Book titled 'Cathedrals of Connection' by Matthew G. Mattson with a cover design featuring a coffee cup filled with black coffee, and the phrase 'Your invitation to everyday sacredness' written in the coffee.

Cathedrals of Connection

by Matthew G. Mattson

Your Invitation to Everyday Sacredness

This book is an invitation.

  • For the “spiritual but not religious.”

  • For those deconstructing and hoping to reconstruct their faith.

  • For those disenchanted with, disappointed by, and disengaged from their faith.

  • For those who have a deep faith, but who want deeper relationships.

  • For those who feel like today’s religious options are dangerously different from the love they sense at the core of faith.

  • For those who have been bored by faith or broken by faith.

This book is an invitation to the simplest church on earth. The space between you and every person in your life. The space between you and the next person you encounter.

You are invited.

You are invited to build a cathedral of connection in that space.

  • This book made me shout "Amen!," this book made me cry, this book gave me hope, and this book made me want to drive to the author’s city and have coffee and conversation.

    Dr. Clark Roush, York University chair of the Division of Biblical Studies & Humanities

  • I'm easily bored by books whose every word I agree with. This, thankfully, is not one of those books. Instead, it's an invitation into honest dialogue—the kind that risks disagreement and resists cheap resolution, leaving room for messy faith to grow and breathe. Both in person and on the page, conversations with Matt leave me more drawn to God than I was when we began.

    Gregory Coles, author of No Longer Strangers and The Limits of My World

  • Mattson has taken what could be a ponderous topic and turned it into an intimate conversation between himself and the reader using humor, humility, and honest introspection.

    Ruth Ann Nelson, Lay Pastoral Leader and Senior Warden at St. Martin's Episcopal Church

  • In his moving piece, Cathedrals of Connection, Matt Mattson expertly points out that sacred spaces are not limited to physical buildings but rather exist in the dynamic interplay between people's hearts.

    Tia Battle

  • Cathedrals of Connection is the conversation we are all longing to have. Matt Mattson courageously invites the reader to engage in this sacred dialogue, encouraging us to reflect deeply on our shared humanity.

    Rev. Dani Hillyer, Associate Pastor of Cultivation and Innovation, Grace Presbyterian Church

More About The Book

Our world is suffering from an epidemic of loneliness and disconnection. We are desperately longing to find each other again. We want meaningful relationships and vibrant family lives. We want neighbors we know and care about. We want depth and substance in our interactions at home, at work, and in our community. There is ancient wisdom in our spiritual traditions, explored throughout this book, that can help heal our lonely, divided world one sacred moment of human connection at a time.

Written as an interconnected, compounding series of personal reflections, Cathedrals of Connection gently offers people frustrated with or disenchanted by religion an accessible on-ramp to their spiritual journey. Rooted in a progressive, ecumenical, and at times slightly irreverent Christian perspective, with Biblical passages anchoring every chapter, author Matt Mattson reveals an ordinary mysticism in the common interactions of daily life. Matt, who has spent over two decades helping people gather in simple, sacred ways, invites readers to construct their own cathedrals of connection and erect their own temples of togetherness in the space between themselves and every person they encounter.

A smiling man with blonde hair holding a blue and white striped coffee cup while sitting at a table in a cafe or restaurant

About Matt

Matthew G. Mattson is a writer, speaker, social mystic, and spiritual leader dedicated to cultivating sacred human connection.

As the founder of BETWEEN, an innovative and highly inclusive global faith community, Matt invites people to embrace curiosity, conversation, and shared moments of meaning. His work blends ancient wisdom with modern insights, helping people find the sacred in everyday encounters.

Drawing on his background in education and leadership, Matt has spent his career growing cause-based organizations and exploring the power of relationships—from co-founding Phired Up, The Social Excellence Project, and GrowMyGroup to his current ministry with BETWEEN (learn more at www.BETWEEN.church).

He lives in Colorado with his wife and daughters, where he finds glimpses of the divine while running mountain trails, sipping black coffee at local cafés, enjoying hazy beers at neighborhood breweries with friends, and savoring foods from around the world at his family dinner table.

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WHO THIS BOOK IS FOR

This is a book for anyone who feels the ache for something deeper, truer, and more human in how we live, love, and interact with each other.

  • For those willing to heal our broken, lonely, divided, disconnected world one sacred conversation at a time.

  • For those who are deconstructing their faith yet longing for simple, soul-filling encounters that still feel sacred.

  • For those disenchanted and disillusioned with institutional religion, unsure if they’ll ever trust it again.

  • For anyone who has felt like an outsider in Christian spaces, unwelcome because of who they are or what they believe.

  • For people craving deeper, more soulful connections—conversations and interactions that move past small talk and into shared meaning.

  • For those searching for a gentle expression of Christian manhood. The author subtly pushes back against toxic “Christian Manhood” tropes.

  • For readers who want permission to find their own meaning in a world where too many heavy-handed faith voices try to force their beliefs.

  • For the lonely and disconnected, yearning for belonging in an age that leaves many feeling unseen.

  • For the inclusive and curious, drawn to a faith expression that is ecumenical, interfaith, even uncertain by design—the opposite of rigid fundamentalism.

  • For the spiritually burned out, ready for a safe path back to wonder and sacred relationship after toxic or exhausting experiences.

  • For those looking for a hopeful antidote to division, who believe small acts of connection can bridge even the widest cultural gaps.

  • For seekers who want practical ways to gather well—to create spaces that feel like home for the soul.

  • For dreamers who long to weave sacred connection into ordinary life, turning coffee tables, park benches, and sidewalks into holy ground.