Imagine if churches made us cool. If that could happen, Colorado Springs would go from the country’s second-most desirable city (U.S. News & World Report) to a solid first-place finish no other cities could match.

In Colorado Springs, churches we got. Some call this place the Evangelical Vatican.

In a column for Sunday’s edition, Gazette Editor Vince Bzdek called the Springs “an epicenter of do-gooders,” as home to Focus on the Family, New Life Church, the Navigators, more than 100 evangelical organizations, multiple megachurches and nearly 200 nonprofits dedicated to service.

This has long been a blessing and curse. The curse involves negative stereotypes about judgmental religious rigidity and the occasional tales of high-profile religious hypocrites caught being naughty.

Read more at The Colorado Springs Gazette.