A creative collaboration between Trinity United Methodist Church and Sellwood Faith Community

One of the great dances we do as pastors is around relationships. When we are in a place with a people we love and guide.  We stand in hospital rooms, we encourage people as they come out, we carry secrets not spoken to others.  We celebrate together, share life...

Dominion Responsibility Rule Take Charge Care These are the words used in Genesis to describe the role God gives to humans in relationship to creation. As we hear the concerning news from scientists about climate change and experience heat and smoke here in our...

The light today is wrong. The colors of the church wall, the flowers in our yard, the pavement are all off. The sky itself is a buttery wool color, it is the color of smoke. Wildfires are raging over the west and while the air at ground level is clear, the skies above...

I'm trying to be more active and healthier so I set my alarm to ring at 5 to the hour and then I walk for 5 minutes. When I'm at the Trinity building I pop on my mask and head from my office down to the sanctuary for my walking. Or at least that is what I usually do....

Last year my in-laws moved to Oregon from Illinois in the midst of some substantial health issues. This past week our little family of three flew back to Chicago to clean out their business, a music studio in one of the western suburbs, so that we could sell the...

This summer at the Parish we are hearing stories of faith.  Folks from across the Parish are speaking at morning worship and retelling a favorite scripture, sharing a story from their life, or recounting a tale that helps them know God more fully. One of the...

We’ve been thinking for a while how to connect with and love our neighbors. Our community had gone through some community organizing trainings like the Discovery Team and the Parish Collective.  We’ve interviewed our neighbors, listened to our community, mapped our...

As I have navigated an exceptionally difficult week I am once again so thankful for my faith. In the places of turmoil, in making incredibly difficult, complex decisions, it is my centering in something greater than myself, my connection to a loving God, my awareness...

This week I voted to close a church I served, I'm helping a loving couple officially launch their married life, and we created a series of neighborhood water stations to care for our neighbors during an unusual heat wave, 115! As I wrote stories of that church and...

This summer we are launching dessert church which is super awesome. Combining my love of sweets with my love of God makes me wonder why we didn't do this earlier. In reality this is another adaptation in the 8 year history of Sellwood Faith Community. July marks the...