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

One of the great advantages for our new start is that we hit the ground running with a team of three.  Our eight-year-old daughter has clearly seen herself as part of this plant from the very beginning.   This is, of course, the child who took a bible to...

One of the realities of a new church start is talking about money.  We are tasked with raising a set amount each year from within the community we serve and from outside funders.  The regional body of the United Methodist Church (the Oregon-Idaho Annual...

On Monday, after a slushy walk to meet a friend for lunch, I decided to shovel the sidewalk in front of our house.  Over the weekend we had about 8 inches of snow topped with 3/4 of an inch of freezing rain.  By Monday it was a sodden, icy mess.  As I...

This past Sunday I got to do a  pulpit swap with a good friend of mine.  He preached at Capitol Hill, the 1/2 time traditional church I serve while we lay the ground work for the new community at Sellwood.  I preached at his church, which was a much...

When we first move to a place I am a woman on a mission.  I want to get to know people and find a community.  So I eavesdrop on conversations and just invite myself in to things.  I show up at the meetings of various committees and local groups.  I...

This past week as we set up for our monthly Taize worship experience I was once again visited by the realization of what a great house we get to live in while we do the work of building this new faith community.  The dwelling which serves as our home and the base...

This past week I showed up at a local coffee shop and was joined by a few new friends from the Sellwood area.  We drank coffee and tea, ate some pastries, and talked.   Our conversation was wide ranging, covering everything from church politics to the finer...

This year for Christmas we did something new.  We hosted brunch for a bunch of friends on Christmas Day.  The idea came from one year when we lived in Tacoma.  We didn't have any family around and friends included us in their Christmas morning...

This week we held our first worship experience for the Sellwood Faith Community.  With our leadership team we've chosen to begin a monthly Taize Worship.  We chose this because Taize, which is characterized by repetitive singing of simple melodies, prayers,...

This past week we threw a Christmas Party, inviting local friends and those loosely connected to the Sellwood Faith Community.  The party, which was similar to our birthday bash this summer, was about helping establish ties between those we think might be...