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

Since I got home from renewal leave I've been cleaning and tidying, both at home and at Trinity.  I've taken 5 car-fulls of stuff to the thrift store over the past 4 months.  The acolyte closet can actually be accessed without tripping over stuff on the way to the...

It's Thanksgiving week so I want to share my gratitude. I am thankful for the Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference for seeing holy potential in Jeff's and my proposal for SFC. I am thankful to my colleague Rev. Sandy Storment who caught the vision of the Parish and helped...

Today I achieved success. It came in the form of a Facebook post by a friend and member of the moms' coffee church I lead on Wednesday mornings. Her post was about this article by John Pavlovitz on a modern Christian tendency to minimize the suffering in the world by...

This week in my role as secretary for the neighborhood association I got to take lots of notes about earthquake preparedness.  It’s a reality of life here in the Northwest that before too long we’ll experience a major earthquake, likely within the next 50 years or so....

Part of my focus this year is to raise the visibility of Sellwood Faith Community in our neighborhood.  Another goal is to strengthen the identity of the Southeast Portland Parish because it's a little complex to understand our set up.  SFC is a non-traditional faith...

On Monday night 13 of us gathered to dream, hope, and plan.  We started the night off by talking about why we had decided to come to dinner on a Monday night.  As we ate our enchiladas we shared the things that we most valued about SFC. Then we took some time (turns...

Over the years our faith community has had planning retreats, community meetings, and conversations about the future. We are constantly attuned to how we can embrace what's new, but sometimes it's the season for a more intentional look at what is emerging. Now it is...

I love weddings.  I’ve had the honor of officiating at ceremonies for 3 of my cousins. I’ve married four couples who have found love after the death of first spouses.  I’ve said you may now kiss at the top of ski lifts, in backyards, in restaurants, in fancy venues,...

Today’s blog is about a day in the life of ministry.  A ministry that could not happen without the support, cooperation, and love of a lot of people. So…. once upon a time last week we were fortunate enough to host a special needs young adult who is part of SFC. ...