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

5 years ago Jeff was hired at a church in Eugene, meaning he was no longer available to be the volunteer musician and worship leader at the church I was serving.  I had no idea what to do.  The church was reluctant to pay a musician, and even if we did how...

We have a lot to celebrate!  Just one year in to this crazy adventure of starting a new community and we've begun to see exactly that which we had dreamed. Our weekly gatherings are simply beautiful.  We have people from ages 8-60something, with every decade...

My first real life experience with a Texas lady happened when I was 6 and my uncle married the daughter of one.  My aunt is a California girl, soft blonde and athletic tan, but her mom has never really left Texas.  She is immaculate with gorgeous pastel...

We just got back last week from our annual regional gathering of United Methodists.  Every year pastors and church folks get together to celebrate our life and work, make new rules for our church, and to reflect on how we can best embody God's call for our...

Several years ago I was part of a church that a troubled young man was attending.  He was quiet, a loner, and wore the typical uniform of disaffected youth of the time, meaning a lot of black t shirts and ripped jeans.  I tried to build a relationship with...

A few months back our leadership team was brainstorming ideas to make our community more known in our neighborhood.  We decided that we wanted to share love with our neighbors, but were having a hard time striking on an idea that would be both a public invitation...

Sometimes people ask why we don't have the words "United Methodist" in the name of our new faith community.  To be honest the name we are using is a place holder.  It's something simple and direct to let people know what we are about, and really Jeff and I...

We've now been having dinner together as a faith community for several weeks and it's been really lovely.  There is a flow to the conversation; We check in and catch up as we gather, then we talk about the question of the day while we eat, and finally over...

Jeff and I have been doing Pilates faithfully for several months now.  We attend a class for an hour every Wednesday and then each night we do 20 minutes of exercising right after our daughter's bedtime.  I never do pushups doing those 20 minutes.  I...

The number one question I get from people when they are asking me how the new start is going is, "How many people do you have in worship?" My response of, "We're not doing a worship model," inevitably brings confusion.  It seems like no matter how many times I...