has a similar group that is called God Loves Geeks — and I didn’t want to shamelessly rip him off, but definitely wanted to glean as much as I could from the group he has. So I talk to him a lot, trying to get something started.”

With that idea in mind, Titus formed the group in May 2018, shortly after the film Avengers: Infinity Wars came out. Jokingly, Titus said there was a need for a support group after the ending of that movie. Since that first gathering, the group has met pretty consistently to discuss topics such as The Good Place, Jurassic Park Franchise and Solo: A Star Wars Story.

“Some of the conversations have been really interesting, with Avengers we talked a lot about morality, we talked a lot about what do we do with those who are over zealous,” Titus said.

Titus could recall many of the conversations from Nerd Word. He said in the Star Wars discussion the group discussed family and honor, referencing the Han Solo and Chewie (Chewbacca) relationship.

“That life pack Chewie makes with Han after Han frees Chewie from slavery,” Titus said.

With Jurassic Park Titus said he had no idea they would have such an in-depth conversation about bio-ethics. When it comes to The Good Place he said there were interesting conversations surrounding the after life, death and resurrection.

The beauty of Nerd Word, it is open to anyone — no matter your age or religious background.

“The biggest shocker is the age range, the youngest person we had participate is an eight year old boy, then the oldest is in there 60s, I think. Everybody has treated each person with respect and love, and even that eight year old boy brought something to the table. Which was great, he just finished the last Harry Potter book and wanted to talk about it,” Titus said. “I think most people really wanna come in and talk about something nerdy and geeky. Giving that space to know they aren’t the only ones who love something as much as the others do.”

Titus added that the group has some neat conversations that some might not be able to talk to their friends about because they aren’t into it.

“I remember one conversation we had after Infinity Wars, how cathartic it was, how healing it was, having that conversation to try and figure everything out. Also, I think it is a way to bring some comfort to talk about faith and the relation within that,” Titus said. “Being in a place we can all share a passion with, think broadly and deeply, could be something more here than we originally thought.”

You might be thinking, how can you relate this “geek culture” back to stories in the Bible? To answer that question, Titus said he calls it Glimmers of the Gospel that can be found in science fiction and fantasy.

“To be able to see it from a different way is something really helpful, a more complete view of what God might be trying to share with us,” he said.

So far, the biggest turn out has been for Jurassic World and Solo: A Star Wars Story.

“It has been neat, been members of the church, but also those who come in and out who aren’t members of the congregation, but are in this group. I think it is very neat,” Titus said. “It’s for talking about faith, and being open to those who have questions, easy entry into having a deeper more broad conversation.”

Titus also reiterated that Nerd Word is not just for Redeemer members, and is open to all faiths.

“I think that is why one of our members suggested a partnership with us and Coffee House 1912, might make even more of a comfortable place, and this lets people know the church goes out as well,” he said.

As Titus said, Nerd Word is made up of various individuals and backgrounds, including the writer of this article. Lisa Senn attends the group with her husband Mark, as well as her daughter and son-in-law Mary Alex and Robbie Kopp.

Senn said she and her husband have joined the group for several reasons.

“We are new to the church and have enjoyed immersing ourselves into several of the programs the church offers. We really like hearing perspectives different from our own, in an effort to avoid getting entrenched in a ‘my way is the only way’ mentality,” Senn said. “We knew this activity was likely to be of interest to millennials, even though it is open to all ages, and we have such an appreciation for the quick witted, well-read, open minded intelligence of the 20 and 30 something crowd that we know and love. My husband loves to watch science fiction programs.”

During the course of Nerd Word, Senn said they always particularly enjoyed discovering and pointing out to each other the Biblical references that often show up in pop culture.

“It gives us pleasure to see that there are those directly involved in fashioning the various forms of social media programming to which we are all exposed, who are Biblically literate and possibly thoughtful about spiritual matters. This group allows us to find out how others feel about popular entertainment and how their faith provides a filter through which they view that entertainment and the world,” she said.

Mary Alex Kopp said she initially came to Nerd Word after discussing the devastating ending to the latest Avengers movie with Titus and a few others.

“The conversation started out as joking around about our enjoyment of ‘nerd’ entertainment. The more we chatted the more we realized we’d like to get a group together and talk out some fun ‘fandom’ theories and how movies, comics or shows give us pause. Anytime [my husband] Robbie and I watch something I always enjoy analyzing the details for foreshadowing, metaphors and parallels to our society or history (you can thank my Newberry High and college teachers for that),” Kopp said. “Something I miss from my college experience was getting to analyze current entertainment and media for practical application to Christian faith and Biblical study. In college I took a course on the parallels of pop culture to religion and those discussions lead to some of my most creative thought processes and I really wanted to get that back. Nerd Word really does that for me. It’s a great place to talk through entertainment you enjoy while applying it to our Christian faith.”

In thinking about the discussions, Kopp recalled the meeting about Pixar’s Inside Out being her favorite.

“I love just about every Pixar movie out there, but this one was particularly special. The idea was so simple, but so masterfully executed. I loved how the writers and illustrators creatively displayed feelings, thoughts, and created a storyline that any adult or child could relate too. It’s the perfect conversation starter for relationship building, dealing with complex emotions, and acts as a wonderful reminder to parents about how actions can be perceived by their children. Analyzing it as Christians we are faced with asking ourselves questions about morality and Christ-like behavior and how to love thy neighbor,” she said.

Kopp added that she hopes that Nerd Word will one day dive into discussions about musical scores, adding that she would be “all about that.”

If you are interested in hearing more about Nerd Word, or attending one of the discussions, follow the Facebook page here, https://www.facebook.com/nerdwordnewberry/.

The Nerd Word meets about once a month and discusses a particular topic in “geek culture” and how that can relate to the Bible. Pictured, left to right, Ashleigh Titus, Rev. Matthew Titus, Evan Connelly, Danielle Connelly, Robbie Kopp and Mark Senn.
https://www.newberryobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_DSC_0671.jpgThe Nerd Word meets about once a month and discusses a particular topic in “geek culture” and how that can relate to the Bible. Pictured, left to right, Ashleigh Titus, Rev. Matthew Titus, Evan Connelly, Danielle Connelly, Robbie Kopp and Mark Senn. Andrew Wigger | The Newberry Observer

Nerd Word started in May of 2018, and originally met at The Lutheran Church of The Redeemer, but recently started meeting at Coffee House 1912. Pictured, left to right, Ashleigh Titus, Rev. Matthew Titus, Evan Connelly, Danielle Connelly.
https://www.newberryobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_DSC_0669.jpgNerd Word started in May of 2018, and originally met at The Lutheran Church of The Redeemer, but recently started meeting at Coffee House 1912. Pictured, left to right, Ashleigh Titus, Rev. Matthew Titus, Evan Connelly, Danielle Connelly. Andrew Wigger | The Newberry Observer
Group analysis “geek culture” and how it relates to the Bible

By Andrew Wigger

awigger@championcarolinas.com

Reach Andrew Wigger at 803-276-0625 ext. 1867 or on Twitter @TheNBOnews.