A former pastor’s year without God

Ryan Bell, a former Seventh-day Adventist pastor, attends a question-and-answer session after a performance of “Discord: The Gospel According to Thomas Jefferson” at the Geffen Playhouse.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Ryan Bell, left, and Ryan Moore are “photobombed” by Bell’s daughter Zoe as they snap a photo inside a hotel room. Moore is producing a documentary about Bell, a former Seventh-day Adventist minister who is spending “a year without God.”   (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Ryan Bell attends a question-and-answer session after a performance of “Discord: The Gospel According to Thomas Jefferson.” Skeptics and nonbelievers are ready to officially welcome Bell to the fold. He has also heard from Christians who pray he’ll return to their side.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Heather Henderson, host of the “Ardent Atheist” podcast, visits with Ryan Bell before taping a show in her hotel room during a conference of atheists and skeptics.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Ryan Bell spends a hectic morning helping his daughters, Sophie, right, and Zoe get ready for school at his Pasadena apartment.   (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Ryan Bell, a former Seventh-day Adventist pastor who decided to live the last 12 months as if there is no God, is greeted by girlfriend Rebecca Pratt -- a devoted Christian -- at his Pasadena apartment. After Jan. 1, he’ll announce where he stands on the existence of a supreme deity.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

A voracious reader, Ryan Bell stands amid his book collection at his Pasadena apartment. The storm of attention after he turned his back on God took Bell by surprise. Within a week, he was explaining himself on CNN, NPR and the BBC.   (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Ryan Bell hugs his girlfriend Rebecca Pratt at the conference of atheists, skeptics and freethinkers in Las Vegas. Pratt is open-minded and unafraid to stop Bell when he lapses into negative generalizations about religion.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Ryan Bell lights a sparkler for his daughter Sophie outside his Pasadena apartment. It’s hard to imagine him going back to the God of organized faith. It’s also hard to imagine him joining the crowd contending that God is imaginary and that belief is the source of most of the world’s ills.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)