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

Last week at dinner church one of our kiddos was telling us about being an upstander. This means that instead of being a bystander who just watches something happen an upstander is someone who stands up for others, practices kindness, and helps other people. An...

After beginning our reading of the bible last year we are heading in to the final section, the gospels!  I am so excited to get back to Jesus.  Today we begin with Matthew, this is a perfect time to start again, begin for the first time, or jump ahead. For April and...

Our final class of our Lenten session was on Peacebuilding.  We were very moved by both the need of forgiveness as part of peacebuilding and the intersectionality of peacebuilding. It was fitting to explore peace as we remembered Christ coming on a peaceable donkey...

This week we explored Criminal Justice Reform.  We told stories of our own experiences with the criminal justice system.  Rhonda spent years leading groups and teaching bibles studies within the federal prison system with groups from her churches in the midwest.  I...

This week was session 2 of ou Lenten Class. We are using the Faith & Facts Cards from the United Methodist General Board of Church and Society. Today we focused on domestic violence.  I taught today and it was wonderful to begin with this deep sense of biblical...

Today launched our first Tuesday class of our lent series. We are using the Faith & Facts Cards from the United Methodist General Board of Church and Society. Today we focused on clean water. The first section of class we read bible passages related to water. We...

This week we begin the season of Lent.  This is a time of reflection and austerity. We purposely take on self-denial as a spiritual practice in this season. This strengthens our spirits and souls for the hard times of life and helps us to focus in on love and healing....

Yesterday I was super sad and I could not figure out why. This was a different kind of sad than just grief and gray skies. Then I realized I hadn't eaten lunch. As soon as I ate lunch I felt so much better. This made me think about the basics of self-care. Sometimes...

Our Why We believe everyone needs a safe space to be loved for who we are already. Our What At this time, God is calling us to relationships and connection, to be a safe place and people, and to prioritize belonging and hospitality in our neighborhood and beyond. Our...

Portland just came through a week of bitter cold and ice!  We were basically stuck at home from Saturday morning until Saturday morning. During that week of winter weather our new neighbors texted and asked if we had a snow shovel they could borrow.  Jeff dutifully...